This methodological brief was developed by Genesis Analytics, based on their experience with the NDC Partnership and lessons learned conducting prioritisation exercises of NDC measures in developing countries. The brief includes an introduction to the topic of prioritization, an overview of the suggested steps to follow in initiating and conducting a prioritizaton exercise, and a summary of lessons learned in applying this methodology. A detailed example is included in the Annex.
Prioritisation of NDC measures enables enhanced decision-making capabilities for governments to mobilise financial and technical resources in a targeted manner and to synergise with other national development priorities, while advancing NDC outcomes. More specifically, a prioritisation exercise:
- Considers the objectives, constraints and opportunities of various climate actions and focuses on resource allocation and dedicated efforts.
- Involves an analysis of adaptation and mitigation actions against a set of jointly developed criteria including sectoral complementarity, cost-effectiveness, feasibility, socio-economic development progress and/or scalability.
- Requires the collaboration and active participation of policymakers, subject matter experts, and government stakeholders to assess the measure components comprehensively against the benchmarked criteria.
Applying a methodology based on principles of Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) allows for capturing diverse, and often conflicting, perspectives of a vast set of stakeholders involved. The analytical framework combines desk research and extensive stakeholder engagement through quantitative and qualitative phases.