Action for Climate Empowerment (ACE) is a term adopted by Parties to denote work under Article 6 of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and Article 12 of the Paris Agreement. The overarching goal of ACE is to educate, equip and empower all members of society to engage in climate action through the six ACE elements – climate change education and public awareness, training, public participation and access to information, and international cooperation on these issues.
The UNFCCC secretariat, in collaboration with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and other members of the United Nations Alliance on ACE, published a short guide on integrating ACE into NDCs in 2020 to provide countries with advice on how to address ACE and its elements in their respective NDCs. Parties are strongly encouraged to refer to this guide when preparing their NDCs.
Complementing the original guide, this compendium looks at good practices and showcases potential ways of strengthening the role of ACE in developing and implementing the new NDCs. It should be noted that the broad categories of action and examples provided in this document are not exhaustive. Further discussions and sharing of experiences on how ACE and its elements can be integrated into NDCs and other climate policies and plans, such as national adaptation plans (NAPs) and long-term low-emission development strategies (LT-LEDS) will benefit Parties and non-Party stakeholders at all levels.