Building the Architecture for Climate Action: The Role of National Coordination Mechanisms
Countries need strong climate governance frameworks to establish coordination, accountability and financing mechanisms for implementing Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) efficiently and inclusively.
The NDC Partnership Support Unit and the International Climate Councils Network (ICCN) recently co-hosted a webinar to highlight the role of climate councils and other national coordination mechanisms play in shaping a strong architecture for climate action. Drawing on expert exchanges, examples from Guatemala, Canada and Denmark, and the Support Unit’s “Country Coordination Mechanisms Best Practice Brief,” the discussion highlighted the following insights:
Climate councils strengthen accountability. All ICCN members are officially appointed by their governments through climate change framework law, ministerial decree or long-term contract. A core part of councils’ mandates involves tracking and publishing progress toward national climate targets and providing government with targeted, evidence-based policy recommendations. By equipping both citizens and governments with the best available knowledge and data, councils can support policy implementation while also fulfilling an accountability function.
Climate councils can enhance coordination among the many actors involved in NDC implementation. For governments to implement increasingly ambitious climate actions, as laid out in NDCs, they must mainstream climate as a crosscutting policy issue across all sectors and at all levels. This requires sustained and effective coordination mechanisms across government and with civil society and partners.
In practice, coordination mechanisms support the NDC process through three overlapping areas: intergovernmental coordination, whole-of-society coordination and coordination with implementing and development partners. Intergovernmental commissions generate cross-sectoral linkages within government, while whole-of-society and partner coordination mechanisms strengthen engagement of non-state actors in NDC development, implementation and financing. Additionally, legislatures play a central role in climate change law making and are effective at building and enabling coordination mechanisms. Climate councils can be an essential coordination mechanism for NDC implementation and an effective tool for furthering climate action.
A whole-of-society coordination model strengthens both the quality and legitimacy of climate decision-making. In Guatemala, the Framework Law on Climate Change establishes the regulation necessary to prevent, plan for and respond to climate impacts. The "Consejo Nacional de Cambio Climático" (CNCC) serves as the national coordinating and decision-making body for climate policy, bringing together the public sector, municipalities, the private sector, academia, Indigenous communities and civil society. The "Sistema Guatemalteco de Ciencias del Cambio Climático" (SGCCC) serves as the technical–scientific advisory body to the CNCC, aligning universities, government and private research centers. Its bylaws mandate the inclusion of traditional and ancestral knowledge. This approach enables Guatemala to collect data across sectors, define measures and targets and complete a cross-sectoral review before submitting its NDC to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
Climate councils’ institutional arrangements and relationships with government vary by country. In South Africa, the Presidential Climate Commission (PCC) organized capacity building workshops and stakeholder engagement sessions with organized labor, youth and business to inform the NDC. In a different institutional arrangement, the Canadian Net-Zero Advisory body provides the most likely pathways for Canada to achieve net zero emissions while the Canadian Climate Institute produces independent reports to deliver essential insights and actionable roadmaps to boost economic competitiveness so that Canada can succeed in the global energy transition.
Climate councils can play a role in real-economy implementation through advisory support on policies. For example, the Danish Council on Climate Change recommended that the government introduce an agricultural emissions tax, which will be implemented from 2030 following extensive stakeholder engagement with farmers and businesses. The pioneering tax is an example of how countries can combine climate and economic policy to achieve beneficial outcomes that align with multiple national priorities. Beyond looking at domestic fiscal policy, councils are increasingly advising on climate finance writ large. This is a critical area of work which the ICCN is looking to support by establishing a climate finance working group for its members.
The International Climate Councils Network is a member of the NDC Partnership. The ICCN supports and amplifies the work of members: 29 expert bodies officially mandated to advise their governments on climate policy.
Learn more about how councils’ mandates vary by visiting the ICCN’s “How to Create a Climate Council” toolkit, featuring case studies from across the network and research.
Discover best practices to build and sustain effective coordination mechanisms from recent country examples in the “Country Coordination Mechanisms Best Practice Brief.”
For more information, contact Izzy Page and Tessa Vincent at the ICCN or Hannah Girardeau and Anna Bychkova at the NDC Partnership Support Unit.