Collaborative Climate Action in the Dominican Republic
Since joining the NDC Partnership in 2018, the Dominican Republic has taken a proactive approach to addressing climate change. This effort is led by its Focal Points at the National Council on Climate Change and the Clean Development Mechanism (Consejo Nacional de Cambio Climático y Mecanismo de Desarrollo Limpio - CNCCMDL) and the Ministry of Economy, Planning and Development (Ministerio de Economía, Planificación y Desarrollo - MEPyD). This strong, national leadership has played a crucial role in shaping the climate agenda and ensuring climate action is integrated with national development priorities.
The Dominican Republic submitted an enhanced and updated NDC in 2020 through the Partnership’s Climate Action Enhancement Package (CAEP), laying the foundation for comprehensive national climate action. Building on this, the country revised its Partnership Plan to align with the NDC Action Plan 2022-2025. This strategic roadmap serves as a guiding framework, steering efforts towards achieving the updated 2020 NDC targets while integrating climate considerations into national development priorities.
In response to emerging challenges and requests, the NDC Partnership has supported the Dominican Republic in a number of strategic initiatives, including embedded advisory support to the MEPyD for designing green economic recovery strategies post-COVID-19. This work was supported by the United Kingdom, Euroclima and GIZ under the Partnership’s Economic Advisory Initiative. Currently, the Partnership is deploying technical assistance to the Central Bank of the Dominican Republic (BCRD), through the French Development Agency (AFD), to better enable the assessment of macroeconomic impacts of climate change and the enhancement of financial institutions' capacities in climate finance.
The Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI), supported by funding from the Partnership Action Fund (PAF), has played a pivotal role in the implementation of the Dominican Republic’s NDC 2022-2025 Action Plan. The GGGI spearheaded efforts to raise awareness and empower stakeholders at the national level, including facilitating the transfer of the NDC Action Plan to the Online Partnership Plan Tool (OPPT).
Between November 2022 - March 2024, the GGGI provided invaluable support to the CNCCMDL and MEPyD through senior advisory assistance for national adaptation and mitigation strategies. This collaborative effort involved monitoring and evaluating the NDC Action Plan, which, by the end of 2023, revealed financial commitments of around USD 8.2 million across both mitigation and adaptation components.
The GGGI also assisted in developing a robust stakeholder engagement strategy for effective implementation, which included the establishment of four technical committees and one steering committee (comprising the CNCCMDL, the MEPyD, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Environment) to lead the Dominican Republic’s NDC processes.
Through GGGI support, significant progress has been made in advancing the Dominican Republic's overall climate commitments. The alignment of the NDC Action Plan with national development priorities underscores the country's dedication to integrating climate action into national policy considerations. On 5 March in Santo Domingo, the project's concluding high-level event convened over one hundred stakeholders, including national ministries, civil society and development partners, to share progress on the implementation of the country’s Partnership Plan.
Speaking at the event, Domingo Matías, Minister of Territorial Planning and Regional Development at the MEPyD, reiterated the ministry's commitment to integrating climate considerations into national development frameworks, highlighting ongoing efforts to incorporate indicators for disaster risk management and sustainable land use.
“The DR has fully complied with its climate commitments, assuming with high responsibility the updating of the NDC, its action plan and the effective articulation with all the actors involved - all of which has translated into the early achievement of the goals we set for 2030,” noted Max Puig, Executive Vice President at the CNCCMDL.
The NDC Partnership Support Unit attended the event, using the opportunity to meet with government Focal Points and local partners to evaluate the next steps and opportunities for support through the Partnership, including the hiring of an in-country NDC facilitator and updates pertaining to the Adaptation Pipeline Accelerator initiative.
“Building on a strong relationship since 2018, we are pleased to announce that currently, through the Partnership’s Thematic Call, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) will be supporting the Dominican Republic’s NDC 2025 update process,” remarked Melissa Capcha, representing the NDC Partnership Support Unit.
The NDC Partnership’s current Thematic Call provides dedicated resources and expertise for country members to align, update and enhance NDCs and/or LT-LEDS by 2025 in line with the Paris Agreement.