The NDC Partnership Joins the COP28 and CBD COP15 Presidencies and Nearly 20 Countries and Coalitions to Advance Integrated Action for Climate and Nature

Dubai, United Arab Emirates, 9 December 2023 – The NDC Partnership, the United Arab Emirates as the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) COP28 Presidency, the People’s Republic of China as the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) COP15 Presidency, and nearly 20 countries and coalitions endorsed the COP28 Joint Statement on Climate, Nature and People to facilitate stronger international, regional and local cooperation to implement integrated climate and nature action.

Climate change critically threatens biodiversity and ecosystems. At the same time, the loss and degradation of nature increases climate vulnerability, contributes to rising emissions and impedes sustainable development. As the first Global Stocktake makes clear, any path towards achieving the near- and long-term goals of the Paris Agreement or the 2030 goals and the targets of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework must include a synergetic approach to addressing climate change, biodiversity loss and land degradation in an ambitious and coherent manner. 

“Today’s Joint Statement on Climate, Nature and People reflects our collective commitment to advancing biodiversity and climate priorities and raising our ambition in NDCs. Biodiversity is crucial to securing sustainable livelihoods and to the health and well-being of people that rely on the vitality of our shared ecosystems. The NDC Partnership will support countries to drive an integrated response for climate-nature action, leveraging our network of more than 200 members, together with like-minded coalitions,” says NDC Partnership Global Director Pablo Vieira. 

To achieve these goals, the Joint Statement affirms the commitment of endorsing countries to strengthen domestic and international collaboration across common objectives, including: 

• Fostering alignment of countries’ Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), National Adaptation Plans (NAPs), and National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs) as countries develop new ones towards COP30 and CBD COP16; 
• Scaling up finance and investments for climate and nature from all sources; 
• Ensuring the equitable representation and participation of Indigenous Peoples, local communities, women, girls, youth, and other vulnerable communities in national planning processes across climate and nature; 
• Promoting a whole-of-society approach in the planning and implementation of national climate, biodiversity and land restoration plans and strategies; and 
• Encouraging coherence and interoperability for data collection, methods and reporting frameworks across climate and nature. 

Launched at an inaugural NDC-NBSAP Ministerial, the Joint Statement was developed by the UNFCCC COP28 and CBD COP15 Presidencies and leading countries that chair partnerships, coalitions and initiatives which advance action across climate, nature and sustainable land and ocean management, including Belize, Brazil, Cabo Verde, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Egypt, France, Germany, Rwanda, Samoa, Senegal, Seychelles, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America. Following COP28, the two COP Presidencies and signatory countries invite further endorsement by other countries in advance of CBD COP16 and COP29. 

The Joint Statement lays out a framework for a ‘COP-to-COP’ agenda of collaboration among coalitions to support countries to implement complementary climate-nature action. The country-led partnerships and initiatives mobilized under this agenda include the NDC Partnership, the NBSAP Accelerator Partnership, the High Ambition Coalition for Nature and People, the ENACT Partnership, the Nature Champions Network, the Mangrove Alliance for Climate, the Global Ocean Alliance, the Forest and Climate Leaders’ Partnership, the SIDS Coalition for Nature, the G20 Global Land Initiative, and the International Drought Resilience Alliance.

Following COP28, this group of coalitions will meet regularly to collaborate on joint actions and convene again in 2024 at CBD COP16 and COP29 under future COP Presidencies in the lead up to COP30 in Belém in 2025.