Project Pipelines to Budgeting Reforms: Tunisia’s Climate Investment Ecosystem
Tunisia, a water-scarce country already experiencing the impacts of climate change, faces growing pressures on its economy and society. Rising temperatures, declining rainfall and desertification threaten agriculture, water security and rural livelihoods.
To meet these challenges, and pursue new opportunities for green growth, Tunisia has steadily strengthened the link between climate planning and finance mobilization.
By integrating climate into public financial management, improving government coordination and developing a pipeline of bankable projects, the country is translating its mitigation and adaptation priorities into investment-ready initiatives that will underpin NDC 3.0 implementation.
These efforts are reinforced by an inclusive, locally driven approach to NDC planning, ensuring that investment priorities reflect the needs of communities across the country.
Climate is Now Part of Public Finance
Since joining the NDC Partnership in 2017, Tunisia has integrated climate into public finance. In 2020, the annual budget circular, issued by the Prime Ministry, began to explicitly identify identifies climate projects as a national priority. This ensures that ministries and agencies treat climate as a core development objective, not a parallel agenda, when preparing their budgets.
With external support, Tunisia has incorporated climate spending into its performance budgeting system, linking each ministry’s budget to clear objectives and measurable results while tracking how funds are directed to NDC priorities. A Climate Public Investment Management Assessment (C-PIMA) further evaluates how public investment planning accounts for climate risks and opportunities. Tunisia has also introduced a carbon pricing framework and fiscal reforms under a 2025 finance law incentivizing low carbon investment.
“These reforms mean that climate is now anchored in the way Tunisia plans and manages its budget,” explains Mohamed Zmerli, the NDC Partnership in-country facilitator, embedded in Tunisia’s Ministry of Environment. “By aligning public finance with climate goals, the government is improving transparency and giving investors more confidence that resources are used strategically.”
Close coordination between the Ministry of Finance, which leads public finance reforms, and the Ministry of Environment, which steers NDC implementation and pipeline development, ensures that budget reforms result in investment-ready projects.
The two ministries are also developing a national climate taxonomy to strengthen climate governance and improve access to finance. By defining which economic activities qualify as climate-aligned investments, the taxonomy will help guide both public and private capital toward projects that support Tunisia’s climate objectives.
“By linking budgeting reforms with project development, Tunisia can move from setting climate goals to delivering real investments that benefit communities and the economy,” says Ms. Afef Ayed, Adaptation Director at the Ministry of Environment and NDC Partnership focal point. This approach is also reflected in Tunisia’s upcoming 2026–2030 National Development Plan.
An NDC Partnership-supported climate finance advisor is embedded in the Ministry of Environment to help sustain this alignment and strengthen programming for the Green Climate Fund (GCF).
Building Finance-Ready Projects
With NDC Partnership support, the Ministry of Environment is leading efforts to turn Tunisia’s climate plans, including its NDC 3.0, into finance-ready projects.
In 2023, Tunisia hosted its first NDC Climate Investment Conference, supported by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the NDC Partnership Support Unit, providing a platform for projects with strong climate and socioeconomic benefits linked to updated NDC priorities.
The Ministry of Environment has also requested support through the NDC Partnership to develop an investment plan for a climate resilient blue economy. This effort will enable Tunisia to identify priority bankable projects in vulnerable coastal regions and explore innovative financing mechanisms for sustainable ocean-based development.
With funding from the Partnership Action Fund (PAF), the United Nations Environment Programme Copenhagen Climate Centre (UNEP-CCC) has been training line ministries in project development. As a result, ministries are generating project proposals that align with Tunisia’s NDC action plan, helping to advance ongoing efforts to strengthen institutional and technical capacity.
After submitting a preliminary NDC to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) secretariat in September 2025, Tunisia is finalizing its NDC 3.0 with support from UNDP through the NDC Partnership. To implement its updated targets, the country is also preparing a comprehensive investment plan.
The NDC Partnership in-country facilitator, supported by PAF, played a pivotal role by working closely with the Ministry of Environment’s Climate Change Unit. The facilitator clarified the need for an investment plan and provided strategic guidance to align it with NDC priorities. This support enabled Tunisia to access Green Climate Fund (GCF) Readiness Programme funding, allowing UNDP to seek additional expertise for plan development. A PAF-supported climate finance expert is also strengthening the Climate Change Unit’s capacity to supervise and oversee the plan’s preparation.
Together, these efforts will guide the mobilization of nearly USD 55 billion needed for Tunisia’s climate transition through 2035. With constraints to public investment capacity, the private sector is positioned as a primary engine for action, with 60–65% of NDC financing expected to come from private investment and public–private partnerships.
“This next phase is about operationalizing our NDC 3.0,” says Ms. Ayed. “By aligning institutions, planning and finance, we can turn climate ambition into investments that strengthen resilience and drive long-term sustainable growth.”
Inclusive Planning
Tunisia’s next step is to leverage stronger planning and finance systems into effective and inclusive implementation. Extensive consultations at the regional level ensured that localized adaptation priorities reflect the actual needs of Tunisia's diverse landscapes.
“The most significant achievement of the final NDC is that it reflects Tunisia's diversity and territorial realities,” notes Mr. Zmerli. “All regions and municipalities contributed, and vulnerable groups — especially youth and women — are better represented.”
Anchoring the NDC in the 2026–2030 National Development Plan further integrates climate priorities into national development. “The key lesson is that climate ambition must be built on real national capacities,” explained Taoufik Mustapha, Head of the Climate Change Division at the Ministry of Environment. “By positioning the NDC as a national development tool and securing high-level political engagement, we have moved the NDC from an exercise to a national priority.”
A Stronger Foundation for NDC 3.0 Implementation
With a stronger public finance system, a growing project pipeline and an investment plan in development, Tunisia is well-positioned to move from NDC planning to implementation. NDC Partnership support — including through PAF — has been instrumental in reaching this point, and continued engagement will be critical as Tunisia works to mobilize the domestic and international finance its NDC 3.0 requires.
Visit Tunisia's NDC Partnership country page.