Ricardo : CDKN and Ricardo launch guide on implementing Paris climate commitments

The Climate and Development Knowledge Network (CDKN) and Ricardo Energy & Environment have launched a new guide to support countries with implementing their commitments - also known as Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) - under the Paris Climate Agreement,. 'Planning for NDC implementation a Quick-Start Guide' is available to download for free atwww.cdkn.org/ndc-guide.

The Paris Agreement commits participating countries to achieve the global objective of limiting temperature increase to below two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels by creating a net zero-carbon economy by the second half of this century. The new guide provides policy-makers at national and local levels - as well as those funding the implementation of NDCs - with practical guidance on the steps to put their climate commitments into action. Its launch on Monday 10 October comes five days after the threshold to officially bring the Paris Agreement into force was reached.

'NDCs go beyond countries' environmental ambitions; they chart a path to low carbon, climate resilient growth and prosperity,' said Emelia Holdaway, Ricardo Energy & Environment, manager international climate change policy. 'Many countries have already begun the process of implementing their NDCs, and with the ratification of the Paris Agreement many more will start planning their NDC implementation strategies. NDC implementation is achievable when countries break it down into discrete, achievable goals. I hope this guide will be a useful tool on the journey towards decarbonisation and climate resilience.'

The Quick Start Guide was designed at the request of a number of developing countries, which expressed a need for practical guidance on how take action in the rapidly developing NDC arena. The document presents a framework to implementing NDCs based on five essential and interlinked pillars: governance, mitigation, adaptation, finance, and monitoring, reporting and verification. As each country is at a different stage of climate change policy development and implementation, the guide addresses the diversity both in individual countries' low carbon plans, and their various starting points for implementation. The work draws on CDKN and Ricardo Energy & Environment's experience supporting climate and development policy preparations in countries around the world.

Claire Monkhouse at CDKN said: 'This Quick Start Guide provides a practical tool to support countries with planning for NDC implementation. It is designed to assist policy-makers in building a picture of the activities they need to undertake, appreciating the synergies and connections among different activities, with the Sustainable Development Goals, and with their broader development objectives.'

To find out more about Ricardo Energy & Environment and the five pillars of NDC implementation framework, visit http://ee.ricardo.com/cms/supporting-the-implementation-of-nationally-determined-contributions-ndcs/, or for more information on CDKN's work in climate compatible development, see http://cdkn.org.

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