Blog Integrating the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs) through the Water, Energy, Food and Ecosystems (WEFE) nexus approach
As the UN Biodiversity Conference closes and the UN Climate Change Conference begins, a new brief calls for integrating and harmonizing policy frameworks to combat climate change and biodiversity loss.
By Tafadzwanashe Mabhaudhi (Centre on Climate Change and Planetary Health, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health) and Marlène Elias (Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT)
Human and environmental well-being face unprecedented challenges from the interlinked and crises of climate change and biodiversity loss. A new brief calls for integrating policy frameworks, coordinating efforts to combat climate change and biodiversity loss through the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Convention on Biological Diversity (UNCBD), respectively.
Developed under the UNFCCC, Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) are dynamic, 'living' policy documents outlining countries' commitments to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and adapt to the impacts of climate change, aligned with the Paris Agreement. Under the UNCBD, National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs) lay out countries' plans to conserve and use biodiversity and equitably share the benefits of genetic resources, in line with the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KM-GBF). The two policy instruments seek to address environmental goals, and each recognize the interconnection of these two topics: For example, the Paris Agreement refers to the importance of the 'integrity of ecosystems' for climate action while the KM-GBF refers to 'climate action' as an important part of biodiversity protection.
However, the efficiency and effectiveness of NDCs and NBSAPs have been limited, partly because they are implemented in silos. Fragmented and uncoordinated implementation fails to account for interconnections and misses potential opportunities for synergistic outcomes. This inadvertently duplicates efforts and causes inefficiencies and sometimes conflicting outcomes that undermine sustainability objectives.
Catalyzing synergies
Several opportunities exist to integrate NDCs and NBSAPs. NDCs and NBSAPs address environmental challenges caused by common drivers of change, both direct (invasive species, resource exploitation, pollution, land and sea-use change) and indirect (institutions, economic fluctuations, human demographics, technology, governance, sociocultural drivers). Similarly, climate change and biodiversity loss and their impacts cross sectoral boundaries, deplete planetary health and cause multiple insecurities (e.g., water, energy, food).
In many countries, NDCs and NBSAPs have similar planning and oversight processes. Unlike the management of water, energy and food (which usually fall under different national ministries), NDCs and NBSAPs are usually led by one government ministry, e.g. the ministry for the environment. This overlap provides an ideal foundation for integrating NDCs and NBSAPs by streamlining implementation, meetings and reporting. Having interoperable targets, methodologies, indicators, metrics, measures, data, models and scenarios would facilitate integration. Countries like Costa Rica, Mexico, India, and South Africa show that this is possible and provide lessons for other countries to follow.
Considering that NDCs include biotic adaptation to climate change, their synergies with NBSAPs can be strengthened for simultaneous climate action (adaptation, mitigation) and biodiversity action (conservation, restoration) through solutions such as ecosystem-based adaptation (e.g., reforestation, afforestation, wetland restoration) and nature-based solutions. Other promising synergistic approaches for achieving climate and biodiversity objectives include agroecology and renewable energy.
A Water, Energy, Food, and Ecosystems (WEFE) nexus approach to integration
The new brief demonstrates the potential of a WEFE nexus approach that emphasizes the interconnections between water, energy, food and ecosystems, and understanding of tradeoffs and synergies for integrating NDCs and NBSAPs. Drawing on several examples of human-induced environmental degradation (including the desiccation of the Aral Sea, the near-extinction of the Indus River dolphin and deforestation in the Amazon and Zambia), it shows that nexus-based coordination and implementation can lead to mutually beneficial climate-biodiversity actions.
The WEFE nexus approach provides a holistic framework for harmonizing and strengthening the coherence of NDCs and NBSAPs and mainstreaming these into broader socio-economic and sustainable development frameworks including water, energy and food policies. This approach could attract much-needed funding and policy support, and promote optimal resource allocation and simultaneous achievement of similar or interconnected environmental goals. The enabling conditions for this paradigmatic shift include multi-stakeholder platforms for data governance, a global community of practice, capacity building, regional collaborations, funding and integrated mechanisms for planning, monitoring, evaluation, learning and impact assessment.
This blog was developed under the CGIAR Initiative on NEXUS Gains, with support from CGIAR Trust Fund Donors.
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