Quick facts: NAPs in a nutshell

What is the NAP process?

The National Adaptation Plan (NAP) process helps countries conduct comprehensive medium- and long-term climate adaptation planning. It is a flexible process that builds on each country’s existing adaptation activities and helps integrate climate change into national decision-making. The Parties to the UNFCCC established the NAP process in 2011 in Durban, outlining four flexible planning elements. Then, in 2012, a UNFCCC experts group developed a detailed set of NAP technical guidelines to assist developing countries, especially the least developed countries (LDCs), with adaptation planning.

What is the NAPA (National Adaptation Programmes of Action)? 

 National adaptation programmes of action (NAPAs) provide a process for Least Developed Countries (LDCs) to identify priority activities that respond to their urgent and immediate needs to adapt to climate change – those for which further delay would increase vulnerability and/or costs at a later stage.

Why do the NAP guidelines focus on “the NAP process “instead of the “plans” themselves?

The emphasis on “the NAP process” in the Durban decision and technical guidelines signals several things:

• An Integrated Approach:The NAP process aims to integrate climate risk into national development planning, policies, and programs.
• Country-Specific Solutions:Not all NAPs will produce the same type of plan. Countries each develop a national planning process with outputs tailored to their specific needs.
• Continuity:Medium- and long-term adaptation planning is an iterative, ongoing process, not a one-time activity.

Source: http://goo.gl/SdESHB

Is a NAP the same thing as a NAPA?

 No. National adaptation programmes of action (NAPAs) were designed to address urgent and immediate needs of LDCs. NAPAs were designed more than 10 years ago, when many LDCs were experiencing new and heightened levels of vulnerability to floods, drought and other adverse effects of climate change.

The NAP process is designed to offer LDCs an opportunity to take a more considered approach, working towards transformational change in their capacity to address adaptation. The NAP process will build upon the achievements and lessons learned from the NAPA process and which is for medium and long term basis.

NAPA process was designed to produce one national adaptation programme of action, the NAP process has been designed to create a comprehensive system through which countries can integrate climate change adaptation into national planning, and produce national adaptation plans on an ongoing basis.

What is short-term? And what is medium/long-term?

 The time scales:

• Short term: Less than 10 years
• Medium and long term: 10 to 100 years

• Medium term: 10 to 30 years (inclusive)
• Long term: More than 30 years to 100 years

Examples: Short term

• The introduction of heat-resistant crop varieties and promotion of appropriate cultivation methods, to address the declining crop quality and yields
• Measures to protect against the loss of alpine vegetation, bleaching of coral, etc.
• Crisis management arrangements and improvements in early warning systems, to deal with sea-level rise and with rising damage in confined areas and from intense rainfall events

Examples: Medium/Long term

• Improvements of river and sea embankments, functional improvements of existing facilities, etc.
• Land-use regulations and incentives in affected areas
• Strengthening of measures to prevent outbreaks of infectious diseases
• Systematic water supply development to cope with recent frequent droughts

Source: http://goo.gl/QiyZNO

Why do NAP?

NAPs are meant to reduce vulnerability, build adaptive capacity and mainstream adaptation to climate change into all sector-specific and general development planning. The NAP process can be a powerful tool for changing policy formulation procedures and facilitating the paradigm shift towards climate resilient development.

Source: http://goo.gl/OpWcea

What are the objectives of the National Adaptation Plan process? 

The agreed objectives are:

1. To reduce vulnerability to the impacts of climate change, by building adaptive capacity and resilience.
2. To facilitate the integration of climate change adaptation, in a coherent manner, into relevant new and existing policies, programs and activities, in particular development planning processes strategies, within all relevant sectors and at different levels, as appropriate.

Features of the NAP process:

• The NAP process is not prescriptive
• Seeks to enhance the coherence of adaptation and development planning
• Facilitates country-owned, country-driven action
• Nap is designed so that countries can monitor and review it on regular bases, and update their NAPs in an iterative manner.

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