Summary:

Under the Climate Promise Programme, UNDP is working with the Department of Climate Change (DCC) of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment to facilitate an inclusive and transparent implementation, Monitoring, and Enhancement of Lao PDR’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).   

The project duration is from December 2022 to December 2024, with a total budget of 540,000 USD, funded by the Government of Germany. It is aligned with the 9th  National Socio-Economic Development Plan (NSEDP), specifically Outcome 4, Output 2, which aims to promote green growth and climate change mitigation action.  

Background:

As part of the UN Secretary-General’s Climate Action Summit in 2019, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) pledged to support at least 100 countries to enhance their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) ahead of COP26, which was held in Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom. This pledge turned into UNDP’s Climate Promise, which is now the world’s largest offer of support to developing countries on NDC enhancement, supporting 120 countries and contributing to an increase of climate mitigation and adaptation ambitions. This project aims to contribute to achieving net-zero emissions and meeting the goals under the Paris Agreement. Lao PDR is implementing its commitments to the NDC and raising the country’s climate ambitions with the support of Climate Promise II. 

Project Expected Outcomes:

The project aims to:

• Scale and Speed: Improved governance and financing mechanisms to track and achieve NDC targets.  
• Amplifying Ambition: Established long-term net-zero and climate-resilient development pathways with the goals of the Paris Agreement. 
• Lasting Inclusivity: Empower society’s key actors to accelerate NDC implementation and achieve net-zero, climate-resilient development. 

Results and Key Achievements:

• Drafted the development of an NDC-responsive gender strategy, action plan, and toolkits –a comprehensive gender strategy and action plan for inclusive climate action through stakeholder engagement, data analysis, and capacity-building activities.  
• Developed NDC-responsive social and environmental safeguards - good-practice tools on safeguarding, focusing on local community engagement and gender mainstreaming for the climate change sector, leveraging real assessment cases from our pilot project and gender strategy to strengthen climate action safeguards. 
• Supported transparency development of NDC - Strengthen Monitoring, Reporting and Verification (MRV) coordination framework and toolkit, bolstering transparency for Lao PDR’s NDC tracking efforts. 
• Developed pilot project for forest protection and climate-smart agriculture - Partner with three local villages in Champhone District, Savannakhet Province, to protect village forests by demarcating the forest boundaries and improve agricultural climate resilience through providing climate-resilient seeds for rice production. 
• Fostered inclusivity at the heart of Climate Action—encouraged a diverse and vibrant climate movement through the multi-stakeholder engagement of youth and CSOs, notably. 
• Supported the Government of Lao PDR to increase the ambition of Climate Action - by identifying the country’s needs, including financial resources, technology, and capacity for implementation. The project supports the global stock take in Lao PDR and aims to enhance dialogue, coordination and communication from high to technical levels. 

GESI Component

Gender sensitivity and gender considerations have been considered in the formulation of the project, proposing gender-sensitive approaches where needed, including the need to pay attention to gender equality. Every effort will be made to incorporate gender issues in the implementation of this project. The roles of men and women in participating in the project activities will be equally assigned without any discrimination. The project will take steps to ensure that women account for at least 40% of all training and capacity building in the project. Moreover, the project will strengthen data collection and monitoring programmes – collection of gender-disaggregated data and monitoring will be introduced as a basis for ensuring long-term gender benefits. This approach will facilitate a focus on gender-based environmental issues and gender-based solutions. 

 In addition, as women are disproportionately affected by Climate Change, the project aims to empower women into Lao Climate Action. The project will develop an NDC-Responsive Gender Strategy, Action Plan, and Toolkits increasing the inclusivity of the climate action in Lao PDR.  

Project details:

• Status: Ongoing
• Duration: December 2022- December 2024
• Project Office: Department of Climate Change (DCC), Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MoNRE) 
• Focus Area: Climate Change
• Collaborating Partners: Department of Climate Change (DCC), Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MoNRE) 
• Total Project Budget: 540,000 USD 
• Funding Source:  Donor: Government of Germany 

Contacts:

Aksonethip Somvorachit

Communications Analyst, UNDP in Lao PDR

aksonethip.somvorachit@undp.org

+856 21 267777

Chindavone Sanlath

Project Coordinator

chindavone.sanlath@undp.org

+856 20 91 866 857

Abduvakkos Abdurahmanov

Team Leader

Natural Resources Management, Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reduction Unit

UNDP in Lao PDR

abduvakkos.abdurahmanov@undp.org 

+856 21 267777