15 April 2015: Over 150 participants attended the third NAP Expo, which was organized by the Least Developed Countries Expert Group (LEG) of the UNFCCC and an advisory group that included the Adaptation Committee. Hot topics, as well as current experiences and challenges relevant to adaptation to climate change, were the focus of discussions and learning sessions at the Expo.

Each year, the NAP Expo aims to tackle current, shared challenges identified by developing countries, including Least Developed Countries (LDCs), working on mid- to long-term adaptation planning and implementation under the National Adaptation Plan (NAP) process of the UNFCCC.

Participants’ responses, summed up in several key messages, sent clear signals that: many countries are embarking on their NAP process and there are several forms of technical support; nonetheless, they need financial support to make concrete progress on their NAPs; for effective planning processes, they need a robust mandate, strengthened institutions, cooperation and collaboration, coherence with relevant processes such as those under the Green Climate Fund (GCF); there is useful learning from things that did not work well, especially as success is not easy to identify; some adaptation options will require significant investment; and engagement with multiple stakeholders is key and there is a need to focus and prioritize on vulnerable groups.

The Expo also showed that approaches for addressing common risks and vulnerabilities at the regional level are emerging, including through South-South cooperation and regional initiatives supported by regional centres and networks. According to the UNFCCC Secretariat, the NAP Expo provides a platform for actors from different regions to share experiences and lessons, and to cultivate South-South cooperation in the process of formulating and implementing adaptation plans.

This year, the NAP Expo acted as a forum for: interacting on aspects of the process to formulate and implement NAPs; exchanging information on participating countries’ adaptation planning activities; and sharing technical knowledge on adaptation assessments and programme design. It also provided a platform for countries and those providing technical and financial support to interact.

The UNFCCC Secretariat underlines that the emphasis on small breakout groups encouraged the exchange of best practices on approaches to address common vulnerabilities and climate change risks.

The objectives of the NAP process are to reduce vulnerability to the impacts of climate change by building adaptive capacity, and to facilitate the integration of climate change adaptation, into relevant new and existing policies, programmes and activities, in particular development planning processes and strategies, within all relevant sectors and at different levels. The NAP process provides a new opportunity for countries to formulate comprehensive adaptation plans that cut across sectors, are tightly linked to major development priorities, and take a medium- to long-term approach.

It allows countries to achieve coherence in adaptation efforts at the national level by addressing current and future adaptation needs including links to international processes that enshrine country contributions to climate change efforts and to new sources of climate finance.

The LEG is constituted of 13 experts, as follows: five from African LDCs; two from Asian LDCs; two from small island LDCs; three from Annex II Parties (OECD members of Annex I, but not the economies in transition parties); one from an LDC. The NAP Expo took place on 14-15 April 2015, in Bonn, Germany. [IISD RS Sources] [NAP Expo Website]