The UNFCCC Secretariat has published a report updating on progress in the process to formulate and implement national adaptation plans (NAPs). The report points to “a decisive shift… from conceptualization and planning to consolidation of adaptation responses and implementation.” It highlights “clear and measurable progress” in the formulation of NAPs and subsequent implementation of projects, programmes, and policies contains in the plans.

Titled, ‘Progress in the Process to Formulate and Implement National Adaptation Plans,’ the report (FCCC/SBI/2025/17) draws on information compiled by the Least Developed Countries Expert Group (LEG) and the task force that supported the drafting of the report, as well as inputs from countries and their NAPs, UNFCCC constituted bodies, the operating entities of the Financial Mechanism and UN agencies, organizations, and partners. It covers the period from 1 November 2024 to 30 September 2025.

As of 30 September 2025, 144 countries had initiated and launched the NAP process, according to the report. Sixty-seven developing countries, including 23 least developed countries (LDCs) and 14 small island developing States (SIDS), had submitted their NAPs to the UNFCCC.

The report reveals country progress establishing robust institutional mechanisms, developing comprehensive vulnerability and risk assessments, and building coherent policy and planning systems to integrate adaptation across sectors and levels of governance. “Countries have also established frameworks for adaptation planning by defining national adaptation goals, mapping priorities and developing methods to link risks, responses, costs and benefits,” it finds. These frameworks guide implementation, financing, and monitoring of adaptation priorities.

As NAPs continue to evolve, “[c]ountries are embedding [in their plans] the core principles of country ownership, inclusivity, gender responsiveness and transparency, and are adopting whole-of-society approaches,” the report notes.

Despite this progress, the report warns that institutional coordination and ownership of adaptation measures, as well as capacity constraints and heavy reliance on external technical support, continue to pose challenges. It further highlights persistent barriers in accessing finance and insufficient availability of regional and international implementing partners, noting challenges presented by the requirement for each project to complete a full project cycle, “despite extensive efforts invested in framing and presenting priority needs during NAP formulation.”

The report recommends that support be scaled up significantly to respond to developing countries’ growing needs and ambitions.

Underscoring NAPs as “the blueprints for stronger economies, more resilient societies, and faster progress right across the SDGs,” UNFCCC Executive Secretary Simon Stiell called for countries to pick up the pace of climate finance delivery. “The roadmap to mobilize 1.3 trillion dollars in climate finance will clearly be key at COP 30,” he said in a statement on the report’s launch.

The report was issued on 21 October, in advance of the 2025 UN Climate Change Conference (UNFCCC COP 30) in Belém, Brazil, taking place from 10-21 November. [Publication: Progress in the Process to Formulate and Implement National Adaptation Plans: Report by the Secretariat] [Publication Lading Page]