Addis Ababa — A two-day consultative workshop on Enhancing Readiness for Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) Implementation in Africa ended Tuesday in Addis Ababa with participants agreeing on the need for the African Climate Policy Centre (ACPC) and its partners to continue supporting member States in their efforts to combat climate change.

NDCs are at the heart of the Paris Agreement that was signed in 2015 setting out a global action plan to put the world on track to avoid dangerous climate change by limiting global warming to well below 2°C. The NDCs embody efforts by each country to reduce national emissions and adapt to the impacts of climate change.

The ACPC organized the workshop, one of many in a series towards the Talanoa Dialogue 2018, to allow member States to share perspectives and experiences on NDC readiness and implementation; identify weaknesses and strengths in NDCs of African countries; align NDCs with national development plans, the African Union's Agenda 2063 and the global 2030 Agenda for sustainable development; financing of the NDCs; technology; capacity development and related topics.

The Talanoa Dialogue, which was launched in 2017 at COP23 in Germany, is a mandated process requested by Parties to the Paris Agreement to take stock of the collective efforts in relation to progress towards the long-term goal of the accord and to inform the preparation of the NDCs.

In his opening remarks ACPC Officer-in-Charge, James Murombedzi, said member States need substantial support for them to achieve the goals and targets outlined in their NDCs hence the ACPC will continue to work with them.

He said it was important to ensure proper alignment of NDC implementation with other national development agendas, in particular the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and Agenda 2063 of the African Union through an integrative approach and joint programming for cost-effective implementation.

"In this regard, the ACPC carried out a semi-structured survey to shed light on the status of NDC implementation in Africa with a view to supporting member States towards enhancing preparedness and implementation of the various activities specified in their NDCs," he said.

The workshop allowed the ACPC to share findings of the survey with the member States, development partners and other key stakeholders who attended. It also provided countries with an opportunity to share their experiences and challenges with NDC preparedness and preparations for the Talanoa Dialogue.

The workshop highlighted key findings from the survey regarding the status and implementation of the NDCs; established a collaborative framework between member States specifically at sub-regional level for the sharing of information and experiences on the implementation of the NDCs; and promoted the exchange of experience and expertise in the implementation of the NDCs in Africa region.

Participants also discussed the sub-regional specificity of the NDCs and road map for the implementation of the NDCs; and how African countries can enhance good practices with means of implementation for better climate actions through the NDCs, particularly with private sector involvement and human and institutional capacity.

Countries were also helped with preparations for the Talanoa Dialogue and COP24.

National NDC focal points, representatives of civil society, development partners, private sector and academia attended the workshop.