Editing IPCC:AR6/WGII/Chapter-17 (section)

===== 17.4.2.1.2 Climate change policies, strategies and plans =====

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Climate change policies and plans are important in the translation of national commitments and legal requirements into specific on the ground strategies and guidelines, which enable actions across multiple spheres and scales of government and non-government institutions and actors.

Substantial developments in adaptation policy have occurred since AR5 ( ''high confidence'' ). Perhaps the most significant is the NDCs required under the Paris Agreement, where 184 out of 197 parties to the UNFCCC have already submitted their first plans ( [[#UNDP%20and%20UNFCCC--2019|UNDP and UNFCCC, 2019]] ). The NDCs have allowed countries to articulate their priorities and ambition with respect to climate action, and it has been suggested that these can in turn lead to cascading policies (and laws) that drive and enable adaptation and climate risk management. Analysis of the first NDCs submitted in the lead-up to and after the Paris Agreement showed that adaptation priorities were more often articulated by developing countries and least developed countries, while developed countries and emerging economies focused mostly on mitigation (Pauw et al., 2019). As of 2019, over 90 developing nations are at various stages of preparing National Adaptation Plans and 112 nations have indicated their intention to revise their NDCs for the 2020 update ( [[#UNDP%20and%20UNFCCC--2019|UNDP and UNFCCC, 2019]] ).

Several other international agreements, including the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction and the UN Agenda 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, have had significant impacts on the adaptation and risk-management decision-making processes. For example, the Sendai Framework articulates the need for improved understanding of disaster risk in all its dimensions of exposure, vulnerability and hazard characteristics; accountability for disaster risk management; preparedness to ‘Build Back Better’; recognition of stakeholders and their roles; mobilisation of risk-sensitive investment to avoid the creation of new risk resilience of health infrastructure, cultural heritage and workplaces; strengthening of international cooperation and partnership; and risk-informed donor policies and programmes, including financial support and loans from international financial institutions.

Specific adaptation policies have been formulated at national, regional/state and local levels across 68 countries and 136 coastal cities ( [[#Olazabal--2019a|Olazabal et al., 2019a]] ). At the national level, the quantity and complexity of adaptation policies have increased since AR5, with most policies coming into force since 2009 ( [[#Nachmany--2018|Nachmany and Setzer, 2018]] ). Adaptation is addressed in the executive climate policies of at least 170 countries ( [[#Nachmany--2019a|Nachmany et al., 2019a]] ). Documented sub-national adaptation policies are more prevalent in developed countries and emerging economies, as compared with low- and middle-income ones ( [[#Olazabal--2019b|Olazabal et al., 2019b]] ). For example, by 2017, 26% of large and medium-sized European cities had an adaptation plan or a joint adaptation–mitigation plan in place ( [[#Reckien--2018a|Reckien et al., 2018a]] ).

Adaptation policies often comprise multiple goals and instruments, which develop over time, especially where jurisdiction over policy issues is shared among agencies or levels of government ( [[#Río--2013|Río and Howlett, 2013]] ). The increase in the number and complexity of policy instruments across geared towards adaptation raises questions of coherence and alignment between the selected policy mixes and their effectiveness ( [[#England--2018|England et al., 2018]] ; [[#Ranabhat--2018|Ranabhat et al., 2018]] ; [[#Lesnikowski--2019|Lesnikowski et al., 2019]] ).

Evaluation of national adaptation plans (NAPs) has only recently been undertaken. [[#Woodruff--2019|Woodruff and Regan (2019)]] compared national adaptation plans from 38 countries and concluded that most were strong in identifying vulnerabilities and identifying potential adaptation options but were weaker in articulating implementation pathways and monitoring of progress; plans written by multi-agency teams were nearly always of higher quality. [[#Garschagen--2021|Garschagen et al. (2021)]] showed that, while most NAPs consider future changes in climate hazard, many do not consider how vulnerability and exposure might change, concluding that this limits the potential effectiveness of the plans. Morgan et al. (2019) showed that NAPs that are consistent with the Paris Agreement can enable development pathways that promote synergies between environmental, social and economic goals.

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