Editing IPCC:AR6/WGIII/Chapter-4 (section)

==== 4.3.2.2 The Nature of National Development Plans Is Changing ====

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Governments are increasingly resorting to the development of national plans to build institutions, resources, and risk/shock management capabilities to guide national development. The number of countries with a national development plan has more than doubled, from about 62 in 2006 ( [[#World%20Bank--2007|World Bank 2007]] ) to 134 plans published between 2012 and 2018 ( [[#Chimhowu--2019|Chimhowu et al. 2019]] ). The comeback of planning may be linked to increased consideration given to sustainability, which is by construction forward-looking and far ranging, and therefore requires state and civil society to prepare and implement plans at all levels of governance. Governments are increasingly engaging in the development and formulation of national plans in an organised, conscious and continual attempt to select the best available alternatives to achieve specific goals.

A systematic assessment of 107 national development plans and 10 country case studies provides useful insights regarding the type and content of the plans ( [[#Chimhowu--2019|Chimhowu et al. 2019]] ). development plans are increasingly focusing on mobilising action across multiple actors and multiple dimensions to enhance resilience and improve the ability to undertake stronger mitigation actions. Various initiatives such as the World Summit for Children in 1990; the Heavily Indebted Poor Country initiative that started offering debt relief in exchange for commitments by beneficiary states to invest in health, education, nutrition and poverty reduction in 1996; and push towards Comprehensive Development Frameworks seem to have catalysed the development of national actions plans across countries to estimate, measure and track investments and progress towards SDGs.

The most recent development plans also tend to differ from the earlier ones in terms of their approach. Complexity science has over the years argued for new forms of planning based on contingency, behaviour change, adaptation and constant learning ( [[#Colander--2016|Colander and Kupers 2016]] ; [[#Ramalingam--2013|Ramalingam, 2013]] ), and new plans have increasingly focused on increasing resilience of individuals, organisations and systems ( [[#Hummelbrunner--2013|Hummelbrunner and Jones, 2013]] ). Finally, alongside short-term (typically five year) plans with operational purpose, countries have also expressed visions of their development pathways over longer time horizons, via, for example, Voluntary National Reviews submitted in the context of the UN High Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development.

National development plans are also increasingly more holistic in their approach, linking closely with SDGs and incorporating climate action in their agendas. For instance, the Low Carbon Development Initiative (LCDI), launched in 2017 by the Government of Indonesia, seeks to identify the development policies that can help Indonesia achieve multiple (social, economic, and environmental) goals simultaneously along with preserving and improving the country’s natural resources ( [[#Bappenas--2019|Bappenas 2019]] ). Likewise, Nepal’s Fifteenth Plan (five-year) recognises the need for climate mitigation and adaptation and corresponding access to international finance and technologies. The plan suggests mobilisation of foreign aid in the climate change domain in line with Nepal’s priorities and its inclusion in the country’s climate-friendly development programs as the key opportunities in this regard ( [[#Nepal--2020|Nepal 2020]] ).

China’s development plans have evolved over time from being largely growth oriented, and geared largely towards the objectives of addressing poverty, improving health, education and public well-being to also including modernisation of agriculture, industry and infrastructure, new forms of urbanisation and a clear intent of focusing on innovation and new drivers of development (Central Compilation &amp; Translation Press 2016). China’s 14th Five Year Plan not only seeks to promote high quality development in all aspects and focus on strengthening the economy in the global industrial chain, but also includes a vision of an ‘ecological civilisation’, which had been developed ( [[#CPC-CC--2015|CPC-CC 2015]] ) and analysed earlier ( [[#He--2016|He 2016]] ; [[#Xiao--2017|Xiao and Zhao 2017]] ). It seeks to enhance China’s climate pledge to peak CO 2 emissions by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060 through more vigorous policies and measures. Development plans tie in multiple development priorities that evolve and broaden over time as societies develop, as exemplified inter alia by the history of development plans in India (Box 4.4).

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