From Climate Commitments to Action — The NDC Toolbox Navigator Brings a World of Resources into Customized Focus

By Greg Carlock, Derina Man

To date, 191 countries have submitted national climate commitments, or nationally determined contributions (NDCs) to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase resilience to a changing climate. Nations now turn to implementing their commitments, which align with their national sustainable development priorities.
 
Government officials and country-level stakeholders face many challenges as they move to begin delivering on their NDC targets. Navigating the world of analytical tools and technical resources need not be among them.  With the launch of the NDC Toolbox Navigator, fortunately, it won’t have to be.
 
With this in mind, the broad consortium of actors that comprise the NDC Partnership recently launched the NDC Toolbox Navigator. The Toolbox Navigator is an online resource focused specifically on resources that support NDC implementation. It brings together existing tools and resources into one place, and helps visitors navigate more than 20 existing online platforms. The Navigator provides a user-friendly search experience based on where countries are in the spectrum of implementing their targets. Curating more than 250 tools, the Navigator returns results based on relevance to context, activity and need:

  • Need to identify and determine the scope of climate risks?  Users may find software to screen for planning risks posted by climate change and variability.
  • Have a plan of action in place but lack finance?  Users may find a finance readiness toolkit to help prepare for and access climate finance.
  • Engaged in regional scenario planning?  Users may find a simulator to assess policies for the Asia-Pacific region to stabilize the climate through emissions reductions scenarios.
  • Want to learn what others are doing and share experiences?  Users may find a collaborative online knowledge-sharing and learning network led by institutions in the Global South.
  • Found a relevant tool but want to better understand before investing time to apply it to your country?  Users may find profiles explaining users’ experiences with a tool or resources. 
  • Know that you need a particular type of technical advisory support?  Users may find information about specialized technical assistance available to support their specific need.

The Toolbox Navigator benefits several target audiences, including:

  • Government ministries seeking information on tools for NDC implementation
  • Development institutions and multinational assistance organizations trying to identify existing resources and avoid tool/support redundancy
  • Research and implementation institutions or civil society organizations trying to identify existing support tools.

Toolbox Navigator Part of Larger NDC Coordination Process

This month’s launch of the Toolbox Navigator does not preclude providing input to best ensure the platform renders maximum possible benefit to its audiences. For more information, to provide feedback, or to join as a research partner, contact knowledgeportal@ndcpartnership.org.

It’s also important to note the Toolbox Navigator is just one part of the larger NDC Partnership Knowledge Portal effort. Other prongs of this effort include the Funding & Initiatives Navigator, launched in 2016, and the NDC Data Explorer, expected to launch later in 2017.

By working together, developed and developing countries as well as international institutions and non-state actors, can help each other achieve ambitious climate goals. The NDC Partnership will continually provide updates on Knowledge Portal development and new resources, and encourages all potential partners and collaborators to get involved today
 

The Toolbox Navigator was developed collaboratively through a working group of the NDC Partnership Support Unit. It is the result of an extensive outreach process between the NDC Partnership and a wide array of partners.  The NDC Partnership seeks to create greater balance between Northern and Southern resources, experiences, capacities and tools by identifying other organizations for collaborative data input and examples.  Additional features and content will be added as the NDC landscape evolves.

Strategic Objective
Adaptation, Integration, Mitigation
Topics
Adaptation, Emissions, Low Emission Development, Climate Change, Conflict and Governance, Mitigation, Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning, Partnership, Resilience, Training
Region
Global

Greg Carlock

Greg Carlock is an Associate in the Climate Program at World Resources Institute (WRI), where he develops and manages new online data tools and visualization platforms that support climate action and NDC implementation. As part of the NDC Partnership Support Unit, Greg manages the development of online navigators and data explorers for the NDC Knowledge Portal. This includes the NDC Funding and Initiative Navigator (Nov 2016), the NDC Toolbox Navigator (May 2017) and the NDC Data Explorer (Nov 2017). Prior to joining WRI, Greg was the technical lead for the CLEER Tool, a GHG accounting protocol and calculation platform developed with the US Agency for International Development that helps estimate the GHG benefits of clean energy investments around the world.

Derina Man headshot

Derina Man

Derina Man is a Senior Managing Consultant at ICF, a global professional services firm that delivers consulting services and technology solutions in energy, climate change, and other areas. Derina provides technical and policy support related to low-emissions development strategies, greenhouse gas accounting and mitigation, and the phase-out of fluorinated gases. She is currently the project manager for the USAID Transparency and Long-Term Strategies project.

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