This report provides an introduction to public engagement on climate change adaptation for decision-makers involved in leading NAP processes. Building public support will be crucial for implementing the adaptation actions prioritized through the NAP process.

As a medium- to long-term response to the climate crisis and to enhance adaptation action, many countries are developing and implementing  NAPs and designing MEL systems to track progress under their NAP processes. However, despite the urgent need to see results and understand the progress made on adaptation, few countries currently track and report on their NAP implementation. This is largely due to limited resources, capacity constraints and a lack of clear guidance on how to report progress on adaptation.

The NAP Global Network prepared this analytical report to provide insights into and practical examples of progress reporting with the intent to encourage its adoption as an integral part of countries' NAP processes. Based on a review of NAP progress reports, this report analyzes various methods countries use to track their adaptation progress and highlights important lessons and good practices. The report seeks to assist NAP country teams and other stakeholders involved in developing, implementing, monitoring, evaluating, and learning from the NAP process, as well as development partners.

Progress reporting is a critical element of the NAP process that helps facilitate its regular tracking and continuous enhancement of adaptation planning and implementation. Progress reports can consolidate into one document the information gathered through various MEL activities undertaken as part of the NAP process. These activities support adaptive management and promote learning, contributing to improvement throughout the NAP process. Importantly, countries can adopt a flexible "learn-by-doing" approach to MEL through progress reporting, even if a fully developed MEL system is not yet in place.

Progress reporting is a dynamic tool that goes beyond just reporting on activities and indicators; it enables stakeholders to reflect strategically on a country's adaptation goals and how to achieve them. Through progress reports, governments can tell a coherent story of adaptation to the observed and anticipated impacts of climate change, enabling them to communicate it to a broad range of stakeholders, including citizens, the private sector, development partners, and the global community. While seemingly procedural, progress reporting can bolster the quality and efficacy of NAPs by supporting better adaptation decision making, transparency, accountability, and communication.

The analysis reveals that countries use progress reporting for various purposes, including providing updates on the status of NAP activities, assessing the effectiveness of the NAP process, and tracking how climate change adaptation is being integrated into development planning and budgeting. Moreover, progress reporting helps build capacity and the identification of successes and challenges in NAP implementation. Inputs from progress reports are also crucial to supporting Paris Agreement implementation, addressing both national and international reporting requirements and advancing the Global Goal on Adaptation. As such, the authors strongly advocate that governments recognize the value of NAP progress reporting and incorporate it as a standard practice.

Countries can conduct progress reporting at any time in the NAP process, with the most benefits seen when it is aligned with the adaptation planning and decision-making cycle. Adaptation progress reporting is context dependent and requires each country to define what progress and success look like based on their specific needs and resources. The report concludes with solutions to common progress reporting challenges, like strengthening NAP process capacity and gradually enhancing reporting methods.

Lithium is a key mineral used in lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery technologies and is anticipated to play a pivotal role in driving the uptake of electric vehicles and stationary storage applications over the next decade. Its criticality is reflected in its inclusion in the critical minerals list of eight major global economies (the United States, European Union, Japan, Canada, Australia, China, Republic of Korea, and India), one of only three minerals to be included in an assessment by all eight countries (the others being tungsten and cobalt). In 2023, India reaffirmed lithium’s importance by designating it as a “critical” mineral along with 29 other minerals. The International Energy Agency (IEA) also forecasts that lithium for clean energy will see the fastest growth in global demand among different critical minerals, growing by 17 times between 2022 and 2045 under the IEA’s net-zero scenario, underscoring its unique importance in driving the energy transition.

India’s geostrategic allies and competitors have long recognized the importance of lithium in maintaining their industrial competitiveness and have taken steps to secure access to lithium resources through direct investments in overseas mines and long-term supply agreements, as well as setting up processing and refining capabilities. In contrast, Indian companies have thus far played a negligible role in the lithium battery supply chain, which, if left unaddressed, may create energy and economic security risks for the country. A lack of decisive action to secure a lithium supply in the coming decade could leave India behind in the race to develop a Li-ion battery manufacturing base and stymie the development of key industries such as electric vehicles and stationary storage applications, hindering India’s economic growth and job-creation potential.

The report would be useful to several Indian ministries, state-owned enterprises, such as Khanij Bidesh Limited (KABIL), as well as industry actors in India seeking to establish a presence in the global lithium supply chain.

In India, transportation currently accounts for 14% of greenhouse gas emissions. With over 300 million vehicles currently on the road and 200 more million to be added in the next two decades, India faces a massive challenge to electrify its road vehicles and reach its goal of net-zero by 2070. However, this challenge also provides India with a tremendous opportunity. As the 4th largest producer of automobiles, the transition to EVs provides a huge economic opportunity if India localizes EV and battery manufacturing.

India could become a hub for EV manufacturing and recycling with the right incentives and government policies that can meet strong domestic demand for EVs and take advantage of the growing manufacturing sector. India can immediately become a vital segment of the battery supply chain by producing battery cells and expanding mineral processing. This report summarizes consultations with over 25 companies and actors to determine what factors are crucial in the considerations of companies on where to invest in and expand manufacturing.

This report gives an overview of India’s targets and current state of play and then discusses battery supply chain fundamentals that need to be critically assessed to understand where India has the strongest comparative advantage. It closes by outlining key companies’ decision-making factors and assesses India’s potential comparative advantage against each factor.

As the impacts of climate change are felt by more and more communities around the world, governments are increasingly using their national adaptation plan (NAP) processes to identify and address their medium- to long-term priorities for adaptation to climate change and integrate them into development planning and budgeting processes.

Although adaptation is place-based, climate change is not contained within political borders. The impacts of climate change can generate both risks and opportunities at the transboundary level, irrespective of the sovereign boundaries that appear on the map. Similarly, adaptation responses can also have transboundary effects, both positive and negative, and, as such, transboundary coordination and collaboration on adaptation planning should be encouraged to help address and manage these risks.

This brief aims to offer adaptation practitioners, policy-makers, and negotiators—especially those involved in their countries' NAP processes—new perspectives on how the NAP process can play a role in addressing transboundary climate risks.

Rural communities in the Peruvian Andes are heavily impacted by climate change and land degradation. They rely on agriculture and livestock for their livelihoods, and their productivity is often affected by erratic rainfall patterns, prolonged droughts, and soil erosion. As a result of these challenges, rural communities face a range of socio-economic issues, including food insecurity, poverty, and migration to urban areas.

Land restoration can help address the root causes of land degradation and promote the development of sustainable land management practices. By restoring degraded ecosystems and promoting the regeneration of forests, these initiatives can help improve soil health, increase water retention, and support the recovery of local biodiversity. These measures can also help to tackle climate change by reducing the risk of landslides, improving water availability, and increasing carbon sequestration.

Moreover, land restoration initiatives can provide a range of economic opportunities for rural communities, including the production of non-timber forest products and increased agricultural production through agroforestry. By involving women in these initiatives, land restoration can also help to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment in rural communities.

We conducted a Sustainable Asset Valuation (SAVi) assessment of nature-based infrastructure (NBI) in the Peruvian Andes. This is intended to provide an estimate of the system-wide economic impacts of landscape restoration practices and the value this can generate for the community and landscape (i.e., investment vs. benefits). SAVi aims to go beyond a conventional cost-benefit analysis (CBA) by providing a more comprehensive analysis of the systemic impacts of infrastructure investments throughout their life cycles.

The benefits of land restoration include a number of environmental, economic and social impacts, with the greatest seen in livelihood protection for the community, including job creation and greater agricultural resilience in the face of climate change.

Mine closure policies and practices have advanced over recent decades, and most governments now recognize that closure is essential to the future of communities and the environment affected by former mine sites. However, current practices fall short of achieving final closure, as mine sites are left in the hands of mine operators indefinitely, without a pathway to relinquish the site to the next landowner and to realize post-mining land uses, or as sites are relinquished without plans or funds to monitor and manage the site after closure and ensure those post-mining land uses are achieved.

Relinquishment, which is the legal transfer of responsibility for a closed mine site from the operator to the next landowner after all closure activities have been completed, is an important but generally absent consideration in modern mine closure policies or processes. There are limited global examples of successfully relinquished mines and few well-developed government policies on relinquishment, despite both industry and governments recognizing its importance to the current and future sustainable management of mineral resources.

This report reviews the concept of relinquishment and provides a high-level scan of global practices and policy. This is followed by a discussion of some of the challenges and key issues that governments should consider when developing relinquishment protocols. It concludes with a series of recommended steps to relinquishment.

Trade between developing countries and regions—known as “South–South trade”—is growing rapidly. In the past couple of decades, its value has grown almost tenfold, from USD 600 billion in 1995 to USD 5.3 trillion in 2021.

To achieve stable and sustainable growth that benefits small-scale producers, communities, and the environment, these countries need to adopt trade policies that support positive social and environmental practices and improve market access opportunities for small-scale producers and small and medium-sized enterprises.

Voluntary sustainability standards (VSSs) can be used as a tool to support these efforts. This report outlines five examples of developing country governments and regional blocs in the Global South that are integrating VSSs in trade policy to promote trade that supports more sustainable production practices while also addressing some of the concerns associated with their adoption.

These examples include:

• a Memorandum of Understanding seeking to boost the trade of organic certified products between Chile and Brazil,
• the development of a recognition system for VSSs across the African continent,
• the inclusion of a VSS in national legislation as a minimum requirement for producing and trading crops in Southern Africa, and
• the development of regional organic standards in East Africa and the Pacific alongside local assurance systems that make it easier for farmers to participate in the schemes.

The report finds that integrating VSSs in South–South trade policies can help reduce some barriers to trade for smallholders and small and medium-sized enterprises, encourage trust and recognition in VSSs, lower the costs of compliance, increase demand for VSS-compliant products, and promote harmonization between different standards.

It also includes recommendations on how to unlock VSSs’ potential to increase and promote more sustainable practices and enhance market access for small-scale producers and medium-sized enterprises through trade policy.

Sugar cane is an ancient agricultural commodity that has been sustaining sugar cravings across the globe for thousands of years. Today, over 80% of sugar cane is converted into cane sugar and used as a sweetener for a wide variety of food and drinks. The remaining 20% is converted into biofuel, as it’s one of the most efficient crops at converting sunlight into energy.

Sugar cane is considered one of the most valuable agricultural commodities in the world. As a result, cultivating and processing sugar cane provides livelihoods for more than 100 million people in 120 countries. However, the value of sugar is much higher than the value of the cane from which it is produced. Low farm gate prices, coupled with high production costs and intense competition, mean that many smallholder farmers in developing countries live in poverty.

These farmers must also grapple with various sustainability challenges, including crop losses caused by climate change, pests and diseases, biodiversity loss, and water depletion. In recent years, they have had to cope with additional challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic and ongoing global economic uncertainty, such as drops in demand and soaring fertilizer and labour costs.

Voluntary sustainability standards (VSSs) such as Bonsucro and ProTerra Foundation have been working to overcome some of these challenges in the sugar cane sector for more than 10 years. These VSSs set sustainability requirements for sugar cane farmers and mills to meet in exchange for certifying their product as VSS-compliant and gaining market recognition. Today, nearly 8% of sugar cane produced complies with one of these VSSs.

However, it is unclear whether VSSs in the sugar cane sector have a significant impact on farmers’ incomes and livelihoods. There is some evidence to suggest that VSS-compliant farmers may receive higher prices when they receive premiums for their produce, but a lack of demand for sustainable cane sugar means that often, VSS-compliant sugar is not sold as such—and, thus, without a premium.

Heavy regulations in major producing and consuming countries and the complexity of the sugar cane value chain make it difficult for industry stakeholders acting alone to have a meaningful impact. This report provides recommendations for how governments, private sector actors, and standard-setting bodies can work together to make sugar cane production fairer and more sustainable.

This report identifies seven guiding principles that could inform developing country governments’ efforts to prepare financing strategies for adaptation. These principles are developed based on a review of existing financing strategies for adaptation and input from experts engaged in their development. They help guide the process by which these strategies are prepared and determine the content included within them. As elaborated in this report, financing strategies for adaptation in developing countries should:

1. be country driven and fit for purpose;
2. engage ministries of finance and planning;
3. take a participatory and inclusive approach;
4. identify the best and most strategic uses of various sources of finance and different financial instruments for adaptation;
5. be aligned and consistent with other processes that are relevant to financing climate adaptation, including national development priorities and other financing strategies;
6. identify actions to improve the enabling environment to scale up finance for adaptation; and
7. set out processes to implement the strategy and measure its success.