Reconsidering National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) as a Policy Framework under the UNFCCC

Under the UNFCCC, the National Adaptation Plan (NAP) plays a central role as a policy framework for adaptation. While significant efforts, including research, have been made on the NAP scheme (which includes NAP formulation as one component), a critical evaluation of the entire NAP scheme is lacking. This includes an analysis of the relationship between the NAP process and the NAPs, their nature and intended functions, the interlinkages and implications of various COP agreements and guidelines on the NAPs, and alignment with the concept of the adaptation planning process. This paper analyzes COP Decisions, relevant documents from constituted bodies, and efforts by relevant international organizations to better understand how the NAP scheme is constructed and operated in order to clarify its strengths and weaknesses. To get an idea of how countries understand the COP Decisions and other relevant guidance for formulating their NAPs, we also reviewed the NAPs of nine countries in the Asia-Pacific region (Bangladesh, Cambodia, Fiji, Kiribati, Nepal, PNG, Sri Lanka, Timor-Leste, and Tonga). As a result, we find critical issues in the international agreements and actions on the NAPs that may become obstacles to global, and eventually national, adaptation efforts and make specific policy recommendations to address these challenges.Key policy insights Neither the NAP process nor the NAPs themselves have been well defined by the COP. As a result, formulated NAPs have no more in common than a ‘plan on adaptation developed by the national government.’It is vital for the COP to define the NAP process and the NAPs more clearly, including their roles and relations, and to ensure consistent support for developing countries’ adaptation efforts through the NAP scheme.The COP should define the NAP process as the adaptation planning process (AP process) and find the roles of the NAPs as the ‘grand design of the AP process’ to enhance the consistency and effectiveness of global efforts on adaptation.