The Inception Workshop for the Preparation of Bhutan’s Second Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement brought together some 35 representatives from the government, private sector, Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs).

The workshop was held on Friday, 24^th January in Bhutan’s capital Thimphu. It was organized by the National Environment Commission (NEC) in partnership with UNDP and saw a presentation on the country’s first NDCs. 

Bhutan submitted its first INDC to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) in 2015, which was ratified by the country’s Parliament in 2017. Bhutan is among the 112 countries that committed to update its NDCs to enhance climate ambitions.

The country preparing its second NDC comes at a time when 2020 is seen as a defining year to pledge greater leadership and commitment to step up climate action. Despite being carbon negative, Bhutan is facing the brunt of climate change with the country experiencing increased risk of glacier lake outburst floods, and growing incidences of flashfloods and landslides, forest fires, water shortages, etc.

The inception workshop walked the participants through work carried out to implement the first NDC gaps and needs, and did a stock-take of recent development in relation to NDC in the context of the Paris Agreement and relevant COP decisions and options for way forward and timeline in preparation of Bhutan’s 2^nd NDCs.

UNDP presented its Climate Promise, an ambitious undertaking that aims to help 100 countries enhance their NDC by 2020. UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner presented this scaled-up commitment of support on 20^th September 2019 in support of the UN Secretary General’s Climate Action Summit, which took place on 23^rd September.

The NDC partnership between NEC and UNDP builds on the successful implementation of various projects in the past and on existing projects, such as National Adaptation Plan (NAP) Readiness, Gender NDC and Climate Resilient Agriculture. UNDP is also well-positioned to support countries on these efforts with a long track record of supporting NDC processes globally, which has led to insights on critical bottlenecks, key success factors, emerging trends and anticipated support needs.

A series of stakeholder consultations through an inclusive and participatory process will follow in the next few weeks to discuss and finalize Bhutan’s second NDC.