The Global NDC Conference Report 2023: Leading Ambitious Climate Policy and Action is a Conference Report published in September 2023. It summarizes the key discussions and outcomes of the Global NDC Conference held in Berlin from 31 May to 2 June 2023, which brought together nearly 350 practitioners and policymakers from over 50 countries.
Key insights:
The conference focused on how to make NDCs more just, feasible, financeable, and ambitious.
The three main themes were: governance and policy alignment, mobilizing finance, and raising ambition through innovation and scale.
A major message was that NDCs must move beyond climate targets and become practical implementation tools linked to national development, finance, adaptation, and long-term strategies.
The report stresses the importance of whole-of-government and whole-of-society approaches, including stronger involvement of local governments, youth, Indigenous Peoples, women, civil society, and the private sector.
Finance was presented as a central challenge. The report emphasizes the need to translate NDCs into investment plans, build bankable project pipelines, manage risks, and mobilize private finance.
The conference also highlighted the importance of adaptation finance, climate transparency, just energy transition, industry decarbonization, digital tools, data, and multilevel climate action.
Main message: Ambitious NDCs require stronger governance, inclusive participation, clear investment planning, better access to finance, and practical innovation that can be scaled across countries and sectors.
