Participatory NDCs for a climate-just response in a COVID-19 world

2021 - 2026

The submission of revised national climate plans (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement is an important milestone in 2020 in order to further close the large gap between the climate targets and the previous requirements of the governments. Due to COVID-19 situation, conditions for an active CSO engagement are very difficult due to the unlimited attention to COVID-19 and the partial Little attention to climate policy, government restrictions on travels and gatherings, etc.. Awareness of cumulative effects and various solutions for both climate change and COVID-19 among decision-makers in project countries is very low due to the strong COVID emergency approach. Tanzania like many project countries treat climate measures during the COVID19 recovery phase as secondary and see these two as completely decoupled. The project addresses this situation with a focus on the voice and the contributions of civil society organizations in the project countries, especially in Bangladesh, Tanzania and Uganda, for participatory and gender-equitable improved NDCs in the context of the COVID-19 recovery are taken into account when creating the NDC.


Tanzania submitted its first Intended Nationally Determined Contribution to the UNFCCC by 2015. Since 2015, the URT has been revising and updating the NDC and implementation plan to ensure they are ambitious and realistic commitments. The process has been slow that expected due to limited available resources and the arising challenges like COVID-19 which have been changing the wave of focus of the government. Currently the review process of the Tanzania NDC is complete, and the NDC has been submitted to the ministerial cabinet for approval to be submitted to the UNFCCC and effective commencement of the implementation.


Through this project, the second review of the draft NDC was conducted to address the key issues of gender, WASH and blue economy which were missing. This also provided an opportunity for enhancement of CSOs in the technical session of revising the NDC and implementation plan that ensured practical ambitions on both adaptation and mitigation, expected to strengthen monitoring, reporting, engagement, ownership and build country resilience to the impacts of climate change and equally contribute to the global effort of reducing GHGs emission.

Project Impact

What this project will achieve
Improve stakeholders’ engagement in the technical sessions: CSOs and gov. (Mainland and Zanzibar)
Building collaborative efforts to champion the development of ambitious NDC through enhances advocacy and communication of NDCs
Enhancement of ambitions and inclusion of key main issues/sectors into the draft NDC; including gender equality, blue economy and WASH.
The resilience, development opportunities and participation of particularly vulnerable population groups and civil society with regard to the negative consequences of disasters and climate change on development opportunities and living conditions has been increased through the people-centered and gender-responsive implementation of actions under relevant national climate plans (especially NDCs and national adaptation plans

CAN on the field

Field photographs and videos

The sound of change: Radio station covering the new developed NDC

Report on the Crisis: Journalists exchanging ideas how to report on climate change druing a journalist summer school

Engagement of CAN Tanzania And Vice President Office-Environment Division In Development Of National Determined Contributions (NDC)