Mountain Adaptation Outlook Series - Synthesis Report

National Adaptation Policies

National climate change adaptation policies were analysed for all the mountain regions. These policies have been developed or are currently under development for most of the countries. National communication to the UNFCCC also forms an important part of national adaptation efforts on climate change, in addition to conventions such as the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), along with the implementation of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) relevant for climate change adaptation. The general trend in national adaptation efforts within the mountain regions, with a few exceptions, is that current policies offer a very limited focus on the importance of climate change adaptation in mountains. Although many of the countries acknowledge the importance of mountains and mountain ecosystems, and that climate change is projected to adversely affect these areas, there is a lack of specific strategies to deal with these issues. National climate change policies exist or are under development for the majority of the East African countries, and many of the countries have frameworks for environmental protection in place, although these have limited focus on climate change impacts. In the Hindu Kush Himalaya, every country has climate change adaptation policies in place or under development. This is also the case for the Carpathians, where adaptation policies or strategies have been implemented by almost all of the countries. In the South Caucasus, however, there has been limited focus on climate change adaptation in national policies, and the issue has mainly gained attention in the countries through the work of donors.

Kilimanjaro, Tanzania

policies in place, although the formulation of such policies is still at an early stage. Of the Western Balkan countries, only Kosovo* and Bosnia and Herzegovina have specific national adaptation strategies in place, and Croatia has a policy under preparation, while the remaining countries rely on their national communication to the UNFCCC, or on adaptation efforts within sectoral policies.

National legislation or policies addressing climate change adaptation are absent, and the countries rely on international mechanisms with the intention of developing National Adaptation Plans (NAPs). The Central Asian countries also rely on international agreements and frameworks for their national climate change adaptation efforts. Although efforts have been made to develop plans and programmes for climate change action, mechanisms and strategies for implementation are still limited or inefficient. In the Andes, there is a growing recognition of the importance of having national climate change

* This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSCR 1244/99 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo declaration of independence.

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