COP30 Presidency Presents Global Alliance to Accelerate Implementation of National Adaptation Plans at NAP Expo 2026
International event organized by the UNFCCC brings together experts, governments, and financial institutions in Kigali, Rwanda, from May 18–21
Climate adaptation is entering a new phase in the international arena as the UNFCCC architecture moves from negotiation to implementation. Countries now have a more integrated set of instruments — including global metrics, planning mechanisms, and financing guidelines — that must be translated into concrete, results-oriented responses to growing climate impacts.
Against this backdrop, NAP Expo 2026, organized by the Least Developed Countries Expert Group (LEG) under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), is bringing together representatives from governments, international organizations, financial institutions, the private sector, and civil society in Kigali, Rwanda, from May 18 to 21 to exchange experiences and strengthen partnerships around National Adaptation Plans (NAPs).
On May 21, the COP30 Presidency will present the vision and initial steps toward consolidating the NAP Implementation Alliance, launched during the Belém Climate Conference in November 2025. The initiative is led by the COP30 Presidency in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the governments of Italy and Germany, with contributions during its design phase from multiple partners, including the NAP Global Network and the NDC Partnership.
Created as a Plan to Accelerate Solutions under the COP30 Action Agenda, the Alliance seeks to accelerate the effective implementation of NAPs by expanding cooperation among governments, the private sector, multilateral development banks, philanthropies, research centers, and technical assistance providers, while mobilizing public and private finance.
Its main objectives include elevating the political importance of National Adaptation Plans within the global climate agenda, encouraging greater private-sector participation in adaptation finance and project delivery, and strengthening enabling conditions — such as access to finance, technology, and technical capacity — needed to turn plans into concrete resilience actions.
According to Alice Amorim, Program Director at the COP30 Presidency, the global ecosystem supporting the implementation of National Adaptation Plans has expanded significantly in recent years, but coordination challenges remain.
“The number of organizations providing technical and financial support for risk assessments, adaptation planning, and project development in vulnerable countries has grown considerably over the past decade. However, this complex ecosystem often addresses NAP implementation in fragmented rather than systemic ways. At the same time, many national and subnational governments still struggle to translate their NAPs into project pipelines capable of attracting public and private investment. The Alliance seeks precisely to facilitate dialogue, strengthen coordination, and accelerate the mobilization of resources aligned with countries’ adaptation priorities in order to deliver tangible results for the most vulnerable populations,” states Amorim.
Currently, 88 countries have already submitted their National Adaptation Plans, reflecting important progress in identifying and planning responses to major climate risks. The main challenge, however, remains turning these strategies into bankable and executable projects capable of attracting investment and delivering concrete impacts on the ground.
The NAP Implementation Alliance aims to help address this bottleneck by promoting stronger alignment between national priorities and technical and financial support mechanisms, while also increasing private-sector participation in adaptation strategies.
Another central theme of NAP Expo 2026 is the implementation of the Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA). Among the most significant outcomes of COP30 was the consensus approval of 59 GGA indicators — the so-called Belém Adaptation Indicators — establishing common parameters to measure collective progress on adaptation, alongside the international commitment to triple climate finance for adaptation by 2035.
COP30 Presidency participation at NAP Expo 2026 (Kigali time | CAT):
May 18 – 4:00 pm to 5:30 pm
Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA): Implementing the UAE Framework for Global Climate Resilience
May 20 – 11:00 am to 12:30 pm
Testing the Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA) Framework
May 20 – 2:00 pm to 3:30 pm
Exploring Models to Connect Countries’ Adaptation Needs with Technical and Financial Assistance
May 21 – 12:00 pm to 12:30 pm (Plenary)
Presentation of the NAP Implementation Alliance
Follow the plenary sessions live at:
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/87566182882?pwd=m2OoKEn5qcqs8PVyX6lYbVVuWHPf3O.1