Publications & Tools

Cities and other sub-national governments have an increasingly important role to play in actions which contribute to the implementation of national climate change strategies and commitments. Sub-nationals have key competences in sectors with high greenhouse gas emissions such as transport, buildings, waste management, energy generation and energy use. But how can national governments effectively involve them in their mitigation strategies?

GIZ’s V-NAMA project gained initial experience with vertically integrated Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (V-NAMAs) in Indonesia and South Africa and analysed several other examples of sub-national involvement in the development of national mitigation strategies and actions.

From these experiences and built on current research and practitioner insights, the V-NAMA project in collaboration with Ecofys and ICLEI distilled key lessons and formulated recommendations to help guide governments and international donors to improve NAMA design and implementation through strengthening vertical integration.

These recommendations are accompanied by case studies for vertical integration among sub-national and national governments in climate change mitigation, including:

In an additional document an overview of key tools and resources specifically relevant for efforts to enhance integration of climate action between national and sub-national levels are being provided.

Further information on the V-NAMA project

• The V-NAMA project is being funded by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB) through its International Climate Initiative (IKI). It supports national governments of developing countries in their efforts to mobilize sub-national actors for achieving national mitigation targets through cost-effective incentive packages and MRV systems. Within the project, two partner countries (Indonesia and South Africa) are piloting a multi-level government approach, developing financeable, vertically integrated NAMAs that meet necessary MRV requirements.
• A baseline study on subnational involvement was published last year (see links). It explores current and emerging practice of the involvement of sub-national actors in NAMA design and implementation and presents possible building blocks for an emerging good practice for involving sub-nationals. This study identified a number of barriers to sub-national involvement and ways to overcome them.
• The V-NAMA webinar discussion series “Involving sub-national and city governments in national climate change mitigation strategies” provides a virtual discussion room on vertically integrated climate action.