In 47 developing countries, across four regions, and with the support of 14 partners, National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) are promoting ambitious climate action across the world. These NAPs also help countries meet their commitments under the Paris Agreement, and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.
A core part of the NAPs is working to integrate climate change adaptation into medium and long-term national planning and financing.
In the case of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), with its unique decentralised political and administrative structure, implementing national policies can be complex. This means that the NAP BiH project has a strong focus on municipal-level financing and bottom-up programming.
The main goal is improving national co-ordination mechanisms for planning in multiple sectors – enhancing climate action at the national and sub-national levels. At the same time, the project is helping to develop a financing framework at the municipal level, including identifying financing solutions.
In selected municipalities, the project is exploring potential climate finance for future investments and figuring out possibilities for incentivising the private sector to take climate action.
Developing municipal assistance tools for adaptation planning and financing in order to design ‘bankable’ adaptation interventions will help secure financing for climate change adaptation action for medium- to long-term planning.
One of the most effective adaptation mechanisms for managing disaster risks is by establishing disaster insurance schemes. With support from UNDP in BiH and financing through the Green Climate Fund (GCF) Readiness and Preparatory Support Programme, this is underway.
Working with multiple partners, various governmental institutions are involved in the NAP process, e.g. the Ministry of Spatial Planning, Civil Engineering, and Ecology of Republika Srpska as the country’s UNFCCC and GCF focal point, the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations of BiH as a state-level ministry in charge of co-ordination of climate change adaptation activities throughout the country, and the Federal Ministry of Environment and Tourism.
According to the European Environment Agency, annual flood losses in BiH are expected to increase five-fold by 2050 and up to 17-fold by 2080.
The UNDP BiH NAP project understands that more attention should be paid to educating locals – especially young people – to this reality. It also recognises that we need more action in the field of flood risk insurance and other natural disaster risk mitigation mechanisms.
‘Establishing a flood and other natural disaster insurance system for legal entities, farms, public, and residential buildings can contribute to reducing the risk of floods and other natural disasters. Through project activities, we encourage discussion between key stakeholders in this area to define the risk management assurance model applicable in BiH’, said Raduška Cupać, UNDP Project Manager.
