Regulation & International Instruments
Adaptation communication
A report that countries submit under the Paris Agreement setting out their adaptation priorities, implementation and support needs, plans and actions, recorded in a public UNFCCC registry.
Definition
A communication established by Article 7, paragraphs 10–12, of the Paris Agreement. Each Party should, as appropriate, submit and update periodically an adaptation communication covering its priorities, implementation and support needs, plans and actions, without creating additional burden for developing country Parties. Communications are recorded in a public registry maintained by the UNFCCC secretariat.
References
Overview
What it means
The adaptation communication is flexible by design: it can be a stand-alone document or a component of, or submitted alongside, a national adaptation plan, a nationally determined contribution, a national communication or a biennial transparency report. Its purposes (decision 9/CMA.
1) are to raise the visibility of adaptation and its balance with mitigation, strengthen action and support for developing countries, feed the global stocktake, and enhance learning.
How it is used
Parties submit AdComs through the UNFCCC's public registry (operational since 1 June 2022, at unfccc. int/ACR); of the 47 submitted by September 2022, 25 were stand-alone and most others were NDC adaptation components. The Adaptation Committee provides supplementary guidance to help Parties prepare them.
Why it matters
Adaptation long lacked the structured reporting channel that mitigation had through NDCs. AdComs create the record against which the global stocktake assesses collective adaptation progress and against which support needs — especially finance — become visible.
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