A strong alliance for international climate action: GIZ becomes a member of the NDC Partnership

On 29 April, the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH became the first bilateral development cooperation organisation in the world to be welcomed as an institutional member of the NDC Partnership. As a member, GIZ now directly supports one of the world’s most important climate policy initiatives, which brings together 114 countries, 44 institutions and 36 associate members.

The NDC Partnership was co-initiated by the German Government in 2016 as a global partnership to support developing countries and emerging economies in translating the targets set out in the Paris Agreement into Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). On behalf of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), GIZ has been working closely with the NDC Partnership right from the beginning, and supports the Partnership Secretariat and member countries in implementing their contributions. GIZ also supports initiatives aimed at updating the NDCs and supporting a green economic recovery in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

A proven partner for a common objective

After five years of close collaboration with the NDC Partnership, GIZ’s admission as an institutional member is an important step in strengthening and expanding cooperation for the coming years. As a member, GIZ can now directly contribute its experience in the areas of climate change mitigation and adaptation in around 120 countries to the Partnership. Membership also underlines GIZ’s commitment to ambitious climate action, an issue that is already integrated into around one third of its portfolio.

The 2015 Paris Agreement saw 197 countries making a commitment to joint action on climate change mitigation and adaptation. The signatory states want to limit global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius compared with pre-industrial levels, and preferably to 1.5 degrees, and adapt to the impacts of climate change.