Financing NDC Implementation through Climate Promise: Forward

The challenge

As countries move from updated NDCs to implementation, the central challenge is translating priorities into credible policies, programmes, financing strategies and investment pipelines that can mobilize public, concessional, private and philanthropic finance at scale. This event will demonstrate how Climate Promise: Forward connects country-owned NDC priorities with coordinated UN support that delivers inclusive climate and development results. This supports the COP31 priority of strengthening financial and institutional mechanisms for climate action by connecting country demand with coordinated UN expertise and financing partners.

The approach

This high-level event will showcase how the UN system is working with finance actors across the capital stack to drive investment in NDC implementation and support the COP 31 Climate Implementation Bridge.

Building on lessons from the latest NDC cycle, the event will feature senior government leaders, civil society representatives and finance sector actors to explore how the UN serves as a trusted partner, convener and common thread across the climate finance landscape to transform NDC priorities into investable opportunities and mobilize capital toward implementation. It will bring in voices from key finance constituencies, including Ministries of Finance, MDBs, commercial banks, private investors and philanthropic organizations. Rather than focusing solely on their individual institutional roles, speakers will share their experiences of collaborating with the UN and how these partnerships help overcome barriers, de-risk investments, align financial flows with national climate priorities, and accelerate delivery of NDCs. The voice of financial actors will be complemented by that of indigenous communities and youth representative to demonstrate the impact of NDC implementation on the ground.

The discussion will highlight how UN Country Teams - with UNDP's technical leadership and the Resident Coordinator's convening role - bring government, UN entities, development partners and private actors around country-owned priorities, closing with a practical proposition: what countries need, what the UN system offers, and how COP31 can accelerate NDC implementation.

This event will serve as the flagship UN event on the Climate Promise: Forward, the UN Secretary General mandated framework on how the UN system is coordinating its support to government on NDC implementation.