Overview

Ministries of Finance are playing an important role in the inter-ministerial coordination to update or communicate the Nationally Determined Contribution, which can be updated at any time, but the Paris Agreement currently assumes a 5-year cycle, with each new submission expected to be more ambitious than the previous one.  Responsibility for NDC development and implementation can vary widely across countries, but mostly fall under environment ministries.  In practice, Ministries of Finance have traditionally been less directly involved in these activities.

The efforts under Helsinki Principle 6 build on the work programs of all other Helsinki Principles, and aim to help Members improve their ability to evaluate the macro-fiscal impacts of NDCs and long-term climate strategies, and provide effective guidance to the NDC development process.

Key actions under Helsinki Principle 6 include:

  • Identifying a list of economic-fiscal guidelines and requirements that Finance Ministries could issue to sector ministries and agencies for the NDC development process in future, as well as increasing the awareness of tools, resources, and support available to assess the macro-fiscal impacts of NDC and Long Term Strategy implementation.
  • Providing opportunities for peer exchange informed by related institutions on good practices and instruments that Members can use to support other Ministries in the NDC implementation and validation process.
  • Facilitating access to networks for information, resource sharing, and visibility of success stories.

Crosscutting: NDC Support Initiative (HP1/6)

Country Leads 

flagCambodia
spain flagSpain
uganda flagUganda

 

Member Countries 

Bahrain, Croatia, Cote d’Ivoire, Denmark, Egypt, Indonesia, Netherlands

Actively Engaged Partners

  • C3A
  • European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
  • European Commissions
  • Inter American Development Bank
  • LSE/Grantham Research Institute
  • OECD
  • UNDP
  • World Bank Group
  • 2050 Pathways Platform (observer)

 

Recent Publications

Blog: The role of Ministries of Finance in Creating Implementable and Investable NDCs 3.0

In 2025, countries are required to submit their enhanced national climate plans, as outlined under the Paris Climate Agreement, to the UNFCCC, known as Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). Where previous NDCs focused mainly on setting ambitious climate targets, the focus of this third round of NDCs has shifted to close the mitigation and adaptation implementation gap. To ensure full and adequate implementation of countries’ climate goals, effective financing and investment planning is essential. Finance ministries play a unique and essential role in designing, planning and implementing more ambitious, credible and investment-ready NDCs 3.0. Read the blog here.