Implementation
The implementation of Lao PDR’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) is structured through a comprehensive national coordination mechanism established to ensure effective execution of climate actions across all sectors. This framework brings together government agencies, development partners, and stakeholders from both public and private sectors to achieve Lao PDR’s climate commitments.
The implementation framework consists of three key components:
National Coordination Mechanism
Oversees the overall implementation through a structured hierarchy from the Prime Minister’s Office down to local authorities, with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE) serving as the lead coordinating body.
Monitoring and Evaluation
Ensures transparent tracking of both mitigation and adaptation measures through established reporting frameworks, with the Department of Climate Change (DCC) leading the verification of mitigation objectives and the National Adaptation Plan (NAP) guiding adaptation monitoring.
Voluntary International Cooperation
Facilitates partnerships with other nations to meet Paris Agreement objectives, particularly in areas of mitigation outcomes and renewable energy cooperation with neighboring countries.
National Coordination Mechanism
A coordination mechanism shall be setup at national level to oversee the implementation of the NDC. The mechanism will feature representatives from Government agencies, development partners, as well as from the public and private sectors. The Decree on Climate Change issued on September 19th, 2019 by the Prime Minister’s Office assigns the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment to take a direct responsibility and coordination with relevant ministries, organizations and local authorities. The climate change management and monitoring organizations include the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, the Provincial Department of Natural Resources and Environment and the District Office of Natural Resources and Environment. Local natural resources and environment sectors will report on climate change situation of their respective localities to their higher authorities, in coordination with relevant departments, offices and parties concerned.
In line with the Decree on Climate Change, The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment shall be responsible for developing and maintaining data and information systems on climate change for collection, compilation, management, provision and service in a reliable, accurate and timely manner, using national disaster data and national statistics, in coordination with other relevant ministries and local authorities. Ministries shall also provide information related to climate change from their sectors to Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.
Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Ministry of Industry and Commerce, Ministry of Energy and Mines, Ministry of Pubic Works and Transport, Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare, Ministry of Science and Technology, Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism, Ministry of Education and Sports, and Ministry of Public Health shall ensure mainstreaming of climate change into their activities, including through conducting studies, research and promoting the use of environmentally friendly technologies that mitigate greenhouse gas emission and/or increase resilience to climate change.
Implementation arrangements of all measures shall be in line with applicable sectoral policies and strategies, and as per approved funding agreements or further defined as part of the financing mobilization process, which is to be coordinated by the Department of Climate Change of the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment.
Monitoring and Evaluation
Mitigation
Monitoring procedures for every mitigation measure are introduced in Annex 1. The Department of Climate Change from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE) is responsible for the overall measurement, reporting and verification of the mitigation objectives. Capacity development plan will be extended throughout the next 5-year period with a focus on greenhouse gas accounting and monitoring. For enhanced transparency and consistency, in this new submission all quantitative targets have been formulated using a single unit, average ktCO2e/y between 2020 and 2030.
Adaptation
National level metrics will be defined to document progress, effectiveness and gaps as part of the ‘reporting, monitoring and review’ element of the National Adaptation Plan. The NAP should also foster cross-sectoral coordination on data reporting and data sharing, capacity building for adaptation monitoring and evaluation, and climate finance monitoring for improved tracking of adaptation projects in the country.
Quantitative indicators for measurement, reporting and verification of the progress on increasing the resilience of public health infrastructure and water supply system to climate change are defined in Table 1 of Appendix 2 of the Strategy on Climate Change and Health Adaptation 2018-2025, and summarized in Annex 2 of the 2020 NDC. Quantitative indicators for measurement, reporting and verification of the progress on the long-term adaptation objectives in the agriculture, forestry and land use change, energy, water resources, and transport and urban development, will be defined in the sectoral adaptation strategies and actions plans then communicated in the 2025 NDC. Means of verification for 2025 adaptation targets set out above are the endorsement of sectoral adaptation strategies and/or mainstreaming of climate change adaptation measures by relevant Ministries.
Voluntary International cooperation
The Government of Lao PDR herewith expresses interest in cooperating with other nation states to meet the objectives of the Paris Agreement, including but not limited to the use of internationally transferred mitigation outcomes as well as for the supply of clean, renewable energy from hydropower resources to neighboring countries.