There is a need for long-term planning to 2050 and beyond for both mitigation and adaptation.

The Paris Agreement formulated a number of long-term goals, including holding the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2 °C and pursuing efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels; increasing the ability to adapt to the adverse impacts of climate change and foster climate resilience; and to achieve a balance between anthropogenic emissions by sources and removals by sinks of greenhouse gases in the second half of the 21st century. Such aims are set in a broader context of efforts to eradicate poverty, secure food production and promote sustainable development.

Long-term strategies can help governments align short-term needs and long-term planning and avoid investments that are inconsistent with achieving net-zero emissions and climate resilience. Furthermore, such strategies can foster innovation by sending the right signals to the private sector and local jurisdictions, and can help businesses and governments capitalize on benefits associated with early action.

Moreover, mitigation and adaptation are interlinked: greater levels of mitigation help to reduce the need for additional adaptation efforts, contributing to opportunities and uncertainties. A flexible long-term planning process can provide the opportunity to take into account evolving adaptation needs and mitigation opportunities. A longer-term national vision can help strengthen strategic capacities such as institutional and regulatory frameworks over time.

In the context of the UN climate negotiations, the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and the National Adaptation Plans (NAPs), have come to serve as core vehicles for countries to communicate their plans and strategies for mitigation and adaptation. The Paris Agreement further invites countries to communicate “mid-century, long-term low greenhouse gas emission development strategies” to the UNFCCC by 2020.

This double side event addressed interactions between long-term strategies and NDCs and NAPS and brought together four panels to explore critical themes on long-term strategies.