Namibia’s exposure to climate change is well-documented, with the country experiencing increasingly frequent and severe climate-related events, including droughts, floods, and heatwaves. These challenges demand that public finances are aligned with national climate priorities, adaptation needs, and international climate commitments, including the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). To achieve this, the Government of Namibia has initiated a policy shift toward climate-sensitive public financial management, with support from development partners.

Under the UNDP Climate Promise 2 initiative, and with kind financial support from the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection (BMUV), the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism (MEFT) has led the development of a Climate Public Expenditure and Institutional Review (CPEIR) and a Roadmap for Climate Budget Tagging (CBT). These tools are intended to be integrated into Namibia’s national systems to improve transparency, efficiency, and accountability in climate-related public spending. The technical work was also supported by GIZ in Namibia as part of donor partner collaboration with UNDP.

From Analysis to Action: A Policy Shift

The CPEIR provided a detailed assessment of how Namibia’s national policies, institutional frameworks, and budget allocations address climate change. It revealed that while a range of climate-related programmes exist across sectors, there is currently no consistent method to track climate-related public expenditure, nor requirements for ministries to budget for climate outcomes. The existing budget process does not include guidance on identifying, prioritising, or reporting climate-relevant spending.

The CBT roadmap outlines a national system to address this gap. It introduces a structured process to identify and tag climate-relevant expenditures—distinguishing between mitigation and adaptation—within the Integrated Financial Management and Information System (IFMIS). The system also proposes criteria for weighting and scoring the relevance of expenditures to climate objectives.

This shift is not merely a technical reform; it represents a strategic policy transition that embeds climate change into national budget planning, execution, and reporting systems. The approach is aligned with international best practice and enables Namibia to better leverage climate finance, meet enhanced transparency requirements under the Paris Agreement, and align more effectively with its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).

A National Imperative Going Forward

With the roadmap in place, the onus now lies with MEFT, the National Planning Commission (NPC), and the Ministry of Finance and Social Grants Management (MFSGM) to institutionalise CBT within Namibia’s public finance architecture. This will involve:

• Amending budget circulars and development planning guidelines to require climate tagging.

• Building technical capacity across Offices, Ministries, and Agencies (OMAs).

• Integrating climate tagging into medium-term expenditure frameworks.

• Establishing a governance mechanism to review, validate, and report on tagged budgets.

The commitment is already evident. In November 2023, Cabinet directed the relevant institutions to implement a national CBT system. What is now required is coordinated follow-through to operationalise the system, beginning with priority sectors such as agriculture, water, transport, and environment, and gradually expanding to other sectors and levels of government.

Financing a Climate-Resilient Namibia

Namibia’s second updated NDC (2023) identifies 84 climate actions across eight sectors, with an estimated implementation cost of USD 15.1 billion by 2030—over 116% of the national GDP (World Bank, 2023). With over 90% of this conditional on external support, accurate tracking of public finance is essential to improve access to international climate funding and to meet Namibia’s transparency obligations.

CBT is an essential instrument for demonstrating how domestic resources contribute to climate action and where gaps exist. It also strengthens Namibia’s credibility when mobilising new climate finance through the Green Climate Fund (GCF), the Adaptation Fund, and future carbon market mechanisms under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement.

Conclusion: Policy Continuity and National Ownership

The work initiated under UNDP Climate Promise 2, led by MEFT and supported by BMUV and GIZ, has delivered a concrete roadmap. However, its impact depends on sustained policy commitment, technical integration, and national ownership.

CBT must now be taken forward as a national policy instrument—owned and implemented by MEFT, NPC, and MFSGM—if Namibia is to effectively respond to climate risks, enhance fiscal sustainability, and ensure development planning is climate-aligned.

Fact Box: CBT and CPEIR in Numbers

References

• Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism (MEFT). (2024). Climate public expenditure and institutional review and roadmap for climate budget tagging in Namibia – Final Report. Windhoek: MEFT

• Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism (MEFT). (2024). Policy brief: Climate public expenditure and institutional review and CBT roadmap. Windhoek: MEFT.

• United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). (2023). Climate budget tagging: A review of country experiences. New York: UNDP.

• United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). (2023). NDC Synthesis Report 2023. Bonn: UNFCCC.