Climate Promise-supported countries’ experience in planning and implementation

The report presents a global stock take of how countries supported under UNDP’s Climate Promise have integrated Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) into Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) planning and implementation between 2019 and 2024. Drawing on evidence from 134 countries and 275 policy instruments, tools, and processes, it assesses progress under two flagship initiatives, the Pledge to Impact Programme and the NDC Support Programme, focused on second-generation NDCs.

The report identifies eight key entry points through which countries operationalize GESI: institutional coordination, capacity development, stakeholder engagement, GESI analysis, planning instruments, finance strategies, transparency systems and policy coherence.  These entry points provide a practical framework for embedding inclusivity across the full NDC cycle.

Findings show growing momentum, with 84 countries integrating GESI in a systematic and actionable way, particularly in gender equality and women’s empowerment, while progress on inclusion of other groups, such as Indigenous Peoples, persons with disabilities, and older persons, remains uneven. The report highlights a wide range of concrete country practices, including gender analyses, inclusive consultation processes, capacity-building initiatives, gender-responsive finance mechanisms and the development of Gender Action Plans and NDC implementation roadmaps.

Despite this progress, gaps persist in coordinated implementation, access to inclusive climate finance, and availability of disaggregated data. The report concludes with strategic recommendations to strengthen policy integration, scale up inclusive finance, improve data systems, and embed GESI in just transition frameworks.