At the national level, in addition to countries’ nationally determined contributions (NDCs), national climate change strategies or plans, green growth plans, and low-emission development (LED) strategies address climate change mitigation priorities, usually across multiple sectors. These are usually coordinated by ministries of environment.
Ministries of agriculture and forestry increasingly have climate change strategies for the land-use sector, agriculture or components of agriculture. Policies on deforestation, land-use change, soil and water use, irrigation, subsidies (water, fertilizer, energy), land restoration, and agricultural innovation for different practices may influence mitigation outcomes.
In some countries, subnational administrations such as counties, provinces or states have responsibility for tracking agricultural emissions and implementing mitigation to meet national targets. Local government policies may support these activities.
Some developing countries may choose to implement their strategies using a nationally appropriate mitigation action (NAMA).
The alignment of local action to national targets, and of country action to global targets is essential to meet the 1.5° and 2°C targets in the Paris Agreement. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) assessed national and sub-national policies and institutions and concluded that policies have not yet had a substantial impact (Somanathan et al. 2014).
See the following examples of national climate policies:
- Argentina’s National Plan for Avoidance of Food Loss and Waste, 2018 (Policy in Spanish here)
- Brazil’s Sectoral Plan for Climate Change Adaptation and Low Carbon Emission in Agriculture Seeking Sustainable Development (ABC+), 2020-2030 (Policy in Portuguese here)
- Colombian Low Carbon Development Strategy, 2012 (Policy in Spanish here)
- Grenada’s National Sustainable Development Plan, 2020-2035
- Kenya Climate-Smart Agriculture Strategy, 2017-2026
- Nepal’s Climate Change Policy, 2019
- South Africa Carbon Tax Act, 2019
- Vietnam National Green Growth Strategy, 2012