Countries Tell NDC Partnership Finance, Not Ambition, Is Now the Bottleneck
COP 31 Special Events • United NationsNovember 13, 2026
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Ten years after its launch, the NDC Partnership used a COP31 special event on Nov. 13, 2026, to make a blunt case: countries have written their climate plans, and now they need the money to carry them out. Officials from Sierra Leone and El Salvador described costed pipelines waiting on investors, while new data showed support requests outpacing what partners can provide. No decisions were taken, but the message for COP31 was clear: implementation finance is the priority.
- El Salvador's $6.13 billion climate pipeline has funding identified for only 18% of its 90 actions.
- 109 countries filed more than 2,500 support requests since 2017, and the gap with available support has widened since 2022.
- 103 of 109 countries ask for finance and investment, the top request.
- Türkiye invited matching platforms to work with its BRIDGE initiative to diagnose country needs.
- Partnership marks a decade with more than $2 billion in technical assistance mobilized for 100-plus countries.
From Plans to Pipelines: Countries Ask for Cash
The basics: NDCs, or nationally determined contributions, are the climate plans each country submits under the Paris Agreement. The next round of plans is known as NDC 3.0. The NDC Partnership is a coalition of countries and institutions that helps governments write and deliver those plans.
Why it matters: The panel was the longest segment of the event. It showed what developing-country governments want from the partnership's next decade: bankable projects and the finance to build them.
Where things stand: Jessica LaGuardia, Director of Climate Change Management, El Salvador, said her country has built a $6.13 billion pipeline of 90 climate actions. Funding has been identified for only 18% of it. El Salvador has mobilized $4.4 million through 21 support requests to the partnership.
"Our bottleneck is no longer ambition. It's access to finance," said LaGuardia.
A panelist from Sierra Leone's Environment Protection Agency said the country mobilized up to $500,000 from the European Union, GIZ and the U.N. Development Programme to prepare its NDC 3.0. Sierra Leone also set up an NDC Delivery Forum to coordinate the work. Panelists credited in-country facilitators, staff embedded inside governments, with helping drive whole-of-government delivery.
The partner view: GIZ, Germany's international development agency, has supported more than 250 partnership requests in over 50 countries. Holger Treidel, Head of Section, Climate and Policy Division, GIZ, framed the partnership's core contribution as structural.
"The partnership puts country ownership in the centre and made it the organising principle of international NDC support," said Treidel.
Frances Fuller, Head of Program Strategies, Climate Analytics, cited Saint Lucia as the first Caribbean country to submit an NDC 3.0.
Decisions and stakeholder impacts: No action was taken. The ask was directed at donors, development banks and implementing agencies. They are being pressed to move from funding plan preparation to financing actual projects. Developing-country ministries gain the most if pipelines like El Salvador's find investors. The long-term value of embedded facilitators depends on whether that finance follows.
What's next: Panelists asked partners for help building bankable pipelines and mobilizing finance. No specific commitments or timelines were announced.
Requests Outpace Support Since 2022
Why it matters: The partnership's own data suggest demand is growing faster than supply. That gap threatens delivery as plans grow more complex.
Where things stand: Amanda McKee, Director of Knowledge and Learning, NDC Partnership Support Unit, presented the numbers. Since 2017, 109 countries have filed more than 2,500 requests for support. Partners have supported 86% of them, but the gap between requests and support has widened since 2022.
Finance and investment is the top request, from 103 of the 109 countries. The demand is also shifting into new areas. The share of countries requesting zero-waste support rose from 10% in 2023 to almost 50% in 2025.
Decisions and stakeholder impacts: The data set up the panel that followed. An 86% match rate is a strong record, but a widening gap means more countries waiting longer for help. Requests are also concentrated in finance, the hardest type of support to provide.
Presidencies Offer a Menu and a Matchmaker
Why it matters: The COP Action Agenda organizes global climate solutions. How it connects to individual countries' plans will shape where support lands.
Where things stand: Bruna Cerqueira, General Coordinator of the Action Agenda, COP30 Presidency, said more than 190 countries now take part in at least one Action Agenda coalition. The agenda is organized around six axes. She also described new plans on oil and gas methane and on early warning systems.
Abdurrahim Durmus, Head of Greenhouse Gas Reduction Policy Department, Türkiye, described BRIDGE, Türkiye's initiative to diagnose country needs. He asked matching platforms to prioritize Action Agenda priorities, such as electrification. The two presidencies also discussed finance solutions and country platforms.
Decisions and stakeholder impacts: Türkiye invited matching platforms, the services that pair country needs with funders and technical partners, to work with BRIDGE. If they do, support could tilt toward Action Agenda priorities like electrification. For countries, that could mean clearer pathways to support, but also pressure to align national plans with presidency-set themes.
What's next: Türkiye's invitation stands. No platform commitments were announced at the event.
A Decade Marked, a Pledge Promoted
Where things stand: Pablo Vieira, Global Director, NDC Partnership, opened the event. He said the partnership has more than 270 members and has supported more than 100 countries.
Daniele Violetti, Senior Director, Programmes Coordination, UNFCCC secretariat, noted that the U.N. climate secretariat hosts part of the partnership's Support Unit in Bonn. He said now is the moment for implementation.
Rachel Harris, Co-chair of the NDC Partnership, Australia, said the partnership has mobilized more than $2 billion in technical assistance for more than 100 countries. She encouraged participants to endorse Türkiye's "35 by 35" electrification pledge.
Why it matters: The host agency and Australia framed implementation support as the central need at COP31. That set the tone for the rest of the event.
Minor Items
- Cassie Flynn, Director of Climate, Energy, and Environment, UNDP, said UNDP's Climate Promise has supported 130 countries.
- Flynn reported that 70% of developing-country NDCs now specify implementation costs.
- "Three quarters of NDCs include economy-wide emissions reductions targets," said Flynn, who also thanked the Support Unit.
Looking Ahead
Watch whether Türkiye's BRIDGE initiative draws matching platforms, whether endorsements build for the "35 by 35" electrification pledge, and whether partners narrow the gap between support requests and support. Key questions for readers tracking climate finance: Who will fund the remaining 82% of El Salvador's pipeline, and will other countries' costed plans fare better?