Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Action


Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Action refers to a set of policies and actions that countries undertake as part of a commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The term recognizes that different countries may take different nationally appropriate action on the basis of equity and in accordance with common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities. It also emphasizes financial assistance from developed countries to developing countries to reduce emissions.
NAMA was first used in the Bali Action Plan as part of the Bali Road Map agreed at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Bali in December 2007, and also formed part of the Copenhagen Accord issued following the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in December 2009.

History of the use of NAMA in international agreements

Bali Action Plan (December 2007)

The Bali Action Plan is centered on four main building blocks: Mitigation, Adaptation, Technology, and Financing, with NAMA forming an important part of the mitigation component.
The Bali Action Plan called for future discussions to address:
The Copenhagen Climate Conference did not produce the global agreement envisaged in the Bali Road Map. The Copenhagen Accord, however, did retain the concept of NAMA, but in a narrower definition only applying to Non-Annex 1 countries, and did not specify what form they should take:

What is meant by Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Action?

India has argued that NAMA means voluntary reductions by developing countries that require to be supported and enabled by technology transfer from developed countries.
By definition, NAMAs will vary by country. Indonesia, for example, might focus on integrating climate change policy with other aspects of economic development, such as progressive reduction in oil subsidies, poverty reduction through promotion of alternative income to reduce illegal logging, and exploit more fully the country’s renewable resources, especially geothermal.

Implementation of NAMA

In 2010, no NAMAs were implemented yet. The Program of Activities under the Clean Development Mechanism is regarded a precedor of a future NAMA mechanism and already operational.

Status of NAMA submissions

As of September 2012, about 50 countries have submitted information of their NAMA to the UNFCCC. The detailed contents of their submissions vary greatly on each country, ranging from their intention to be associated with the Copenhagen Accord, target sectors, specific actions to be taken, to GHG emissions reduction targets.

List of NAMA's submitted

A list of NAMAs is available at http://www.nama-database.org/.

NAMA's for recognition

, Chile, 2012.

Criticism of NAMA

Some have criticized NAMA as heading away from carbon pricing and encouraging enormous subsidy programs funded by developed countries and implemented on a voluntary basis by developing countries.