The National Adaptation Plan Project in Ecuador (PLANACC) is aligned with the Constitution of Ecuador, which establishes that the state will adopt measures to respond to climate change and protect populations at risk. In addition, the project also aligns with the National Strategy for Climate Change 2012-2025 and the Nationally Determined Contributions 2020-2025. Likewise, the Organic Code of the Environment (2018) and its Regulations (2019) determine that the National Adaptation Plan (NAP) is a key instrument for climate action and enables the implementation of the National Climate Change Strategy 2012-2025. 

The PLANACC Project (NAP Project) is the instrument through which the enabling conditions for adaptation to climate change in the country are generated and the NAP is formulated, constituting a public policy document and a management instrument.

In addition to the implementing partner, the Ministry of Environment, Water and Ecological Transition, project partners include the National Planning Secretariat and the sectoral ministries that provide technical and political support related to development planning.

The project enables the Government of Ecuador to contribute to the creation and strengthening of technical capacities (individual and institutional) to facilitate the integration of climate change adaptation into the central and local governments' development planning and budget processes. The resources will also enable the generation of climate information with better resolution and scale, as well as assessments of vulnerability and climate risks at sectoral, territorial and local levels. In addition, the funds allow for the design of technical tools and instruments (guidelines, standards, strategies, etc.) to guide the integration of climate change adaptation into development planning and enable the dissemination of results. The project also supports the formulation of financing strategies for adaptation at sectoral, territorial and local levels.

Key results: 

The project has focused generating technical information and creating the enabling conditions that allow, on the one hand, the design of the National Adaptation Plan and, on the other hand, the strengthening of institutional capacities of sectoral entities and local governments on adaptation management, as listed below. The Project is currently in its final phase, with the National Adaptation Plan is expected in October 2022. 

Datasets:

• Updated climate projections for Ecuador. 
• Backfilling, updating, and homogenization of official hydrometeorological data. 
• Numerical model of the wave dynamics on the Ecuadorian coast.

Guidelines and technical studies:

• Portfolio of conservation and recovery practices for rural production land that are resilient to climate change.
• Adaptation guidelines for risk management in Human Settlements. 
• Several guidelines to integrate climate change adaptation into development planning processes. 
• Methodologies for sectoral climate risk assessments, applying impact modeling for the identification of biophysical impacts.

Political instruments:

• Integration of the climate change adaptation variable into Ecuador's Wetlands Action Plan. 
• Update of the management plan for the Ecological Reserve “Los Ilinizas”, including the variable of adaptation to climate change. 
• Design of the implementation strategy for prioritized adaptation actions as part of the NDC Implementation Plan- adaptation component.

Capacity Building Products and Processes:

• Design of a Toolbox to integrate climate change into development plans and territorial planning at subnational level and complementary training program, training more than 1000
• Design of a MOOC about fire management and climate change adaptation and conducted complementary training workshops 
• Conducted workshops on climate migration and its impact on women and children: needs, challenges and recommendations for action.

Gender responsive instruments:

• Development of a Wikipedia on gender and climate change adaptation (included in the Adaptation platform).
• Database of good adaptation practices with a gender perspective.
• Inventory of shortcomings and gaps of the social, economic, and environmental information using a gender responsive focus to prepare assessments of climate risk in the prioritized sectors for climate change adaptation. 

Communication:

• Adaptation platform (repository, newsletters, courses, information on initiatives, NAP data)
• Communication and Awareness-Raising Strategy to integrate climate change adaptation into development planning processes.
• Creation of a temporary exhibition based on children's stories on climate change adaptation (includes youth competition for story creation).