National Implementation Plans (NIPs) seek to promote compliance in a deliberate and proactive manner. Generally, these plans set forth in a protective manner how a State will strive to reach its obligations under an MEA. Components can include identifying sources of non-compliance (e.g., laws, institutions, lack of capacity, social norms, public and private sector considerations, etc.), methods for addressing these sources, monitoring implementation, and identifying funding resources. NIPs can also provide for the establishment of a national implementation agency or organisation that works with the MEA Secretariat to promote implementation.
Several MEAs require Parties to develop NIPs that detail how they intend to comply with their obligations under an MEA. These include, for example, the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the Cartagena Protocol, the Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), and the Rotterdam Convention on Prior Informed Consent (PIC). The case studies included here highlight many of these.
For other MEAs, NIPs might be required to access funding. Thus, while the Montreal Protocol does not require Parties to prepare NIPs, those developing countries wishing to access financial and technical assistance from its financial mechanism, the Multilateral Fund must develop a comprehensive national survey that the State plans to follow to eliminate its consumption and production of Ozone Depleting Substances (ODS), known as a “Country Programme” (see following case study). The procedures for the development of a country programme for the Multilateral Fund can be found in the Policies, Procedures, Guidelines and Criteria of the Fund, available at http://www.multilateralfund.org.
The specific process for developing a NIP and the contents of a NIP are usually set by the particular MEA and the MEA Secretariat, although financial mechanisms such as the Multilateral Fund and the Global Environment Facility (GEF) that provide funding to nations to develop country programmes and NIPs may also develop guidelines covering the preparation of such plans. For example, the UNCCD requires each Party to the Convention to develop a National Action Plan (NAP). The NAP is one of the essential implementation tools of the UNCCD, and its production is guided by principles provided in the Convention. These principles stress the importance of consultation and participation in its implementation. The NAP preparation process begins with community and regional consultations to sharpen awareness among the various stakeholders. The second stage is the holding of a National Forum to formulate priorities. The drafting of the NAP is, therefore, partly the product of a consultative, participatory, multi-stakeholder process.