Climate change presents the single biggest threat to sustainable development and is already causing widespread, unprecedented impacts that disproportionately burden the poorest, marginalized and most vulnerable. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) indicates that urgent and transformative action is necessary to keep global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees or below, adapt to global threats, and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Botswana is vulnerable to impacts of climate change due to frequent exposure to climate extremes such as droughts, heatwaves and floods.  In recognizing the inevitable impacts associated with climate change, Botswana has taken proactive action to prepare the country to adapt to the impacts of climate change.  These actions include the development of the National Adaptation Plan Framework and Third National Communications to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Climate Change Response Policy (BCCRP) draft of 2016, the National Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan of 2018, Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and the Tipping points study. Furthermore, Vision 2036 and 11th National Development Plan, outlines the importance of the country to adapt to climate change impacts. Despite these efforts, there is still a need for the country to develop a comprehensive National Adaptation Plan (NAP).

The UNFCCC which Botswana is a party to, established the adaptation framework in 2010 to facilitate adaptation planning in developing countries. The framework encourages countries to develop and implement NAPs and subnational plans following a logical process of identifying medium and long-term adaptation needs and developing strategies and programmes to address those needs.  This is intended to reduce vulnerability to impacts of climate change by building adaptive capacity and resilience and facilitate integration of adaptation planning into relevant policies, programme and activities in a coherent manner. It is envisaged that developing the NAP for Botswana will bring transformative change and a paradigm shift in planning at a national to subnational level, build resilience from impacts of climate change, increase capacity of stakeholders to formulate adaptation plans and identify resources for adaptation and also leverage adaptation investment.

The Green Climate Fund (GCF) was set up by the UNFCCC to support developing countries to limit or reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to climate change impacts. GCF provides support to activities that are aligned to country priorities through the principle of country ownership. The Readiness and Preparatory Support Programme (RPSP) is designed under the GCF to support country-driven initiatives with objectives to strengthen their institutional capacities, governance mechanisms, planning and programming frameworks towards a transformational long-term climate action agenda. Therefore, support requested by countries under the Readiness Programme should aim to achieve capacity building, strategic framework development, adaptation planning, pipeline development, and knowledge sharing and learning.  The Government of Botswana would like to access support for adaptation planning under the RPSP. The country intends to develop a NAP in order to enhance its resilience to climate change impacts. In light of the above, the UNDP is seeking the services of a consultant to prepare a proposal to develop the NAP for the Government of Botswana represented by the Ministry of Environment, Natural Resources and Tourism (MENT) in order to access GCF support under the Readiness and Preparatory Support Programme.