The primary objective of this proposal is to increase the resilience of the Republic of North Macedonia to the risks and impacts of climate change by integrating adaptation planning into national and sectoral planning processes. In doing so, North Macedonia will be better positioned to design and implement effective adaptation actions and investments in line with national priorities.

The country is vulnerable to the impacts of climate change from changes in climatic conditions, most notably increases in temperatures, decreases in precipitation, and increases in extreme weather events – particularly heat waves. These impacts pose increasing risks to the country in many areas, but especially the agricultural sector, which is a major contributor to the overall economy.

Successful implementation of this project will help North Macedonia advance on its path to sustainable and climate-resilient development. This advancement process will target key institutions from the national to the municipal level with a focus on five priority sectors of transport, agriculture, water resources, forestry, and cultural heritage. This project has been carefully designed to respond to the country’s needs, align to and support national development aspirations, and complement other related projects.

The formulation of this project benefits from an extensive multi-year gender-balanced stakeholder consultation process. The result was the identification of three primary gaps standing in the way of achieving the project objective. The gaps are (i) limited institutional coordination and technical capacity at the national, municipal and sectoral level to address climate change through adaptation, (ii) insufficient evidence base (data, studies, and tools) and plans for conducting effective adaptation planning and investments, and (iii) lack of private sector engagement.