Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and Long-Term Strategies (LTS) can serve as building blocks to integrate ambitious climate action and COVID-19 recovery to build back better.NDCs that are aligned to governments’ national development plans and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) can spur economic growth, technology transformation, job creationand address key social inequalities thatare critical for recovery.

Indeed, a new studyby Oxford University shows that recovery packages that seek synergies between economic and climate goals have better potential for reducing climate risks, increasing national wealth, and enhancing productive human, social, physicaland natural capital. NDCs and green recovery can be mutually reinforcing. Recovery plans can incorporate NDC targets and strategies, while also leveraging NDC enhancement processes, including stakeholder consultations, socio-economic and sectoral assessments, and modelling, tostrengthen systems that pave the way for long-termsustainable development