As climate, biodiversity, and land degradation challenges intensify, the need for coordinated action across the three Rio Conventions –UNFCCC, CBD, and UNCCD– has never been more relevant and urgent. Recent events such as the NDC Global Conference and UNFCCC SB62 offer valuable insights on how to move from identifying synergies to unlocking their full potential. Together, these events offered timely insights into what it takes to move from high-level commitment to integrated, investable and inclusive action on the ground.

The NDC Global Conference gathered over 200 leaders and practitioners from more than 50 countries. The message was clear: implementation needs to be ambitious, implementable and investable; many are now calling the “A-I-I approach”. But turning this vision into reality demands coherence across policies and processes, particularly when it comes to NDCs, NBSAPs, and NAPs.

Participants called for:

• Joint planning and accountability systems under the Rio Conventions,
• Stronger integration of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLCs),
• Expanded project preparation pipelines to turn ideas into finance-ready actions,
• And bold political ownership to align climate and development goals.

At SB62, the NBSAP Accelerator Partnership’s side event “Bonn to Belém” brought together delegates from current and upcoming COP presidencies, including Colombia (CBD COP16), Armenia (CBD COP17), Mongolia (UNCCD COP17), and Brazil (UNFCCC COP30), a powerful signal of growing political will for synergy. Discussions went deep into joint monitoring, whole-of-society approaches, and multilateral alignment.

Three implementation insights stood out:

1. Joint monitoring and reporting across NBSAPs and NDCs can unlock new efficiency and financing.
2. Subnational platforms are key for synergy, especially to reduce fragmented demands on local actors.
3. Integrated national planning across short, medium, and long-term horizons can prevent duplication and ensure more strategic use of resources.

The launch of GIZ’s report, “Building Synergies Between Biodiversity and Climate,” further reinforced these points, highlighting how countries are already finding alignment across their biodiversity and climate-related instruments.

At the NBSAP Accelerator Partnership, we’ve made Rio Convention synergies one of our strategic priorities. We:

• Support integrated requests through our Matchmaking Mechanism and Facilitator Programme.
• Work closely with the NDC Partnership to mirror and align support services.
• Provide tools and knowledge products to align national-level action across NDCs, NBSAPs, and NAPs.
• Advocate through platforms like the Climate–Nature Coordination Platform, Nature4Climate and the COP28 Joint Statement on Climate, Nature and People.
• Engage with partners like UNEP, UNDP, UNCCD, GIZ, and others to foster coherence from strategy to implementation.

And we’re seeing that countries are ready, they want more coherence, more integration, and more flexible support.

As we move towards UNFCCC COP30 in Belém, we see a window of opportunity to turn political alignment into concrete national results. This means:

• Scaling up joint technical assistance,
• Supporting aligned financing strategies,
• Elevating voices from local communities and Indigenous Peoples,
• And developing a shared accountability culture across the Conventions.

The future of the Rio Conventions doesn’t lie in parallel tracks, but in mutual reinforcement, driven by a shared goal: to protect nature, stabilise the climate, and secure resilient, inclusive development for all.