About us
The Facility for Action for Climate Empowerment to Achieve Nationally Determined Contributions (FACE-NDC) project is shaping formal and non-formal education to engender climate-friendly behaviours in countries and mainstream action to mitigate climate change, build resilience and achieve NDCs. The project aims to provide people of all ages, as well as industry, government and the private sector, with the skills and capacities to support the green transition in agriculture, forestry and energy sectors.
The initial FACE-NDC pilot is taking place from 2023 to 2030 in Zambia, which has set an ambitious NDC target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 47 percent by 2030. The successful tools and methodologies will then be rolled out across the region and beyond, in countries including Brazil, Liberia, Malawi, the Philippines and Uganda.
The transformative project is funded by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Climate Action, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety under the International Climate Initiative (IKI). It is implemented by a consortium of partners composed of: The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), The United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), The University of Zambia (UNZA), The Copperbelt University (CBU).
As a result of the project, students, teachers, professionals, government and private actors, as well as communities at large will be empowered to use their improved capacities to adopt climate-friendly behaviours and support the green transition of the economy. This will be achieved through:
- Collecting and using evidence-based climate change information at project, ministry, national and global levels.
- Strengthening formal education delivery, both in terms of materials and teaching methodologies, to support climate change mitigation efforts and build resilience.
- Implementing climate action education for non-formal, informal, and peer-to-peer networks and actions through formal and non-formal education practice.
- Equipping professionals of public institutions, universities and private sector with the necessary skills and capacities to support the green transition.
FACE-NDC responds to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the National Adaptation Programme of Action (NAPA). The project builds on more than 97 projects supporting NDC implementation and is implemented as part of the country‘s Eighth National Development Plan, supported by the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework for the Republic of Zambia 2023–2027, of which the project forms a part.
The project is implemented in the context of national initiatives that are in accordance with the Forests Act 2015, the National Policy on Climate Change, the National Energy Policy, the 2015 National Youth Policy, the National Climate Change Learning Strategy, and the forest investment fund.
Thanks to the export packages, other countries will benefit from project learnings to achieve their NDCs.
Supporting Zambian society and institutions to achieve NDC commitments, mitigate climate change, mainstream climate action and achieve a green transition of the economy through capacity building, education and behaviour change in the energy, agriculture and forestry sectors.
A society where institutions, schools, universities and the private sector are empowered to drive a green transition of the economy; where the energy, forestry and agriculture sector sustainably contribute to economic growth; where climate education and behaviourally informed approaches are mainstreamed across all levels of education; and where youth, women, disadvantaged groups and remote communities are fully included and empowered to drive sustainable change.
FACE-NDC has an inclusive and collaborative approach both in terms of programming and implementation of activities. The project is the result of a partnership between United Nations agencies and national universities and closely collaborates with a wide range of stakeholders from institutions, civil society and the private sector.
FACE-NDC also leverages synergies with other projects at local, national and global levels to amplify its efforts and resources and increase impacts, taking into account lessons learned from past experiences, and capitalizing on the specific expertise of each partner.
The project promotes the most effective methods for delivering high-quality climate education and uses innovative approaches to education and training, including behavioural science techniques to induce behaviour change; testing citizen science processes for knowledge generation; and strengthening the capacity of trainers and teachers to integrate climate education within a whole institution approach.