Namibia ratified the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 1995 and the universal Paris Agreement (PA) in 2016 which established a goal of limiting global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius and to pursue efforts to limit it to a safer 1.5 degrees °C above pre-industrial levels. Leading up to the adoption of the PA in 2015, Parties were requested to prepare and submit their climate change plan to reduce national emissions and adapt to the impacts of climate change known as the Intended National Determined Contributions (NDC). The Government of the Republic of Namibia submitted its ambitious Intended NDC, with pledges to reduce its national Green House Gases (GHG) emissions by 89% by 2030.

To build political will and societal ownership, UNDP at the global level with various stakeholders developed the Mission 1.5 online game and campaign. Mission 1.5 is rolled out by UNDP Country Offices, UN Agencies and other partners using the gaming technology to connect the citizens and their policymakers, while also being the world’s biggest survey on climate change. The campaign educates people about climate policy and provides a platform for them to vote on the solutions they want to see happen. The votes will then be compiled and analysed by researchers at the University of Oxford before being delivered to government leaders and climate policymakers. The results will be provided in tailored reports for governments as a tool to deepen their understanding of citizen preferences on climate action as well as support their ambitious NDCs. All results will be presented towards the end of 2020, before the COP26 in 2021.

Through the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Namibia, the Climate Promise project is providing financial and technical assistance to the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism (MEFT), to allow the country to increase its ambitions in its national climate pledges. Mission 1.5 aims to build societal ownership to support this process and achieve political momentum.