To some extent, the international development community has already recognised the importance of establishing funding mechanisms that allow countries to decide their own priorities, and to promote better national ownership. Promoting ownership, alignment, harmonisation of aid, managing for results and mutual accountability in addition to increasing the amount of funds available in the global kitty, and the need to shift donor assistance from individual, disconnected projects towards integrated support are reflected in the 2002 Monterrey Consensus on Development Finance and the 2005 Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness. The environment community, however, has been slower in recognizing the
need for this change.The instrument of national action plans (NAP) is currently being debated; this report provides insight and analysis for the ongoing discussion. It reviews the history of the NAPs under the three conventions, revisits global expectations from the national planning exercise and explores their synergies. The conclusions recap key challenges at the global and national level that should be urgently addressed before any future national planning exercises are launched.