Case Study

Malaysia’s Fourth National Communication Assessed against the First Global Stocktake

Posted: 03, Apr 2026

Updated: 03, Apr 2026

Asia - Japan, Malaysia

Rural land and mountains in Tambunan, Malaysia. Photo by alea Film on Unsplash
Rural land and mountains in Tambunan, Malaysia. Photo by alea Film on Unsplash

Challenge

Malaysia lacks a National Adaptation Plan and clear adaptation benchmarks, so aligning national reporting with the first Global Stocktake on adaptation remains difficult.

Solution

Researchers analyzed Malaysia’s Fourth National Communication against Global Stocktake adaptation elements, using a checklist to identify existing alignment and gaps for future policy updates.

Overview

The Global Stocktake under the Paris Agreement is a review mechanism conducted every five years to assess progress toward the agreement’s purpose and long-term goals and to inform countries as they update their climate actions and support. The first Global Stocktake (GST1) ran from the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) to COP28 in 2023 and produced a decision that covered mitigation, adaptation, finance, and loss and damage, including collective outcomes such as tripling renewable energy capacity and improving energy efficiency. Countries are expected to update their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) in light of GST1, but there is no formal guidance on how to reflect these results in national adaptation policies.

A joint research team from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia and the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES) examined how Malaysia’s climate policy documents reflect mitigation and adaptation elements outlined in GST1. The work is presented in the paper, “Assessing the Alignment of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and Climate Mitigation & Adaptation Policies with the Outcome of the First Global Stocktake (GST1) under the Paris Agreement: A Case Study of Malaysia.”

While the above research study covers both mitigation and adaptation, this report focuses on the study’s adaptation component – the extent to which adaptation elements in the GST1 outcomes appear in Malaysia’s Fourth National Communication (NC4).

Understanding the first Global Stocktake and Malaysia’s reporting context

Malaysia submitted NC4 to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in 2024. Although Malaysia has not yet prepared a National Adaptation Plan (NAP), NC4 functions as the country’s Adaptation Communication for this assessment. The document reports on climate risks, adaptation efforts, and support needs across several sectors, including water resources, agriculture, and public health.

The research team used the adaptation section of the GST1 decision as a reference point. Adaptation elements in the decision include climate risk assessment, planning, implementation of measures, monitoring and evaluation, capacity building, and support such as funding and finance. The study compares these elements with the information presented in NC4.

Checklist approach for assessing alignment

To carry out the analysis, the researchers compiled adaptation elements from the GST1 outcomes into a checklist. They then evaluated NC4 against this checklist using a three level scale: “Yes,” “Partially yes,” and “No.” This scale shows whether each adaptation element appears in the Adaptation Communication for Malaysia.

The checklist contained a set of questions on adaptation. For each question, the researchers checked whether the NC4 included the relevant information in a clear and traceable way. This method provided a structured way to compare a global decision text with a national report and to identify areas where the two are closely aligned or only loosely connected.

Findings on adaptation coverage in the Fourth National Communication

The assessment of Malaysia’s adaptation efforts indicated a medium level of alignment with the GST1 adaptation outcomes. Out of the checklist questions, four received a “Yes” rating, and six received a “Partially yes” rating.

NC4 addresses several adaptation themes. It describes efforts to increase adaptive capacity, build resilience, and reduce vulnerability to climate impacts in sectors such as water resources, agriculture, and public health. It also sets out approaches for water management, including integrated water resources management and integrated river basin management, and describes work to strengthen early warning systems and improve monitoring and evaluation.

Items marked “Partially yes” relate to adaptation elements that appear in the Fourth National Communication but are not discussed in detail or with explicit reference to GST1 language. For example, the GST1 outcomes refer to urgent, incremental, transformational, and country driven adaptation. NC4 touches on these themes through descriptions of ongoing and planned measures, but it does not present them using the same categories.

Malaysia’s lack of an NAP also affects alignment. Much of the adaptation content in NC4 is organized by sector and project. The assessment notes that documents focused mainly on adaptation, such as future NAPs, could make it easier to respond directly to Global Stocktake guidance and to present a more comprehensive view of adaptation.

Reflections on the Global Stocktake guidance for adaptation

The study also comments on the nature of the GST1 outcomes for adaptation. Compared with mitigation, the adaptation part of the decision contains fewer specific targets and timelines. This reportedly limits how far GST1 can guide countries when they update their NDCs and related adaptation policies.

The findings suggest that clearer benchmarks for adaptation in future Global Stocktakes would help countries develop stronger and more proactive adaptation strategies. At the same time, the Malaysia case shows that many adaptation elements in the GST1 outcomes already appear in existing national documents. Checklists that translate global decisions into concrete questions can, therefore, be a useful tool for reviewing national reports and planning future updates.

Acknowledgements

This report is based on the working paper, “Assessing the Alignment of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and Climate Mitigation & Adaptation Policies with the Outcome of the First Global Stocktake (GST1) under the Paris Agreement: A Case Study of Malaysia,” undertaken by a joint research team comprising Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) and the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES).

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