The climate negotiations are strongly influenced, on all sides, by appeals to ‘listen to the science’. This Pocket Guide is aimed at both scientists and policymakers who are involved in the science-policy interface that underpins the negotiations. It provides guidance on questions such as what is meant by ‘climate science’? How do you know which ‘scientific’ voices to listen to? How do you balance scientific information against other relevant considerations?
European Capacity Building Initiative
Pocket Guides
Finance has always played a pivotal role in the global climate change negotiations, as an enabler of action but also as an indicator of the level of trust between developed and developing countries. It will continue to do so in the future – the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) submitted by many developing countries include elements whose implementation is conditional to the provision of financial and other support, and the discussions on finance for adaptation and loss and damage are likely to heat up in future as climate impacts increase. Over the years, the climate finance negotiations have acquired their own layers of complexity, accompanied by their own – often loaded – vocabulary. This Guide aims to help developing country climate negotiators navigate this complexity and understand what has gone by, to negotiate more effectively in future.
Includes 2019 Enhanced Lima Work Programme on Gender and its Gender Action Plan, and updated resources for incorporating gender in climate planning and action.
REVISED AND UPDATED. Your quick guide to the history of negotiations on capacity building under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, the global institutional framework, and how global capacity building efforts can be improved. What can the UNFCCC do to promote long-term, sustainable capacity building where it is most needed? What has been done, and what remains to be done?
How are decisions arrived at under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change? What are the rules of engagement? Who are the different actors? Are decisions legally binding on countries? How are deadlocks resolved? This and more in our new guide to the hardware that drives the international climate regime. Know your L docs from your CRPs, and your informal-informals from your informals.
Countries communicate their plans to implement the Paris Agreement through Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). What should these NDCs contain? What “information to facilitate clarity, transparency, and understanding” do countries need to provide? How should countries account for their actions? What happens if they fail to meet their NDC goals? Read our updated Pocket Guide, which now includes the provisions of the Paris rulebook, to find answers to these and other questions related to NDCs.
How has technology development and transfer (TDT) been dealt with under the UNFCCC and the Paris Agreement? What challenges do developing countries face in identifying and accessing technology needs for mitigation and adaptation, and how are these being addressed? What institutions deal with climate-related TDT at the global level? This Pocket Guide is for UNFCCC negotiators from developing countries, and for national policy makers who would like to understand how to access global support for climate-related TDT.
New Guide to the Paris Agreement. Now includes the implementation guidelines adopted in 2018, and implications for domestic law and policy in developing countries.
Updated after Katowice, the 2019 version of this Pocket Guide takes into account the Paris rulebook agreed in 2018, to provide a succinct description and analysis of the new "enhanced transparecy framework" under the UNFCCC. The Pocket Guide aims to be useful for UNFCCC negotiators, and for national government representatives who have to translate and implement the transparency arrangements on the ground.
The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) provides the foundation for the international response to climate change. This Pocket Guide seeks to summarise and explain the main provisions of the UNFCCC’s 26 Articles. It aims to look both forwards and back, outlining the origins of key clauses and drawing out those elements of current significance. This should allow for a better understanding of the existing rules, institutions, and procedures under the current climate change regime.