European Capacity Building Initiative

ecbi Publications

ecbi's Publications and Policy Analysis Unit (PPAU) generates information and advice for developing country negotiators that is relevant to the climate negotiations under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).  

Developing countries often lack the economic and institutional capacity for policy analysis. If negotiators are unable to engage proactively by submitting proposals, responding to proposals from other States, and assessing the impact of global climate policy decisions on their individual States, progress in the negotiations can be hampered by the lack of alternatives and uncertainity. The differences in analytic capacity between developing countries and the industrialised world are often profound – developing countries lack support from organisations like the OECD, for instance, which has an immense apparatus producing thorough and focused reports, including direct advice on future policy responses to each of member country.

ecbi publications aim to be relevant to ongoing negotiations under the UNFCCC, timely, and trustworthy. PPAU works with negotiators from developing countries, sometimes through Editorial Committees, to identify UNFCCC issues where further analysis and policy advice is needed. Global experts are then teamed up with negotiators from devleoping countries to produce Policy Briefs and Discussion Notes. This partnership between experts and negotiators helps to ensure that the process of producing a Brief addresses the specific concerns of developing country negotiators; builds the capacity of developing country co-authors in policy analysis; and also builds ownership of the analysis. 

For new negotiators, and for use in ecbi Regional and Pre-COP Training Workshops, PPAU produces Background Papers and a series of Pocket Guides. These generally provide a more basic analysis of issues for newcomers to the process, along with the background and history of the issue in the negotiations. 

You can use the search function below or see all our publications in one page here

Common Time Frames: Reducing the Options for a Decision in Glasgow

This Technical Paper produced by OCP/ecbi for the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) as part of their Strategic Partnership looks in some detail at the options under consideration in the negotiations on establishing a common time frame for the national targets (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement, one of the three top priority issues to be resolved at COP 26 in Glasgow to finalise the Paris rule book.

 

It analyses them with regard to 3 procedural prerequisites for accounting and maximizing ambition under the Paris Agreement, namely:

·         synchronized NDC end-years, to allow for taking stock of implementation and assessment of collective progress under the 5-yearly Global Stock Takes, as well as other crucial accounting tasks, such as the avoidance of double counting under the Article 6 emission trading regime

·         synchronized 'updating' (ambition enhancement), and

·         a notification window – the time between the communication year and the end year of the preceding NDC – for (first-time) communications of at least 5 years, to maximize the potential of the synchronized ambition enhancement.

 

The resulting Key Message for Policy Makers sums up the analysis in a succinct summary of why it is essential to adopt the Glasgow Ambition Cycle at COP 26.

Author:
Benito Müller
Publication Date:
July, 2021
Are "mega-COPs" the best way to drive global climate ambition in future?

A webinar launch of the ecbi policy brief "Quo Vadis COP? Future Arrangements for Intergovernmental Meetings under the UNFCCC" took place on 26 March 2021. It was attended by 38 participants, including key UNFCCC negotiators from developed and developing countries, academics, UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Secretariat staff, and representatives from nongovernment organisations. This report summarises the key discussions, and provides further clarifications on issues raised by participants.

Author:
Benito Müller, Jen Allan, Matthias Roesti, and Luis Gomez-Echeverri
Publication Date:
July, 2021
Guía de Bolsillo sobre las Contribuciones Determinadas a Nivel Nacional

NEW! Spanish version. 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.

Author:
Fatima-Zahra Taibi, Susanne Konrad, and Olivier Bois von Kursk
Publication Date:
July, 2021
Guide de Poche sur les Contributions Déterminées au Niveau National

NEW! French version. 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.

Author:
Fatima-Zahra Taibi, Susanne Konrad, and Olivier Bois von Kursk
Publication Date:
July, 2021
ecbi Phase V 2022-2025
Author:
ecbi
Publication Date:
July, 2021
History of Enhanced Direct Access: Second updated edition

This brief history of Enhanced Direct Access traces the idea back to a number of historic precursors, such as the Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW) under the Marshall Plan, the World Bank Kecamatan Development Program in Indonesia, and the Brazilian Amazon Fund. It then follows how the idea evolved under the Bali Action Plan, the Transitional committee for the design of the Green Climate Fund (GCF) and finally, the GCF Board, culminating in the establishment of a GCF. The second updated edition includes a summary account of EDA programmes that have been implemented under the UNFCCC/Paris Agreement Green Climate Fund and Adaptation Fund, as well as the French SUNREF (Sustainable Use of Natural Resources and Energy Finance) programme, and ends with a forward looking section on 'performance-based' EDA.

Author:
Laurel Murray and Benito Müller with contributions from Luis Gomez-Echeverri & Sophie De Coninck
Publication Date:
July, 2021
Guide de l'Accord de Paris

Comprend désormais les lignes directrices de mise en œuvre adoptées en 2018 et les implications pour la législation et la politique nationales dans les pays en développement.

Author:
Publication Date:
May, 2021
Annual Report 2020/2021

In the course of the year, the Fellowship Programme held eight virtual events; and the Training and Support Programme held three regional Training Webinars. By far the most productive arm of the ecbi last year was the Publications and Policy Analysis Unit, which produced five Policy Briefs, eight Pocket Guides, four blog posts, and seven meeting reports.

Author:
Publication Date:
April, 2021
Legislating the Paris Agreement in Africa: Approaches to climate legislation in Eswatini, Kenya, Nigeria, and Uganda

Sharing experiences – particularly on the merits of different legislative approaches, lessons learnt, and good practices – can help drive efficient and successful implementation of climate action on the ground, and ultimately more ambitious action under the Paris Agreement. This policy brief considers the experience of four countries in Sub-Saharan Africa that have completed or initiated the process of developing framework laws: Kenya (the first country in Africa to adopt a climate change framework law), Eswatini, Nigeria, and Uganda.

Author:
Constance Dlamini, Edward Wabwoto, Huzi Mshelia, Nkiruka Chidia Maduekwe, Bernard Namanya, and Pascale Bird
Publication Date:
March, 2021
Quo Vadis COP? Future Arrangements for Intergovernmental Meetings under the UNFCCC – Settled and Fit for Purpose

As the global climate change negotiations shift to implementation mode, the institutions and process of the global negotiations will also have to adapt and become fit for purpose. This report proposes new arrangements that reflect this new role, particularly for the Conference of the Parties (COP). We propose that COPs should be slimmed-down in size considerably to deal with technical matters related to implementation. Political elements can be dealt with in processes outside the COPs that have already been established to support implementation on the ground – such as the Climate Action agenda, the Marrakech Partnership, the Regional Climate Weeks, and the technical meetings and workshops that support countries in formulating and implementing policies and measures in support of climate ambition.

Update: This report is referenced in the 27 October 2021 CarbonBrief UN Climate Talks Analysis: How delegations at COP climate summits have changed over time.

Author:
Benito Müller, Jen Allan, Matthias Roesti, and Luis Gomez-Echeverri with a Foreword by Marianne Karlsen, Chair of the SBI
Publication Date:
March, 2021

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