At the twenty-first session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 21) in Paris, it was agreed that mobilizing stronger and more ambitious climate action by all Parties and non-Party stakeholders is urgently required if the goals of the Paris Agreement are to be achieved. In decision 1/CP.21, the commitments from all actors are recognized, including those launched through the Lima–Paris Action Agenda, as well as the urgent need to scale up the global response to climate change and support greater ambition from governments. To ensure a durable connection between the Convention and the many voluntary and collaborative actions, Parties decided that two high-level champions shall be appointed.
In June 2016, the champions published their roadmap for global climate action in which they described their tasks. In addition, the champions launched a consultation among Parties and non-Parties on their road map allowing for written submissions. They posed five questions to guide the submissions regarding the understanding of the landscape for global climate action; the role of the champions; the tracking and showcasing initiatives, the high-level event and the role of the TEMS.
The road map and the submissions received were discussed with Parties and non-Party stakeholders at different meetings: the Alliances and Coalitions Global Forum in Rabat (June), the Climate Chance in Nantes (September), the Climate Week NYC (September) and the Pre-COP in Rabat (September). (Synthesis report on the submissions). On 28 October, the champions made publicly available their reflections on the way forward, as a prelude to the Global Climate Action at COP 22. This document served as basis for consultations with Parties and non-Party stakeholders during COP 22.
During the two weeks at COP 22, the champions socialized the 'Reflections on the Way Forward' with Parties and observers in order to gather their inputs. Based on these consultations, the champions finalized their proposal for the future of global climate action and on 17 November presented and published the Marrakech Partnership for Global Climate Action.
On 4 May 2017, the champions published a proposed approach, draft work programme (739 kB) and an impact and priority tracker (789 kB) . During SB46, the champions consulted with Parties and observers on these documents. Based on these consultations, the champions revised and published their approach for the Marrakech Partnership (347 kB).
In response to the mandate given by Parties at COP 25 to explore how to improve the work under the Marrakech Partnership for enhancing ambition and after a thorough process to gather feedback from Parties and non-Party stakeholders, the champions have developed a 5-year plan of the improved Marrakech Partnership for enhancing ambition, which was welcomed by Parties at COP 26 as part of the Glasgow Climate Pact. The Improved Marrakech Partnership for Enhancing Ambition 2021-2025 outlines the vision, mandate, core functions and tools, and updated structures intended to increase the scale and impact of the Marrakech Partnership work through 2025.
Based on the COP 29 decision to welcome the continuation of the Marrakech Partnership and to continue appointing Climate High-Level Champions for 2026–2030, the Champions of the COP 29 and 30 Presidencies followed the good practice from the previous cycle in developing, as tasked by the COP 30 Presidency, a new : one that builds on the significant progress made over the last 10 years and supports the implementation of already agreed outcomes from the UNFCCC process, such as the GST.
