The UN Climate Change Regional Collaboration Centres (RCCs) are vital to the efforts to help countries turn COP commitments and national climate ambitions into real world results, bringing the benefits of climate action to more people around the world.

Last year, RCCs’ support focused on three key areas: Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), National Adaptation Plans (NAPs), and carbon markets and carbon pricing instruments.

RCCs helped governments get ready to take part in both Article 6 of the Paris Agreement and in domestic carbon pricing instruments, through a dedicated capacity building programme across the globe.  Article 6 allows countries to work together to cut emissions, either by trading emissions reductions directly with one another, or through a UN-run carbon market, known as the Paris Agreement Crediting Mechanism (PACM). RCCs also supported governments on setting up their own carbon pricing instruments at home, such as carbon taxes, emissions trading systems, and hybrid approaches. 

In 2025, RCCs directly supported 83 countries across all six regions, largely through technical and advisory assistance. Over the year, they tailored and evolved their approach from RCCs delivering broad regional engagement to more targeted, country-driven support. This change was informed by a comprehensive country needs assessment conducted throughout the year and regular consultations with UNFCCC National Focal Points. This approach enables RCCs to respond more directly and more effectively to needs and priorities of the countries.

RCCs were integral to supporting real-world progress at regional and national levels by building countries’ capacities to plan and implement climate action, networking with key partners, coordinating regional climate action agendas, and providing targeted technical and policy support. In 2025, RCCs supported in 313 events globally – many of which were organized or co-organized– and shared insights and built institutional understanding through multiple reports and articles. RCCs also strengthened collaborations with development banks, technical bodies, the private sector, regional organizations, and other UN Bodies – helping to avoid duplication, boost efficiencies and optimize governments’ financial resources, and coordinate action around the most pressing priorities identified by governments. 

Explore the six RCCs' climate action achievements in 2025 here.

RCCs in 2026: practical support to countries in the era of implementation

In 2026, the RCCs work will be strongly focused on helping governments to boost implementation, strengthen economies and communities through stronger climate actions, delivering more practical benefits to millions more people. Most countries have now submitted new NDCs, formulated NAPs, and made institutional arrangements to participate in Article 6 of the Paris Agreement. RCCs will increasingly focus on supporting governments and other implementers to convert these plans into real world results at the local and national levels, through targeted, country-driven support, as requested by Parties in decision 1/CMPA.7.

Improving access to finance is instrumental to facilitate the implementation of NDCs and NAPs across the regions. So, this year, RCCs will be ramping-up engagement with Multilateral Development Banks and other partners to support countries to finance their NAPs and NDCs.

In 2026, RCCs will also continue supporting countries to participate fully in formal UNFCCC processes, particularly the UN Climate Conference – called the Conference of the Parties, or COP – each year. This includes by rolling-out the Capacity Building for Negotiators (CB4N) initiative at the regional level. The CB4N initiative aims to strengthen the capacity of Party delegates attending the COPs and other preparatory negotiations and mandated meetings throughout the year.  This work will also have an additional focus also on helping young people to engage effectively in the UN climate negotiations, by providing targeted training and knowledge-sharing opportunities. 

Throughout 2026, the UN Climate Change secretariat and its RCCs will keep pushing forward, to help countries in every region realize their climate ambitions and reap the benefits of climate action for their peoples and economies at every level. 

Climate Weeks

2025

In 2025, our UN Climate Weeks took on a new format, focused on supporting governments and other Paris Agreement stakeholders to drive forward implementation of pledges. One of the ways our new Climate Weeks do this is by providing a practical space to advance priorities on finance, technology cooperation, and carbon markets. The UNFCCC Regional Collaboration Centres (RCCs) played a central role in this in 2025.

Through extensive regional outreach towards, targeted mobilization of stakeholders including multilateral development banks and regional organizations, and operational and technical support to event coordinators at CWs, the RCCs helped to ensure the Climate Weeks advanced progress on NDC implementation, NAP-related support, and Article 6 readiness.

A key feature of the new format for Climate Weeks is also providing spaces to connect negotiators attending mandated events with implementers from across governments, the private sector and financiers, international bodies, and civil society, including young people

The first Climate Week in the new format (CW1), hosted by the Government of Panama (19–23 May), brought together Party delegates and a wide spectrum of non‑Party stakeholders— including multilateral development banks, investors, businesses, civil society and local communities and Indigenous Peoples. A key milestone of the Week was the inaugural Implementation Forum, designed to help translate commitments from the intergovernmental COP process into practical implementation pathways. RCCs contributed directly by supporting stakeholder engagement and by helping to deliver initiatives such as the Implementation Labs.

Another top priority of the new format is finding efficiencies and cost savings for Parties and other Climate Week participants, by clustering mandated meetings.CW1 also hosted several key mandated sessions supported by the RCCs — such as the fifth global dialogue and investment-focused event under the Sharm el‑Sheikh Mitigation Ambition and Implementation Work Programme, the third dialogue under the UAE Just Transition Work Programme, and the Global DNA Forum on Article 6 implementation.  In addition, the first in‑person NDC Clinic of the year, provided hands‑on, country‑tailored support for NDC implementation.

The second Climate Week (CW2), held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in September, had a strong emphasis on adaptation and unlocking finance for implementation. The Week leveraged the Implementation Forum formats — including Implementation Labs and targeted technical exchanges — to help identify solutions that can be scaled up or replicated in other geographies.

2026

Building on the foundation laid in 2025, Climate Weeks continue to strengthen as practical platforms with a clear emphasis on connecting negotiated outcomes to delivery in communities and real‑economy systems. Climate Week 3 (CW3) took place in Yeosu, Republic of Korea (21–25 April), followed by Climate Week 4 in Baku, Azerbaijan (7–11 September).  The focus will again be on real-world solutions that can help Parties and other Paris Agreement stakeholder to drive forward faster and more inclusive implementation, while also advancing mandated work and connecting it more closely to real economy implementation.

The RCCs are expected to remain key delivery partners in the Climate Weeks into the future. RCC's contributions will span programme design and consultation, expanded regional stakeholder engagement, and onsite operational and technical delivery, alongside the Climate Week core team. Through this role, the RCCs will help to translate COP outcomes and issues into more implementation and real-world outcomes that reflect realities on the ground, while providing continuity to follow-up support through RCC work programmes and partnerships.

In this way, Climate Weeks in 2026 will continue to serve as a practical bridge between mandates and measurable progress on the ground, helping translate global commitments into regional action, strengthened capacities, and tangible outcomes for Parties and stakeholders that deliver concrete benefits for millions more people at community and national levels, as well as economic benefits, as the global transition to clean energy and climate resilience gathers pace and scale.

The RCCs in the context of the UN 80 initiative

The UN Secretary‑General’s UN80 Initiative is a system‑wide effort to enhance UN effectiveness through improved efficiency, review of mandate delivery, and realignment and strengthening of structural and programmatic coherence. The UNFCCC Regional Collaboration Centres (RCCs) are well placed to contribute to greater alignment and impact across the UN system’s climate action work by acting as a regionally grounded coordination and delivery interface. The RCCs can help strengthen the coordination between UNFCCC processes and the broader UN development architecture.

In practical terms, RCCs can deepen collaboration with UN agencies (e.g., UNDP, UNEP and others), the UN Development Coordination Office (DCO), UN Resident Coordinators (RCs) and UN Country Teams (UNCTs). In doing so, they can ensure each element of the system is working to its strengths, align country support with nationally defined priorities, and strengthen support on implementation at country level. Steps the RCCs can take include: structured, periodic briefings and early alignment with DCO regional offices and UNCTs; joint capacity‑building activities, including on Article 6, carbon markets, and implementation-relevant technical areas; engaging RCs in country missions, technical workshops, and regional stakeholder dialogues; and leveraging RCCs regional intelligence, partnership and convening role  to help translate COP outcomes into coordinated, on‑the‑ground support.

By reinforcing these connections, RCCs can help increase coherence, efficiency and delivery-orientation across the UN system – ensuring that climate mandates are communicated, and that support is delivered in a coherent and coordinated manner.