Durban Forum: Background
Decisions relating to the establishment, the organization and the work of the Durban Forum on Capacity-building

Decision 8/CP.25

Fourth comprehensive review of the implementation of the framework for capacity-building in developing countries under the Convention

Decision 3/CMA.2

Initial institutional arrangements for capacity-building under the Paris Agreement

Decision 15/CP.24

Annual technical progress report of the Paris Committee on Capacity-building for 2018

Decision 16/CP.23

Annual technical progress report of the Paris Committee on Capacity-building for 2017

Decision 16/CP.22

Third comprehensive review of the implementation of the framework for capacity-building in developing countries under the Convention

Decision 6/CMP.12

Capacity-building in developing countries under the Kyoto Protocol

Decision 1/CP.21

Adoption of the Paris Agreement

Decision 21/CP.20

Joint annual report of the Technology Executive Committee and the Climate Technology Centre and Network for 2014

Decision 1/CP.19

Further advancing the Durban Platform

Decision 1/CP.18 
Agreed outcome pursuant to the Bali Action Plan (VI. Enhanced action on capacity-building, page 14).

Decision 10/CMP.8 
Capacity-building under the Kyoto Protocol for developing countries.

Decision 2/CP.17 
Outcome of the work of the Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action under the Convention, Chapter VI. Capacity-building.

Decision 1/CP.16 
The Cancun Agreements: Outcome of the work of the Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action under the Convention

Decision 4/CP.12 
Capacity-building under the Convention

Decision 2/CP.7 
Capacity-building in developing countries (non-Annex I Parties)

Durban Forum - background
Credit: Creative Commons

Purpose

The Durban Forum on Capacity-building was designed as a place for dialogue among all stakeholders involved in capacity-building - representatives from Parties, UN organizations, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, research, academia and the private sector. The Forum aims to:

  • fill in information gaps
  • provide an overview of the type of capacity-building support provided to developing countries and the corresponding implementation efforts by Parties. 
  • improve the monitoring and review of the effectiveness of capacity-building within the international climate change regime.

The meetings of the Durban Forum give participants the opportunity to:

  • exchange ideas
  • share experiences, lessons learned and good practices on implementing capacity-building activities in developing countries, and
  • seek ways to work together in a more coordinated way

Format

The COP decided that the Durban Forum would take the form of an annual, in-session event open to the participation of Parties and other stakeholders involved in the implementation of capacity-building activities in developing countries. It would meet once a year during the UNFCCC negotiating sessions and allow for the participation of all stakeholders in the process

Origins

 

Panama Climate Change Conference, October 2011

The cradle of the Durban Forum was built in Panama. Parties engaged in a three-hour in-depth discussion on capacity-building with representatives of relevant bodies established under the Convention, with the Global Environment Facility, and with other delegates involved in negotiating mitigation, adaptation, and technology and finance.

This in-depth discussion, hailed as a success by Parties, paved the way for the careful crafting of the decision text on the Durban Forum a few months later, during the Durban Climate Change Conference the city from which the Forum takes its name.

Durban Climate Change Conference, November/December 2011

Under the Ad hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action under the Convention (AWG-LCA), Parties agreed to a decision that requested the SBI to continue working on ways to further enhance the monitoring and review of the effectiveness of capacity-building, including through the newly created Durban Forum on capacity-building
Content