About

This Masterclass session on Climate Negotiation will discuss key stakes of negotiating climate change, covering the shifting landscape of global climate governance and key challenges. The session modality is mainly a lecture, followed by a Q&A session.

Climate change negotiations are at the heart of developing an international framework for climate action and support. Building on the experience of UNU-IAS Graduate School's diploma programme on the Specialization of the Paris Agreement, this master class explains the historical background, recent developments, and current challenges facing climate negotiations. It contextualizes negotiations within the broader interactions between climate science, domestic policymaking, and socio-economic development, while discussing the shift from institutional development to implementation and delivery.

Participants will gain cutting-edge insights into the stakes of climate negotiations. In essence, this session at the Capacity-building Hub will help participants meaningfully and strategically engage with climate negotiations.

Target audience

Diplomats and policymakers involved in climate change negotiations; stakeholders participating in UNFCCC processes, including local government representatives, civil society organizations, the private sector, researchers, and youth.

Organizations involved

United Nations University Institute for the Advanced Study of Sustainability (UNU-IAS)

Objectives

• To introduce the basics of climate negotiations.
• To explain how the landscape of negotiations can be shifting and what the implications are.
• To discuss key challenges and possibilities of climate negotiations.

Expected outcomes

• To equip participants with a nuanced understanding of the contexts of climate negotiations so that they can think beyond individual negotiating positions.
• To enable participants to meaningfully and strategically take part in climate negotiations.

Agenda

Relevant links

A quick introduction to the UNU-IAS Graduate School's diploma Programme on the Specialization of the Paris Agreement, which provides the foundation of the lecture: Training Tomorrow's Climate Leaders: New Postgraduate Specialization at UNU-IAS.

This session is part of the Capacity-building Hub at COP31.