Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Fostering Reflection, Dialogue and Collaboration among Actors at the UN Climate Change Conferences

Mar, Kathleen ; Fraude, Carolin ; Bruhn, Thomas ; Schäpke, Niko ; Stasiak, Dorota ; Schroeder, Heike ; Wamsler, Christine LU and Lawrence, Mark (2021) In IASS Policy Brief
Abstract
At their core, the UN Climate Change conferences known as “COPs” are the primary international venue for negotiating how countries should act and cooperate to avoid dangerous climate change. The 2015 Paris Agreement is its most recent notable success. Although the climate negotiations are a state government-led process, the UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) community has increasingly recognized the need for dialogue and engagement with non-governmental stakeholders in acknowledgement of the critical role they will play in mobilizing and implementing climate change solutions. Non-governmental stakeholders include science, civil society, the private sector, and local communities. Such non-governmental... (More)
At their core, the UN Climate Change conferences known as “COPs” are the primary international venue for negotiating how countries should act and cooperate to avoid dangerous climate change. The 2015 Paris Agreement is its most recent notable success. Although the climate negotiations are a state government-led process, the UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) community has increasingly recognized the need for dialogue and engagement with non-governmental stakeholders in acknowledgement of the critical role they will play in mobilizing and implementing climate change solutions. Non-governmental stakeholders include science, civil society, the private sector, and local communities. Such non-governmental stakeholders also attend the COP in large numbers, where they aspire to influence the negotiations, make their voices heard, and generally contribute to advancing climate action. Indeed, the COP has tremendous convening power, annually bringing together tens of thousands of people working on diverse aspects of climate policy, science, and advocacy in one place at the same time. Despite this enormous collective potential, a communication culture has developed that relies heavily on conventional presentation and panel formats that are not conducive to mutual engagement and learning. We therefore see a need to reinvigorate the COPs through new formats of dialogue that can better foster collaboration and co-creation of climate change solutions. Against this backdrop we make the following three recommendations to foster reflection, dialogue, and collaboration among diverse actors at the UN Climate Change conferences, focusing on the interactions that take place outside the formal negotiations. These recommendations are intended to be actionable by different types of meeting hosts at the COP, including observers, Party delegates, the UNFCCC Secretariat and the COP presidency. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; ; ; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Book/Report
publication status
published
subject
in
IASS Policy Brief
issue
5
publisher
Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS)
ISSN
2196-9221
DOI
10.48481/iass.2021.028
project
The Contemplative Sustainable Futures Program
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
bb0e459b-d9e2-4983-a0a3-3d9458089b09
date added to LUP
2022-03-30 10:46:44
date last changed
2022-03-30 13:13:09
@techreport{bb0e459b-d9e2-4983-a0a3-3d9458089b09,
  abstract     = {{At their core, the UN Climate Change conferences known as “COPs” are the primary international venue for negotiating how countries should act and cooperate to avoid dangerous climate change. The 2015 Paris Agreement is its most recent notable success. Although the climate negotiations are a state government-led process, the UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) community has increasingly recognized the need for dialogue and engagement with non-governmental stakeholders in acknowledgement of the critical role they will play in mobilizing and implementing climate change solutions. Non-governmental stakeholders include science, civil society, the private sector, and local communities. Such non-governmental stakeholders also attend the COP in large numbers, where they aspire to influence the negotiations, make their voices heard, and generally contribute to advancing climate action. Indeed, the COP has tremendous convening power, annually bringing together tens of thousands of people working on diverse aspects of climate policy, science, and advocacy in one place at the same time. Despite this enormous collective potential, a communication culture has developed that relies heavily on conventional presentation and panel formats that are not conducive to mutual engagement and learning. We therefore see a need to reinvigorate the COPs through new formats of dialogue that can better foster collaboration and co-creation of climate change solutions. Against this backdrop we make the following three recommendations to foster reflection, dialogue, and collaboration among diverse actors at the UN Climate Change conferences, focusing on the interactions that take place outside the formal negotiations. These recommendations are intended to be actionable by different types of meeting hosts at the COP, including observers, Party delegates, the UNFCCC Secretariat and the COP presidency.}},
  author       = {{Mar, Kathleen and Fraude, Carolin and Bruhn, Thomas and Schäpke, Niko and Stasiak, Dorota and Schroeder, Heike and Wamsler, Christine and Lawrence, Mark}},
  institution  = {{Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS)}},
  issn         = {{2196-9221}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{5}},
  series       = {{IASS Policy Brief}},
  title        = {{Fostering Reflection, Dialogue and Collaboration among Actors at the UN Climate Change Conferences}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.48481/iass.2021.028}},
  doi          = {{10.48481/iass.2021.028}},
  year         = {{2021}},
}