Junior negotiators build their capacity to participate in intergovernmental climate change processes
27-31July 2015, Bangkok: A junior climate change negotiation skills training for LDC negotiations took place in Thailand. This training event was funded through Global Environment Facility (GEF) and was designed by UNITAR as part of a broader UNDP/UNEP global programme to build capacity of LDCs to effectively participate in intergovernmental climate change processes.
Participants of the training included ‘emerging’ negotiators of least developed countries (LDCs) from both Francophone and Anglophone countries. Both Francophone and Anglophone countries received a two-and-a-half day training, complemented by a half-day bilingual session in between for both groups.
The main objective of this first training was to strengthen the ‘emerging’ negotiators’ understanding of the mechanics of the negotiating process within the UNFCCC and to help them to effectively support their delegation on the main negotiating issues. This will in effect contribute to the development of a new international agreement on climate change, due to enter into force in 2020. The training focused on specific negotiation skills and ways in which these skills can best be used to further the national objectives as well as those of the wider LDC negotiating group in the context of climate change negotiations.
Topics covered during the training included: a reflection on UNFCCC negotiation techniques which outlined current state of negotiations, progress and challenges, outlining potential negotiators scenarios and developing road maps to move negotiations forward. Simulation exercises were followed by questions and answers on the negotiations processes.
