This document is a response to the High-level Champions’ Letter of 27 March 2020 on behalf of Galvanizing the Groundswell of Climate Actions (www.climategroundswell.org), a series of convenings that aims to improve the role of sub- and non-state climate action within the UNFCCC process.

This joint submission is complementary to any individual submissions sent in by the organizations that participate in Galvanizing the Groundswell of Climate Actions meetings.

This submission draws on discussions convened by Galvanizing the Groundswell of Climate Actions over the past years, and in particular on an “online atelier” held in May 2020. A summary report from this event is available on the GGCA website here.

Read the full submission here.

The document summarizes the outcomes of an “Online Atelier” on the Future of Global Climate Action (GCA) in the UNFCCC held in May 2020. The objective of the workshop was to build on previous conversations by deepening our collective thinking on how GCA could be strengthened going forward. It feeds into the consultations carried out by the High-level Champions, who were tasked at COP26 with exploring opportunities to improve the Marrakech Partnership for Global Climate Action (MPGCA). This summary covers key aspects of the conversations that took place. Key points of note include the following:

• The shift to implementation places greater emphasis on action by both Parties and other actors. Action will increasingly be the yardstick by which the value and legitimacy of the UNFCCC process will be judged.

• GCA is the part of the UNFCCC process that catalyzes and brokers action via collaboration between all actors. GCA should not be thought of as just the realm for non-state or sub-national actors, but as a tool to help all actors enhance action.

• On the road to COP26 and over the next five years, GCA activities should prioritize catalyzing action, facilitating capacity building and information exchange between Parties and non-Parties, and enhancing reporting and communication, while strengthening the organizational aspects of GCA in sync with the implementation architecture of the Paris Agreement.

Read the full report here.

Since before Paris, the UNFCCC process has created institutions to encourage and recognize climate action by cities, business, states/regions, investors, and other “non-Party” actors, as well as cooperative initiatives that involve sub- and non-state actors as well as national governments. At COP25, Parties extended the mandate of this Global Climate Action (GCA) “space” and tasked the High-level Champions to explore how such arrangements can be improved.

This document builds on discussions and brainstorming on the future of GCA carried out through the Galvanizing the Groundswell of Climate Actions network over the past year. It puts forward a vision for what GCA might look like going forward. It is intended not as a final statement, but as an input to and stimulus for further discussions over the course of 2020.

Read the full paper here.

This paper lays out a range of options for Global Climate Action (GCA) arrangements in the UNFCCC after 2020. It is intended as an early “brainstorming” document to help Parties and non-Party actors and stakeholders concretize discussions of this issue going forward. All of the options discussed below need further elaboration and refinement.

By outlining various options, we do not in any way intend to foreclose other possibilities. The ideas suggested represent a range of different views that have emerged from discussions between Parties and non-Parties over the course of 2019. More such deliberations will be needed to create a fit-for-purpose set of Global Climate Action arrangements in the UNFCCC by COP26, when current arrangements expire, and beyond. In particular, we note that it is important not to allow the current set of GCA activities in the UNFCCC to define the boundaries of our imagination, though this is of course the starting point for many Parties and non-Parties thinking about the issue.

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At COP21 and COP22, Parties created a link between the UNFCCC process and climate action by cities, states/regions, business, investors, and civil society, but its mandate expires at the end of 2020.

Climate action by cities, states/regions, business, investors, civil society, and others has become a key part of global and national responses to climate change. The Marrakesh Partnership has provided concrete benefits for both Parties and non-Parties. It is important for the UNFCCC process to continue to engage with climate action from non-party actors after 2020. There is an opportunity to reform existing institutional arrangements to maximize the positive contributions non-party actors can make, working alongside countries to deliver the goals of the Paris Agreement. At COP25, it is important to signal the continuation of the UNFCCC’s engagement with and support for the broader world of global climate action.

Key actions to take at COP25:

• Publicly declare support for the continuation of Global Climate Action in the UNFCCC after 2020, including at the Global Climate Action High-level Event on Wednesday, December 11th

• Support an outcome at COP25 that signals renewed and revised Global Climate Action

  arrangements will be ready to be put into action by COP26 in 2020.

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The Workshop Global Climate Action Beyond 2020, held on 14-15 June 2019, explored the role of non-state and subnational actors and cooperative initiatives between them in post-2020 climate governance. The event convened policy-makers, researchers and practitioners from developed and developing countries, conferring an opportunity to exchange and to debate through interactive plenaries and as well as breakout sessions. As the negotiations to formulate a post-2020 agenda are underway, the workshop aimed not only at debating climate action within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), but also within the broader ecosystem of non-state and subnational climate action.

See here for English version.

See here for Spanish version.

See here for Portuguese version.

The Marrakech Partnership will terminate at the end of 2020. The question thus arises, what role should climate action play in the UNFCCC process after 2020? This discussion paper seeks to help Parties and other stakeholders explore this critical question. It explores the changing context for climate action as the UNFCCC process shifts to implementing the goals of the Paris Agreement. It reviews the unique role of the UNFCCC climate action institutions in the broader ‘ecosystem’ of global climate action. And it highlights potential options going forward.

Read more here.

How should the UNFCCC process engage with the groundswell of climate action after 2020?

Galvanizing the Groundswell of Climate Actions has consulted individuals involved in the Marrakech Partnership and its precursors (e.g. the 2014 UNSG summit, the Lima-Paris Action Agenda) to help the climate action community organize its thinking about this important question. We asked individuals to reflect on lessons learned from past experiences, and also to think ahead for what arrangements would be most effective in the future.

This summary attempts to capture the range of ideas offered. It is intended in the spirit of constructive brainstorming, and will doubtless be enriched as the conversation continues.

Read more here.

On December 13, 2018 at the Novotel Hotel in Katowice, Poland, Galvanizing the Groundswell of Climate Actions (www.climategroundswell.org) convened a meeting in the toward the end of COP24. This meeting took stock of the numerous events and developments over the previous days at COP24 and inform the next steps related to non-state actor climate action, particularly in 2019. Key objectives of this meeting included the following:

• Take stock of non-state and subnational climate action after COP24

• Propose deliverables and shape of institutional roles for galvanizing non-state and subnational climate action in 2019 and 2020

• Identify key priorities and next steps for early 2019

This summary synthesizes the discussion from the perspective of the organizers.

The surge of climate action catalyzed by the Global Climate Action Summit in San Francisco Sept 12-14 gives governments meeting in Katowice at COP24 new opportunities and impetus to implement and enhance their commitments by 2020. This summary assesses where global climate action stands after the California summit by highlighting:

1. Findings from reports prepared for the Summit on the scale and potential of climate action

2. Key outcomes from the Summit

3. Opportunities for national governments to build on the groundswell of climate action.

Read the full summary here.

On September 28, 2018 at the Instituto Cervantes, New York, Galvanizing the Groundswell of Climate Actions convened a meeting as part of New York Climate Week to consider how local governments, the private sector, and civil society can help countries deliver NDCs and enhance ambition in the period 2018-2020. It brought together academics, policy practitioners, and IGO representatives focusing on global climate action.

Read more here.

As national governments look to step up climate ambition by 2020, they have an enormous opportunity to draw on the dynamism of local governments, the private sector, and civil society in their countries. These actors, in turn, have a key role to play in mobilizing at the domestic level to create conditions that facilitate higher national ambition. Indeed, many around the world are already doing so. While every country’s circumstances are unique, this report draws from a wide range of experiences to map domestic climate action around the world. By identifying the range of forms domestic level climate action can take, as well as best practices, barriers, and solutions, it seeks to inform and catalyze further ambition in the lead-up to 2020.

Read the full report here.

2018 launches an international effort to enhance climate action and ambition by 2020, the first “ratchet” since the Paris Agreement. Cities, states and regions, business, investors, civil society groups, and other “non-Party actors” play a critical role in this process by delivering progress on the ground and in the real economy. But they also generate new opportunities for national governments to strengthen implementation and step up ambition. Focusing on this mutual reinforcement, this memo explains how non-Party actors can support countries to step up action and ambition in 2018, while also looking forward to 2020.

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2018 is a critical year to step up climate ambition on the road to 2020. The groundswell of climate action by non-party stakeholders creates opportunities for national governments to harvest the experience, resources, and achievements of cities, business, regions, investors, civil society, and others to enhance their own ambition. Summarizing a discussion of these issues held on November 15, 2017, at COP23, this document recommends how this process can unfold in 2018.

Read more here.

The first Yearbook of Climate Action shows that effective climate action by businesses, cities and regions, and other actors could make significant contributions to narrowing the global emissions gap, adapting to climate change, and demonstrating to governments that higher ambition is desirable and doable. Moreover, climate action is growing in the global South, and many climate action initiatives are producing outputs toward their goals. Key challenges of inclusion and scope remain, however, creating an urgent need to invest in scaling up climate action – and the framework supporting it – in 2018.

Read more here.

At the start of COP23, a proposed agenda item raised the issue of “MRV”—monitoring, reporting, and verification—for non-party stakeholders. While not adopted as part of the formal agenda, the topic will be the subject of informal consultations at COP23. This explainer provides an overview of the issues at stake and the current state of efforts to track non-party climate action in the UNFCCC and in the broader climate action community. 

Read the full explainer here.

2018 will be a critical year to step up climate ambition. The groundswell of climate
action by non-party stakeholders creates opportunities for national governments to harvest the
experience, resources, and achievements of non-party stakeholders to enhance their own
ambition. At COP23, non-party stakeholders can signal their interest to identify such opportunities for parties over the coming year.

Read more here.

The technical examination meetings have not lived up to their potential, but including non-party stakeholders more fully can reinvigorate them. Earlier planning, consultation with nonparty stakeholders, and better linkages with the Marrakech Partnership for Global Climate Action can improve the technical examination process in 2018 and beyond.

Read more here.