GGCA and partner resources
Following COP26, the multilateral climate process will see a shift from negotiations towards wholesale implementation of the Paris Agreement. As such, the Global Climate Action (GCA) space will play an increasingly important role in the years to come. COP27, to be hosted by an African country, will serve as a key moment to advance this agenda.
These two briefing notes provide an introduction to this evolving context, an overview of the current activities of the Marrakech Partnership for Global Climate Action under the current High-Level Climate Champions, and the specific opportunities facing the COP27 Presidency in consolidating this agenda whilst advancing climate action in Africa.
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.
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.
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.
At COP25, Parties mandated an extension of the Marrakech Partnership for Global Climate Action (MPGCA) up to 2025. Recognizing the growing value of the Marrakech Partnership as the multilateral process enters the implementation phase of the Paris Agreement, Parties requested the High-level Champions also explore how to improve the work under the MPGCA.
Following a year-long consultative process with Parties and non-Party stakeholders, and building on the resulting five-year vision, the High-level Champions have released a document in advance of COP26 to guide the Marrakech Partnership through its second phase to 2025.
This briefing note provides a summary highlighting key features of the renewed Marrakech Partnership. It also identifies areas relevant to Party and non-Party stakeholders interested in supporting the Marrakech Partnership at COP26 and beyond.
Read the briefing here.