In the course of the year, the Fellowship Programme held eight virtual events; and the Training and Support Programme held three regional Training Webinars. By far the most productive arm of the ecbi last year was the Publications and Policy Analysis Unit, which produced five Policy Briefs, eight Pocket Guides, four blog posts, and seven meeting reports.
European Capacity Building Initiative
ecbi Publications
ecbi's Publications and Policy Analysis Unit (PPAU) generates information and advice for developing country negotiators that is relevant to the climate negotiations under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
Developing countries often lack the economic and institutional capacity for policy analysis. If negotiators are unable to engage proactively by submitting proposals, responding to proposals from other States, and assessing the impact of global climate policy decisions on their individual States, progress in the negotiations can be hampered by the lack of alternatives and uncertainity. The differences in analytic capacity between developing countries and the industrialised world are often profound – developing countries lack support from organisations like the OECD, for instance, which has an immense apparatus producing thorough and focused reports, including direct advice on future policy responses to each of member country.
ecbi publications aim to be relevant to ongoing negotiations under the UNFCCC, timely, and trustworthy. PPAU works with negotiators from developing countries, sometimes through Editorial Committees, to identify UNFCCC issues where further analysis and policy advice is needed. Global experts are then teamed up with negotiators from devleoping countries to produce Policy Briefs and Discussion Notes. This partnership between experts and negotiators helps to ensure that the process of producing a Brief addresses the specific concerns of developing country negotiators; builds the capacity of developing country co-authors in policy analysis; and also builds ownership of the analysis.
For new negotiators, and for use in ecbi Regional and Pre-COP Training Workshops, PPAU produces Background Papers and a series of Pocket Guides. These generally provide a more basic analysis of issues for newcomers to the process, along with the background and history of the issue in the negotiations.
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Sharing experiences – particularly on the merits of different legislative approaches, lessons learnt, and good practices – can help drive efficient and successful implementation of climate action on the ground, and ultimately more ambitious action under the Paris Agreement. This policy brief considers the experience of four countries in Sub-Saharan Africa that have completed or initiated the process of developing framework laws: Kenya (the first country in Africa to adopt a climate change framework law), Eswatini, Nigeria, and Uganda.
Publication Date:
March, 2021
As the global climate change negotiations shift to implementation mode, the institutions and process of the global negotiations will also have to adapt and become fit for purpose. This report proposes new arrangements that reflect this new role, particularly for the Conference of the Parties (COP). We propose that COPs should be slimmed-down in size considerably to deal with technical matters related to implementation. Political elements can be dealt with in processes outside the COPs that have already been established to support implementation on the ground – such as the Climate Action agenda, the Marrakech Partnership, the Regional Climate Weeks, and the technical meetings and workshops that support countries in formulating and implementing policies and measures in support of climate ambition.
Update: This report is referenced in the 27 October 2021 CarbonBrief UN Climate Talks Analysis: How delegations at COP climate summits have changed over time.
Publication Date:
March, 2021
The term ‘response measures’ is not in regular use outside of the UNFCCC process, and is not easily understood by policymakers and stakeholders even within the process. This Guide aims to increase understanding of the topic, particularly among climate negotiators, to facilitate the UNFCCC negotiations on response measures.
Publication Date:
March, 2021
Les menaces créées par les changements climatiques se multiplient et les pays en développement vont avoir besoin de négociateurs capables de défendre leurs populations contre ces menaces. Ces guides de poche sont un apport à l’arsenal qu’il leur faudra déployer pour réussir. Nous espérons qu’ils seront utiles et que nous continuerons à recevoir vos retours d’information.
Publication Date:
March, 2021
At the Regional Training Webinar for the Caribbean which took place on 24 February 2021, ecbi trialled online "mock negotiations" to give trainee climate negotiators a taste of the real thing.
Publication Date:
March, 2021
Bulk purchasing technology under the non-market approaches (NMAs) defined in Article 6.8 of the Paris Agreement could help developing countries to reduce the costs of climate-friendly technology. This policy brief describes how such NMAs could allow groups of developing countries to drive down costs by pooling procurement, and using reverse auctioning to “discover” the lowest price.
Publication Date:
March, 2021
At a webinar on non-market mechanisms (NMAs) under Article 6.8 of the Paris Agreement, organised by ecbi on 17 February 2021, the key architect of Article 6.8 explained that "non-market" need not exclude a role for the private sector.
Publication Date:
February, 2021
The climate negotiations are strongly influenced, on all sides, by appeals to ‘listen to the science’. This Pocket Guide is aimed at both scientists and policymakers who are involved in the science-policy interface that underpins the negotiations. It provides guidance on questions such as what is meant by ‘climate science’? How do you know which ‘scientific’ voices to listen to? How do you balance scientific information against other relevant considerations?
Publication Date:
February, 2021
ecbi Director Benito Müller presented the proposal for a Glasgow Ambition Cycle at the Technical Dialogue on Common Time Frames for Nationally Determined Contributions convened by Marianne Karlsen, SBI Chair, on 2 December 2020 as part of the 2020 UN Climate Change Dialogues.
Publication Date:
December, 2020
