CDKN and UNITAR Multilateral Diplomacy Programme (MDP) are holding a round table discussion on the topic of ‘Supporting climate negotiators: lessons learned and future opportunities’. In the world of international climate change negotiations, parties’ positions on different issues grab the headlines. But how often do we stop and think about the negotiators themselves – particularly when they’re from low-income, poorly-resourced delegations?

The reality is most developing countries need support to keep up with the plethora of issues on the table, if they’re to represent their interests properly. They need sufficient knowledge about climate change itself: that’s an essential first step to being a good negotiator. They also need to collaborate and coordinate. They need administrative and logistical support. And they need to be skilled at the art of negotiating and able to navigate international processes such as the UNFCCC’s.

CDKN’s £10 million, four-year programme of negotiations support, funded by DFID, aims to address these needs. CDKN, with event co-hosts UNITAR (MDP), invite you to join us in exploring the question: ‘how can we best support climate negotiators?’

The panel of experts will include negotiators (Malia Talakai: AOSIS, Ben Lyon: UK), trainers (Rabih El Haddad: UNITAR (MDP)), UNFCCC, advisors (Achala Chandani: iied), academics (Benito Mueller: Oxford University) and donor representatives (Dan Hamza-Goodacre: CDKN), and to discuss what we have learned about supporting climate negotiators and what future opportunities exist. This invitation only event will be under ‘Chatham House rules’ and we hope will be a precursor to a larger, more open event in Qatar later this year.