Presentation
The Brazilian COP30 Presidency has framed this year’s Conference of the Parties as a “COP of implementation.” There is, however, no common understanding of what the term entails. This Policy Brief disentangles the various dimensions of the implementation of the international climate framework deriving from the UNFCCC process and offers practical suggestions to the COP30 Presidency, focusing on three areas: 1) fostering the use of current UNFCCC mechanisms; 2) orchestrating the enabling climate action of international fora outside of the UNFCCC; and 3) harnessing the positive action of those on the ground.
Key Messages
- There is room for making better use of existing arrangements within the UNFCCC and the Paris Climate Agreement to support implementation, including through reforming the Action Agenda. There is capacity for collecting detailed relevant information and knowledge that can be used to enhance accountability, collective learning and strengthening international collaboration. It requires a shift away from targets to focus on implementation barriers and gaps for effective collaboration.
- There is a particular challenge to consider the mechanisms that would support greater transparency and convergence of climate efforts at the international level beyond the UNFCCC. There are several possibilities to consider, including a dedicated observatory of international organizations (IOs)’ Paris-aligned activities, a stocktake of international efforts under COP or Global Stocktake and a dialogue between UNFCCC and relevant IOs and a steering process by willing countries of coordination of climate action across IOs.
- We need to recognize that existing efforts and fora may fall short of achieving the climate objectives, which are generally not in their core mandate. This may require establishing dedicated focused cooperation to address specific needs in areas where existing platforms are not equipped to deal with them.
- Ultimately, implementation needs to be addressed in national jurisdictions where action is taking place. Supporting ownership and take-up of international decisions may require strengthening regional peer learning across country authorities, supporting networks and mechanisms that can provide independent advice and review within countries, and elevating the voice of sub-national governments, parliamentarians and citizens in relevant decision-making process.
- COP30 must shift from negotiating new promises to orchestrating, enabling and accelerating delivery (and over-delivery, when considering current NDCs) on existing ones. This may come with a re-focus of existing processes, establishing an implementation forum at COP, as well as recognition of the limits of the UNFCCC process and an invitation for countries to contribute diplomatic efforts and political capital into innovative ways of collaboration that increase policy coherence within countries and internationally.
