Monday, 14 November 9:00 – 17:40

China Pavilion, COP 22, Morocco

Hosted by the Government of China, the Government of Morocco, and the United Nations,  Organized by the United Nations Southern Climate Partnership Incubator (SCPI) Initiative, and supported by the International Ecosystem Management Partnership (IEMP) of the UNEP.

Background

UN Special Adviser David Nabarro addresses a High Level Forum of South-South Cooperation on Climate Change, at the UN COP22 in Marrakech, Morocco. Photo: Video Capture. UN News Centre

UN Special Adviser David Nabarro addresses a High Level Forum of South-South Cooperation on Climate Change, at the UN COP22 in Marrakech, Morocco. Photo: Video Capture. UN News Centre

In 2015, the world delivered many  critical and cooperative multi-lateral  achievements. The adoption of the  2030 Agenda for Sustainable  Development and the Paris Climate  Agreement showed that the world is  entering into a new stage of global  environment development governance. The momentum continues to grow, and it is now a central task to advance the implementation of those agreements in order to achieve the sustainable, low-carbon and climate-resilient future that we envision.

Developing countries are increasingly playing a role in the global climate-governance process and have delivered widely-recognized contributions. Collaboration among the Global South has contributed to enhanced capacity and readiness of developing countries to increase their climate efforts, which also benefits national and global progress on sustainable development.

Objectives

President of COP 22 Salaheddine Mezouar. Photo: UNFCCC

President of COP 22 Salaheddine Mezouar. Photo: UNFCCC

The forum aimed for participants to:

1) Discuss challenges and opportunities in the new implementation stage, deepen exchanges among developing countries such that they can better address climate change and achieve sustainable development, and maintain and increase momentum towards wider South-South Cooperation

2) Expand global partnerships for the Southern countries and enhance the capacity and readiness of developing countries to implement their Nationally Determined Contributions for the Paris Agreement and contribute to global sustainable development

3) Take stock of their on-the-ground experiences and share successful cases and good practices to enlarge the impacts of South-South Cooperation in the context of implementation of the Paris Agreement and 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Programme

The High-Level Forum on South-South Cooperation on Climate Change featured the following sessions:

[9:00 – 9:40]  Opening and Keynote Address 

[9:40 – 11:10] Distinguished Dialogue: Addressing Climate Change and Achieving Sustainable Development in Developing Countries: The Role of South-South Cooperation 

Country Flags outside the UN COP22 venue in Marrakech, Morocco. Photo: UNFCCC

Country Flags outside the UN COP22 venue in Marrakech, Morocco. Photo: UNFCCC

[11:30 – 13:00] Keynote Session: Pragmatic South-South Cooperation to Build the Capacity of Developing Countries

  • Moderator:
    • Mr. Donald Cooper, Mitigation, Data and Analysis Program Director, UNFCCC
  • Special Presentation:
    • Mr. Claudio Forner, Team Lead, Mitigation Implementation Support, UNFCCC, and Mr. ZHANG Xiaohua, Senior Policy Advisor, Climate Change Support Team, Executive Office of the Secretary-General, UN
  • Panelists:
    • H.E. Mr. Fernando Coimbra, Ambassador, Head of the Office for International Affairs, Ministry of the Environment, Brazil
    • H.E. Mr. Hussein Alfa Nafo, Special Adviser and Ambassador for Climate Change. Environment and Sustainable Development Agency, Mali
    • Mr. LIU Yong, Chief Economist, National Development Bank, China
    • Mr. Enrique Moret Hernández, Director of International Relations, Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment, Cuba (tbc)
    • Mr. Richard Stanislaus Muyungi, Assistant Director of Environmental Assessment, Vice President”s Office, Tanzania
    • Mr. Vicente Yu, Deputy Executive Director, South Center
    • Mr. Manuel Pulgar-Vidal, Leader of Global Climate and Energy Practice, WWF former Environmental Minister of Peru, COP20 President
    • Mr. LIU Jian, Director, International Ecosystem Management Partnership, UNEP

 [14:00 – 15:00] Thematic Session 1: South-South Cooperation and Financing for Climate and Sustainable Development

Photo: A happy-face globe outside COP22.

A happy-face globe outside COP22. UN Photo/Dan Shepard

  • Moderator:
    • Ms. Meena Raman, Legal Advisor, Third World Network
  • Panelists:
    • Mr. Nizar Baraka, President of the Moroccan Economic, Social and Environmental Council (CESE), and President of the Scientific Committee of COP 22
    • Mr. ZHANG Yucheng, Department of Climate Change, National Development and Reform Commission, China
    • Mr. Tosi Mpanu Mpanu, Chair of the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) Group, D. R. Congo
    • Ms. Preety Bhandari, Director, Climate Change and Disaster Risk Management Division, ADB
    • Ms. Dechen Tsering, Finance, Technology and Capacity-building Program Director, UNFCCC
    • Ms. Amal-Lee Amin, Chief, Climate Change and Sustainability Division, Inter-American Development Bank
    • Mr. Sze Ping Lo, CEO, WWF China

[15:10 – 16:10] Thematic Session 2: South-South Cooperation on Technology and Capacity Building 

Decent Work

  • Moderator:
    • Mr. Pradeep Kurukulasuriya, Head, Climate Change Adaptation (Global) and Senior Technical Advisor- Adaptation, UNDP
  • Panelists:
    • Mr. Youba Sokona, Honorary Professor, Head of AREI Delivery Unit
    • Mr. Jukka Uosukainen, Director, Climate Technology Center and Network (CTCN)
    • Ms. Adriana Dinu, Executive Coordinator, Global Environmental Finance Unit, UNDP
    • Mr. Hans Friederich, Director General, International Network for Bamboo and Rattan
    • Mr. XV Meng, Director, Department of International Business, China Academy of Space Technology
    • Prof. Ambuj Sagar, Vipula and Mahesh Chaturvedi Professor of Policy Studies, Indian Institute of Technology

[16:20 – 17:20] Thematic Session 3: Multi-stakeholder Participation and Partnerships for the Global South

  • Moderator:
    • Ms. Manal WARDÉ, Maghreb Director, Oxfam
  • Panelists:
    • Ms. HE Qiaonyu, Chairperson of Orient Landscape Investment Holding, Chairperson of Beijing Qiaonv Foundation, China
    • Ms. Paula Caballero, Global Director, Climate Program, World Resource Institute, USA
    • Ms. JIN Jiaman, Executive Director, Global Environmental Institute (GEI), China
    • Mr. Philippe Poinsot, UN Resident Coordinator, Rabat-Morocco
    • Mr. QIAN Xiaohua, President of SEE Conservation, and Executive Director of SEE Foundation, China
    • Ms. Kanika Chawla, Senior Program Lead, Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW), India

[17:20 – 17:40] Closing

  • Mr. Jorge Chediek, Envoy of the United Nations Secretary-General on South-South Cooperation / Director, United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation
  • Mr. Halldor Thorgeirsson, Head, Climate Change Support Team, Executive Office of the Secretary-General, UN
  • H.E. Mr. LIU Zhenmin, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of China

Press Release on the event is located here:

 https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/blog/2016/11/marrakech-deepening-south-south-cooperation-is-driving-climate-action-among-developing-countries/

Contact: for information on the Forum and specifics of each session, please email scpi@un.org.