The Earth Diplomacy Leadership Initiative is a collaboration between Citizens’ Climate International and The Fletcher School at Tufts University.
To succeed, the COP28 will need to welcome critical questions about the future of engineering, industry, infrastructure, urbanization, food systems, health, and human impact on nature, into global climate policy in a way that increases opportunity for everyone, while rapidly reducing emissions and fostering climate-resilient development.
The overarching goal of the Earth Diplomacy Leadership collaboration between CCI and The Fletcher School is to empower and sustain a growing community of skilled multidimensional negotiators and observers, representing people of all backgrounds, in the United Nations Climate Change negotiations, and in related intergovernmental processes.
- This will be done through in-person trainings, virtual workshops, ongoing sharing of insights, and a growing network of Earth Diplomacy Leadership Initiative participants.
- Virtual workshops will be open to a wider audience, to ensure critical insights are available to current and future diplomats, civil society observers, other stakeholder groups, local and provincial policy-makers, scholars, and media.
- This Pre-COP28 cycle of workshops is aimed at identifying critical areas of process, policy innovation, and International cooperative potential for upgrading ambition.
- The program of workshops is laid out below; links to after-session reports and emerging insights will be added as they become available.
Session 1 – The Process
Tuesday, October 3, 2023
Review of the history, structure, and details of the United Nations Climate Change negotiation process. In this session, we will explore the history of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, its process of ongoing negotiated implementation, the role of the Paris Agreement, and emerging reports and areas of work that will shape the future of climate-related geopolitics.
Session 2 – The Stakes
Friday, October 6, 2023
Review of what is at stake in the the United Nations Climate Change negotiations, including:
- What the science tells us about the state of Earth’s climate;
- Ongoing and worsening geophysical impacts;
- Related effects on socio-economic experience and political stability;
- Information systems for better decision-making;
- A possible future of climate-resilient development.
Session 3 – Mutual Gains
Thursday, October 19, 2023
This workshop centers on an exploration of the Mutual Gains Approach to negotiation. The session will be led by Mieke van der Wansem, Director of Programs for The Fletcher School’s Center for International Environment and Resource Policy, and a recognized expert in this approach to successful consensus-building in complex, multidimensional negotiations.
Session 4 – Working Across Conventions
Wednesday, October 25, 2023
In this session, we will examine ways of working across conventions, as well as anchors in the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Paris Agreement, and other negotiated agreements, that provide means for accelerating overall climate action, while advancing key goals of other treaties, conventions, institutional arrangements, and processes.
Featured Instructors
- Rachel Kyte – Dean Emerita of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University; Director of the Private Infrastructure Development Group, and Co-Chair of the Voluntary Carbon Markets Integrity Initiative and the Climate Policy Initiative
- Prof. Mizan Khan – Deputy Director and as Programme Director of Least Developed Countries University Consortium on Climate Change (LUCCC), International Center for Climate Change and Development
Session 5 – Non-Market Acceleration
Thursday, November 9, 2023
Article 6, paragraph 8 of the Paris Agreement aims to accelerate overall mitigation of global emissions (OMGE), by supporting national governments’ efforts to work together for mutual benefit and to produce wider benefits to climate, nature, and resilience.
- Article 6.8 calls for cooperative “non-market approaches” to support enhanced ambition and action. (‘Non-market’ means ‘not emissions trading’.)
- It also calls for cooperative non-market approaches to support sustainable development, eradicate poverty, and work in an integrated and holistic way.
- In this session, we will explore some of the more ambitious potential directions for intergovernmental work on non-market climate cooperation.
Session 6 – Embracing Complexity
Tuesday, November 21, 2023
Climate dynamics are inherently complex—encompassing interactions and exchanges of energy throughout the Earth system. The building blocks of life are inherently complex—benefitting from billions of years of evolution and optimizing across millions of microscale functions to exist, thrive, and sustain the wider fabric of life. The United Nations Climate Change negotiations are inherently complex—including nearly 200 nation states, which must reach consensus across five broad agendas of 1-2 dozen complex issue areas each.
Featured Instructors
- Carlos Alvarado Quesada – former President of the Republic of Costa Rica and a Professor of Practice at The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy
- Selamawit Wubet – Program Coordinator for the Climate Vulnerable Forum at the Global Center on Adaptation
Emerging Insights
Insights emerging from the first of the Pre-COP28 workshops point to rights, applied science and institutional innovation as implicit priorities for this round of UN Climate Change negotiations in Dubai.
CCI report on the opening days of the COP28, including reference to the People’s Pavilion digital platform and to provisions in draft text emerging from negotiations which hold promise for a high-ambition outcome.
Rachel Kyte on Why the COP28 climate summit mattered, turning pledges into action, integrating trade, enhancing integrity, and what to watch for in 2024. Photo: Kiara Worth/UN Climate Change via Flickr,, CC BY-NC-SA
While reviewing underlying interests, the Mutual Gains Approach to negotiations, and the need for work across conventions, the next workshops pointed to rights as a golden thread that can raise ambition for all.
CCI review of week 1 proceedings, including negotiations on non-market approaches under Article 6.8 of the Paris Agreement and events on food systems, financial innovation, and cooperative low-carbon development.
CCI report on the formal outcomes from COP28, including news on decarbonization, adaptation, finance, food systems, and the role of stakeholders in supporting upgraded local and national climate policy and investment.
COP28 Debrief
Wednesday, January 10, 2024
Reviewing formal outcomes, experiences of engagement from negotiators and observers, signs of progress, and areas that will need urgent attention in 2024. This session will include insights from instructors and allies from the Pre-COP28 cycle of workshops, as well as emerging activities aligned with activating the COP28 commitment to transition away from fossil fuels.
Climate Value Exchange 