Countdown to COP 26: What are the development sector's priorities?

LONDON — The U.K. government had not planned on dealing with a health crisis in November 2020. Instead, this month it was supposed to be working on averting an even bigger crisis, by co-hosting the Conference of Parties climate summit, COP 26, in Glasgow. But the pandemic set the summit back a year, giving much of the government valuable time to rally its diplomats and prepare for negotiations. Despite the pressures of the pandemic, the extra time has also given the development sector a chance to organize and push for a more successful outcome. While there are some positive early signs — many of the world’s largest economies are now committed to net-zero — the summit is also expected to be riddled with challenges. Particular sticking points relevant to the development sector are likely to be around the will of higher-income countries to pay lower-income nations the $100 billion agreed under the Paris accords to deal with the effects of climate change, and to take responsibility for loss and damage caused by a warming planet. But with such complex negotiations across far-reaching issues, what should the sector be focusing on to contribute to a successful outcome? Devex spoke to climate policy experts to see where the priorities lie. “Local governments, generally, are not thinking about long-term climate impacts or long-term degradation of nature, they are thinking about immediate needs.” --— Clare Shakya, director of the climate change program, International Institute for Environment and Development Bringing in the most important voices Unsurprisingly, lobbying for key causes in public and private will be a priority for civil society. These may vary depending on the specialization and resources of organizations, but there’s no other sector pushing to ensure the views of people in low-income countries are heard. “One of the important things we have is our links to people in poorer countries, working with them on the ground,” said Katherine Kramer, global lead on climate change at Christian Aid. It’s about bringing “the voices of people into COP and making sure they are actually heard and able to speak for themselves.” Preexisting relationships between government and NGOs like Christian Aid are also being used to connect diplomats to staff working in vulnerable countries with good knowledge of the issues, Kramer added. Having a “concerted strategy” to empower citizens and ensure their concerns are heard by providing resources at a local level is also key to ActionAid International’s climate policy, according to Harjeet Singh, the NGO’s global lead on climate change. “Pressure has to come from the ground, from communities, to their local government, from local governments to national governments and then they influence the global process,” he said. Following the money The Paris accords committed donor countries to provide $100 billion per year in climate finance to lower-income countries by 2020. But whether this will be met is a controversial point. Oxfam’s “Climate Finance Shadow Report 2020” recently claimed that of the $59.5 billion reported by rich nations per year for 2017-2018, its true value was far lower — around $22.5 billion per year — because of over-reporting. All the experts Devex spoke to agreed climate finance would be a significant and contentious issue at COP 26 — including the question of whether what's already been agreed has been met, and what the new target should be. Governments will already have spent vast sums on pandemic recovery plans so this could be especially problematic. The expertise within the development sector and multilateral organizations has been key to tracking climate finance and other complex technical issues — this is likely to be needed even more when money is tight. Using technical expertise to improve understanding of key issues The sector’s deep expertise in climate policy is also useful in talks. “There have been plenty of times in the negotiations when issues have been unblocked by technical input from NGOs,” according to Catherine Pettengell, coordinator of the Development and Environment Group at Bond, the network for U.K. NGOs. She continued: “Often NGO staff have been following issues for 10-plus years and can extend that experience to support small country delegations which are often overstretched in covering all the negotiations streams.” Additionally, NGO networks can “share intelligence and analysis between countries and negotiators which helps unblock sticking points in the negotiations,” Pettengell said. Even before the negotiations take place, the technical expertise held in the sector will be called on for other reasons. Donors will continue to need advice on how best to use climate finance, as will recipient nations on how best to receive it. While there’s lots of research on aid, climate finance, and the role of multilateral development banks, there’s also a “real need for … a much better understanding of the role of domestic public finance such as national development banks and national fiscal policy,” according to Sarah Colenbrander, director of the climate and sustainability program at the Overseas Development Institute. There must also be “a much stronger conversation around justice and political settlements” that emerge through the transition towards lower-carbon economies. “We’ll never get ambitious climate policies in place without a really thoughtful analysis about how to get a decent standard of life for everyone in a country,” she said. The former Department for International Development’s expertise in building democratic governance and inclusivity, coupled with the “laser-like” focus of the Foreign & Commonwealth Office on climate could mean the new Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office has “huge potential to move conversations forward about an inclusive, just transition,” she said. Helping communities and governments absorb shocks The hotly-anticipated discussions around money mean there is an opportunity to “frame the purpose of climate finance in ways that improve the quality of support the developing countries receive,” according to Clare Shakya, director of the climate change program at the International Institute for Environment and Development. Working toward more locally led finance and resilience infrastructure is the best way to help vulnerable communities who are often dealing with a “multiplicity of shocks”, whether from climate change, COVID-19, or the degradation of nature, according to Shakya. She suggested NGOs have a role to play in helping communities “respond in ways that make most sense to them,” organizing alongside local government to create networks, environmentally friendly jobs, and social protection schemes that can withstand shocks. NGOs can also help communities access finance internationally or domestically. She said: “Local governments, generally, are not thinking about long-term climate impacts or long-term degradation of nature, they are thinking about immediate needs. Working with them on developing more strategic, long-term interventions and building the institutional engagement between citizens and local government — all of those things require support and facilitation.”