21 June 2019: The 2019-2020 work programme for the Marrakech Partnership for Global Climate Action has been presented to further connect the work of governments with voluntary and collaborative actions taken by cities, regions, businesses and investors to address climate change.

The work programme was presented on 21 June 2019, during an event on the sidelines of the Bonn Climate Change Conference, by the High-Level Climate Champions, Tomasz Chruszczow, Special Envoy for Climate Change, Ministry of Environment, Poland, and Gonzalo Muñoz, a Chilean business entrepreneur and social change maker and co-founder and CEO of the recycling company TriCiclos. They underscored the need to mobilize all non-Party stakeholders and to ensure that frameworks are available to ensure transparency of government action, as well as of actions of businesses, investors, cities and regions.

During the event, Patricia Espinosa, UNFCCC Executive Secretary, recognized the important work undertaken by the High-Level Champions in raising both the visibility and success of non-Party stakeholder action, which, she said, has led to better collaboration also across different sectors. She commended the Champions for facilitating the participation of over 100 high-level non-Party leaders at COP 24 and for supporting and encouraging the participation of more than 170 non-Party stakeholders in the Talanoa Dialogue.

According to the work programme, the Partnership will focus on climate actions between now and 2020 to support Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and National Adaptation Plans (NAPs). The High-Level Champions will take stock of progress in 2020, and the work programme will be adjusted in accordance with outcomes of the 25th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 25) to the UNFCCC in December 2019.

High-Level Champions’ work in raising the visibility and success of non-Party stakeholder action has led to better collaboration across different sectors.

More specifically, the work programme details the Marrakech Partnership’s objectives for 2019-2020, namely:

• strengthening interaction between Parties and non-Party stakeholders and promoting integration of action, across all levels of government and sectors;
• broadening Partnership participation of non-Party stakeholders from all regions and sectors, particularly from developing countries;
• following up on and ensuring continuity and coherence of action; and
• tracking progress, impacts and results with a view to identifying best practices and lessons learned and providing evidence of the transformation to help Parties transition and to accelerate action to support implementation of the Paris Agreement on climate change.

The work programme describes the importance of: communication and outreach regarding the Partnership’s work, achievements and progress; and strategic engagement to promote inclusiveness and support a common narrative. It elaborates on opportunities to drive climate action through: regional climate weeks and technical examination processes (TEPs) on mitigation and adaptation; reaching out to the constituted bodies of the Convention, the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement; engagement with the COP to identify solutions around cross-cutting topics, enabling synergy between stakeholders and integrating the COP Presidencies’ priorities; identifying synergies and contributing initiatives, solutions and actions to the UN Secretary-General’s Climate Action Summit; and helping to ensure continuity from the Summit to COP 25 and beyond by following up on outcomes.

Regarding tracking and reporting voluntary action, the Partnership’s ‘Yearbook of Global Climate Action’ synthesizes key messages from and trends in climate action, and compares them with long-term goals. The work programme notes that the UNFCCC Secretariat will continue to enhance the NAZCA portal to present voluntary commitments, action and progress of non-Party stakeholders and initiatives by diversifying the information to address regional and sectoral gaps and linking the local to the global, regional and national levels. A consultative process will gather stakeholder inputs during the development of tracking and reporting products.

The work programme explains that the TEP on mitigation will address off-grid and decentralized energy solutions for smart energy and water use in the agrifood chain in 2019, and sustainable low-emission housing and building solutions in 2020. The TEP on adaptation will address adaptation finance in 2019. Beyond SDG 13 (climate action), the work programme identifies SDG 6 (clean water and sanitation), SDG 7 (affordable and clean energy), SDG 14 (life below water) and SDG 15 (life on land) as relevant Goals to the Partnership’s work in 2019.

The Marrakech Partnership aims to strengthen collaboration between Parties and non-Party stakeholders to facilitate mitigation and adaptation action and action on means of implementation in the pre-2020 period and beyond, guided by the goals of the Paris Agreement and undertaken in the context of the SDGs. [UNFCCC News Story on Work Programme] [UNFCCC News Story on Recognition of High-level Champions] [Marrakech Partnership Work Programme 2019-2020] [Marrakech Partnership for Global Climate Action Website]