Advancing South-South cooperation under new streams of activities
Beijing, 10 April 2016 – UNEP-IEMP hosted a Scoping Meeting on the South-South Cooperation on Climate Change (SSCCC) Forum in Beijing, which was attended by senior officials and high-level representatives of international organizations.
The meeting provided an opportunity to reflect on the role of South-South cooperation in the implementation of the Paris Climate Agreement. Delegates discussed the newly proposed concept and structure of the SSCCC Forum, and endorsed the idea to re-launch it as a standing policy advisory mechanism with new streams of activities, under three main elements:
- Engaging countries politically: Under this element, the Forum will promote SSCCC at the political level. The main activity will be the continuation of the Annual Forum Series held on the sidelines of UNFCC COP. Ministers from countries of the global South will provide continuing leadership and exchange experiences. The Forum will also provide an opportunity to review and assess strategic directions for SSCCC against accomplishments.
- Science-Policy-Action: Under this element, the Forum will aim to strengthen the science-policy interface in areas of particular interest to the global South, and to promote policy-action linkages. Guidance will be provided for the scaling up of successful SSCCC initiatives and for the development of new projects, focusing on the role of non-state actors, particularly the private sector.
- Climate Finance: Under this element, the Forum will promote broader participation of Southern nations in catalyzing financial resources. It will also lend advice on efficient and complementary use of South-originating climate finance. Through an enhanced dialogue between developed and developing countries, new South-South-North cooperation opportunities will be explored.
In 2016, the SSCCC Forum will kick off a needs assessment study on SSCCC in all developing regions. A provisional Steering Committee will be nominated, comprising three categories of partners: country partners, policy & financing partners and technical partners. The third edition of the Annual Forum Series will be organized at COP22 in Marrakesh, Morocco.
