Climate Change Partnerships

 

Introduction

Climate change is a universal challenge that requires collective action. The Paris Agreement on climate change, its rapid enter-into-force, and its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) signify the renewed relevance of multilateralism and a step towards a prosperous and sustainable future. However, enhanced climate cooperation and progressive climate actions are needed to implement the NDCs. Global South-South Development (GSSD) Expo, an annual event, organized by the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC) provides one such opportunity to promote and advance climate cooperation.

GSSD Expo is a powerful platform for multi-stakeholders to showcase development solutions, celebrate successful stories, share knowledge and lesson learned, and explore new avenues of collaboration and initiative new partnerships. This year, GSSD Expo 2017 will provide a platform to explore how South-South Cooperation (SSC) on climate change can contribute to the implementation of the NDCs and climate adaptation and mitigation activities.

SSC on climate change has been recognized as an important modality in the context of the implementation of the NDCs. Several developing countries have shown interests to enhance SSC on climate change to implement their national climate strategies, plans and policies and/or NDCs. New SSC initiatives on climate change are increasingly being facilitated by the Member States. However, there remain challenges in the implementation of the NDCs.

Climate cooperation must be strengthened to address the challenges of NDC implementation. GSSD Expo provides an opportunity for multi-stakeholders to convene and strengthen climate cooperation. The United Nations stands committed to support climate cooperation efforts of developing countries for global climate action.

In this context, UNOSSC is organizing a thematic solution forum titled, “Climate Change Partnerships” in Day 3 (South-South Cooperation for Peace, Prosperity and Partnerships) of the GSSD Expo 2017. The event will be held on 29 November 2017 from 1:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. in Antalya, Turkey.

 

Draft Agenda

Date and Time: Tuesday 29 November 2017, 1:30 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.

Opening Session (20 mins):

Opening Remarks and Keynote Speeches

This is the opening session of the Thematic Solution Forum 9, Climate Change Partnerships. A senior representative of the host country and the Envoy of the Secretary-General on SSC open will deliver their welcome remarks.

  • H.E. Mr. Murat Yavuz Ates, Deputy Undersecretary for Economic Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey
  • Mr. Jorge Chediek, Envoy of the Secretary-General on South-South Cooperation and Director of the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation
  • Moderator: Dr. Zitouni Ould-Dada, Head of Technology Unit, Division of Technology Industry and Economics (DTIE), United Nations Environment Programme

Panel Discussion (65 mins):

Southern Multi-Stakeholders’ Climate Cooperation Experiences

Representatives from the Member States and international and intergovernmental organizations including civil society groups will engage in a panel discussion with the facilitation of the moderator. They will share their experiences on climate cooperation in the context of the implementation of the NDCs.

This session aims to demonstrate how NDCs can be implemented through enhanced climate partnerships on various thematic areas like energy, land-use, land-use change and forestry, infrastructure and transportation including others and through various types of activities like capacity building, finance, and technology transfer and infrastructure development. It provides opportunities for the participants to discuss the challenges and opportunities of NDC implementation and to explore new climate partnerships through enhanced synergy among Southern climate actors.

This moderated discussion session will highlight how multi-stakeholders from the global South are contributing to the implementation of the NDCs and what role can they play in strengthening climate cooperation for global climate action. The moderator will hold the session considering the opinions from the panel and welcoming the stakeholders to discuss their thoughts, actions, ideas on how they can promote climate cooperation for enhanced implementation of the NDCs.

  • Mr. Ugur Zeydanli, General Director, Nature Conservation Center
  • Mr. Hans Friederich, Director-General, International Network for Bamboo and Rattan (INBAR)
  • Ms. Carmen Isabel Claramunt Garro, Deputy Director of International Cooperation, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Republic of Costa Rica
  • Mr. Vicente Paolo Yu, Deputy Executive Director, The South Centre
  • Mr. Rysbek Apasov, Focal point, Chief, Department of External Relations and Investment, Ministry of Agriculture, Food Industry and Melioration of the Kyrgyz Republic, Kyrgyzstan
  • Mr. Nuri Ozbagdatli, Climate Change and Environment Portfolio Manager, United Nations Development Programme, Turkey
  • Mr. Bernd Hackmann, Programme Officer, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Secretariat

Closing Remarks (5 min):

Closing Remarks

This session will conclude the event with closing remarks.

  • Mr. Jorge Chediek, Envoy of the Secretary-General on South-South Cooperation and Director of the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation

 

Objectives and Thematic Focus

The goal is to engage multi-stakeholders to share experiences on climate partnerships for the implementation of NDCs; identify emerging trends and impactful practices on climate cooperation; discuss scalable climate solutions; and explore opportunities to forge climate partnership among various stakeholders.

The event will convene representatives from the Member States, international and intergovernmental organizations, and civil society groups. It will highlight solutions for the implementation of the NDCs in efforts to address climate change through enhanced climate cooperation, with a focus on collaboration for climate action on thematic areas like energy, agriculture, land-use, land-use change and forestry, infrastructure and transportation among others.

 

Concrete Outcomes

  • Increase the recognition of SSC on climate change as an important modality to implement international and national climate strategies, plans and policies and the NDCs.
  • Identify challenges and opportunities in the implementation of the NDCs, deepen exchanges among developing countries such that they can better address climate change and achieve sustainable development, and maintain and promote momentum towards wider SSC on climate change.
  • Take stock of on-the-ground country experiences related to climate mitigation and adaptation activities, and share successful cases of Southern climate cooperation, and good practices to amplify the impacts of SSC in the context of the implementation of the Paris Agreement.
  • Identify ways through which the United Nations, the Member States and multi-stakeholders can utilize SSC on climate change to implement the NDCs.
  • Expand global partnerships on SSC on climate change and enhance the capacity and readiness of developing countries to implement their NDCs for advanced global climate action.
  • Advance commitments from the United Nations entities, the Member States and multi stakeholders for climate cooperation.

 

Guiding Questions

1. What are the key challenges for developing countries to implement the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) in the efforts to implement the Paris Agreement on climate change?

2. How can South-South cooperation help developing countries overcome these challenges and implement their NDCs?

3. What would make South-South cooperation on climate change successful, and how can we best support it?

 

 

Biographies

 

H.E. Mr. Murat Yavuz Ates

Deputy Undersecretary for Economic Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey


Education Qualifications:

– Undergraduate Degree in International Relations, Faculty of Political Sciences, University of Ankara, Turkey;
– MA in International Relations, Social Sciences Institute of the University of Ankara, Turkey;
– Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy (MALD), Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University, Massachusetts, USA.

Assignments:

1986: Entered the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey, Greece -Cyprus Department, Ankara;
1988: Department of Multilateral Economic Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey, Ankara;
1990: Third Secretary, Embassy of the Republic of Turkey in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia;
1992: Vice Consul, Consulate General of the Republic of Turkey in Brussels, Belgium;
1995: (Educational leave) Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University, Massachusetts, USA;
1997: First Secretary, Middle East Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey, Ankara;
1999: Counsellor, Embassy of the Republic of Turkey in Tokyo, Japan;
2003: Head of Department, UN Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey, Ankara;
2005: First Counsellor, Turkish Permanent Delegation to the OECD and Turkish Energy Advisor at the International Energy Agency, Paris, France;
2007: Consul General, Turkish Consulate General Dubai, UAE;
2009: Acting Deputy Director General for Energy, Water and Environment, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ankara;
2010: Minister Plenipotentiary Deputy Director General for Energy, Water and Environment, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ankara;
2012: Turkish Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Republic of the Union of Myanmar;
2016: Acting Deputy Undersecretary for Economic Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ankara;
2017: Deputy Undersecretary for Economic Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ankara.

 

Mr. Jorge Chediek

Envoy of the Secretary-General on South-South Cooperation and Director of the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation


Since October 2015, Mr. Jorge Chediek has been the Director of the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation, leading United Nations system-wide promotion and coordination of South-South cooperation for development. In March 2016, Mr. Chediek was appointed by the United Nations Secretary-General as his Envoy on South-South Cooperation.

Prior to this, Mr. Chediek served as the United Nations Resident Coordinator/United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Resident Representative in Brazil (2010-2015). In that capacity, he was also the Director of the International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth, UNDP’s global forum for policy dialogue and South-South learning on social development innovations. He served as Resident Coordinator/UNDP Resident Representative in Peru (2005-2010); United Nations Resident Coordinator/UNDP Resident Representative in Nicaragua (2001-2005); Deputy Resident Representative in Cuba (1999-2001); Deputy Resident Representative in Uruguay (1996-1999); Programme Management Officer, Regional Bureau for Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States in New York (1994-1996); and Programme Officer and then Assistant Resident Representative in Turkey (1990-1994).

Preceding his United Nations career, Mr. Chediek worked at the Department of Legislative Analysis of the Argentinean Congress and as an independent consultant assisting in the design of financial investment systems in Argentina.

Born in 1960, he holds a Master of Science in Foreign Service (honors) from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., and a Bachelor of Science (“Licenciado”) in Political Science from Catholic University in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

 

Dr. Zitouni Ould-Dada

Head of Technology Unit Economy Division, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)


Dr. Ould-Dada is currently Head of Technology Unit at the Economy Division of UNEP based in Paris. Since joining UNEP in 2013 he has been leading work on the global diffusion of environmentally sound technologies to help countries achieve their intergovernmental agreements particularly on climate change and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Before joining UNEP, he worked for the British Government for 15 years holding several senior positions at Department of Energy and Climate Change; Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; Food Standards Agency; Environment Agency, and Ministry of Agriculture Fisheries and Food. His 20 years international experience covers a wide range of fields including environmental policy; climate change; energy policy; radiation protection; animal health and welfare; and sustainable development.

His international responsibilities included UK Lead Negotiator on technology and Chair of climate change negotiations under the UNFCCC; Chair of IRENA’s Policy and Strategy Committee; and member of the IEA Renewable Energy Working Party. Dr. Ould-Dada is renowned internationally for his diplomatic skills and effective leadership with a track record for building successful partnerships, resolving conflicts and delivering practical solutions.

 

Dr. Ugur Zeydanlı

Founding Member and General Director of Nature Conservation Centre


Dr. Uğur Zeydanlı is founding member and general director of Nature Conservation Centre since 2004. He leads Nature Conservation Centre for delivering science-based solutions to natural resource management and biodiversity conservation trough establishment of effective partnerships, since its establishment.

His main interest is to form bridge between science and implementation from policy level to implementation, in biodiversity conservation and sustainable resource management. He conducted studies in establishment of protected area network in Turkey, integration of biodiversity into the forest management planning, adaptation of forest ecosystems into climate change, establishment of Biodiversity Information Monitoring System in Turkey, introduction of ecosystem services into agriculture and forestry sectors as a management tool. He has developed and implemented more than 80 projects on these topics in partnership with governmental institutions, private sector, NGO’s, academia and multinational organizations.

He recieved his PhD from Middle East Technical University (Turkey), Biology Department. Since then he has worked as conservation biologist and ecologist in General Directorate of National Parks and Nature Conservation, private sector and many different environmental non-governmental organisations; for UNDP and FAO as consultant.

He has conducted research on natural resource management and ecosystem services as Fulbright scholar in US, Yale University, School of Forestry and Environmental Studies in 2016. He also has 10 years of teaching experience at academic level at METU Middle East Technical University in City and Regional Planning Department.

 

Dr. Hans Friederich

Director-General of INBAR


Dr. Friederich is a Dutch National with more than 30 years working experience in Africa, Asia and Europe as natural resources manager; He has worked for local and national government, managed projects and programmes in an international organization, and had national, regional and global briefs. Strategic planning and long-term thinking has been part of the job for most of his career.

Dr. Friederich obtained his PhD from the University of Bristol, Geography Department and started his career in 1982 in Botswana. He joined the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in 1989 in Eastern Africa and has been employed by IUCN for 24 years, in positions with increasing responsibility and authority. His last post with IUCN was Regional Director for Europe.

In 1994, Dr. Friederich moved to the ASEAN Region, when he joined the National Environment Agency in Vietnam as Chief Technical Advisor. He was IUCN’s Country Representative in Hanoi from 1996 to 1999, and was based in Bangkok as Chief Technical Advisor for a UNDP/GEF Wetlands Conservation and Development Project in the lower Mekong Region from 1999 to end of 2003. In January 2004, Dr. Friederich moved to Switzerland, as the Head of the global fundraising unit of IUCN.

He is now the Director-General of the International Bamboo and Rattan Organisation (INBAR – www.inbar.int), based at its Headquarters in Beijing, China. INBAR is an international Inter-Governmental Organization with currently 43 Member States, dedicated to improving the wellbeing of producers and users of bamboo and rattan within the context of sustainable development.

Dr. Friederich has helped INBAR to make the change from a forestry research institution to a global development organization, through spearheading a new strategy, strengthening the relationship with United Nations and several Global Conventions and launching the Global Assessment of Bamboo and Rattan.

 

Mr. Vicente Paolo B. Yu

Deputy Executive Director of the South Centre


Vicente Paolo B. Yu III is currently the Deputy Executive Director of the South Centre, the intergovernmental policy research institution of developing countries. His substantive policy work includes overseeing the policy research and analysis and the provision of technical and legal advice by the South Centre to developing country governments, including on the right to development, international trade policy, international environmental law, development economics, international climate change policy, and South-South cooperation. He obtained his political science (with honors) and law degrees from the University of the Philippines, and his master of laws degree (with honors, specializing in international trade law and international environmental law) from Georgetown University where he was a Fulbright Scholar. Prior to joining the South Centre, he worked for Friends of the Earth International (FOEI) and was a Staff Attorney and head for Research and Policy Development of the Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center (LRC) in the Philippines. He has taught law at the University of the Philippines. He has published papers and articles on issues relating to trade and environment, energy policy, mining policy, sustainable development, environmental policy, climate change policy, South-South cooperation, and indigenous peoples’ rights.

 

Mr. Nuri Özbagdatlı

Climate Change and Environment Portfolio Manager, United Nations Development Programme, Turkey


Nuri Özbağdatlı has been managing climate change and environment portfolio of UNDP Turkey Country Office. Mr. Özbağdatlı has an extensive career on nature conservation, climate change, and programme management that started as a bird watcher under the BirdLife International roof in Turkey in 1999. Mr. Özbağdatlı has been worked on several subjects including species and habitat conservation, agriculture and rural development policies, local-national-international NGO capacity building, water policies, EU acquis and climate change.

Mr. Özbağdatlı also worked with REC Turkey as a Project Manager responsible on the Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) of implementing Birds and Habitat Directives of EU and climate change related projects. Mr. Özbağdatlı held manager position at several projects implemented in collaboration with the Ministry of Environment and Urbanization, Ministry of Forest and Water Affairs, Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock, Ministry of Culture and Tourism and several governorships and municipalities.

In his last 7 years long career with UNDP, he managed several projects on forestry sector and initiated SDG focused MRV system and linkages between forestry sector SDG indicators at national scale. Nuri has knowledge and experience on the synergy between nature and human dynamics, as well as policies, at national and international scale.

Born in 1979, he holds a BSc Degree in Mechanical Engineering from Erciyes University and an MBA Degree from Atilim University, as well as a Forestry Executive Certificate from Yale University.

 

Mr. Bernd Hackmann

Programme Officer, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Secretariat


Bernd is a Programme Officer with the Mitigation, Data and Analysis Programme at the UNFCCC Secretariat. He works on the negotiations for the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and supports governments in the preparation and implementation of these NDCs, including through south-south cooperation. As part of the advisory team that worked with governments on negotiating and adopting the Paris Agreement, he focused on the section that establishes the NDCs and related issues (Article 4).

Bernd has extensive experience in developing, implementing and monitoring mitigation and development policies as well as a strong understanding of integrating climate and sustainable development policies into long-term development strategies, both in the context of the UNFCCC and the 2030 sustainable development agenda.

 

Mr. Ayman Cherkaoui

Special Advisor to Conference of the Parties 22 Presidency


Mr. Ayman Cherkaoui is currently the Special Advisor to the COP 22 Presidency, Lead Counsel for Climate Change at the CISDL, CEO of Argan Consulting, Expert for GIZ, and Fellow at the Oxford Climate Policy Centre. Mr. Cherkaoui has also worked for Valyans Consulting, IATA and Air Liquide. Mr. Cherkaoui holds a M.Sc. in Finance (EM Lyon), a Law degree (Université de Montréal) and a Bachelor in Mechanical Engineering (McGill University). He also holds degrees in business sustainability (University of Cambridge), climate change adaptation (University of Oxford) as well as a number of certificates in environment and diplomacy from various universities. He has published on law, investment and climate adaptation topics and has spoken in/moderated dozens of international conferences.

 

 

 

Focal Point Contact Details

Overall Coordinador: Ajita Singh
Communications Focal Point: Ajita Singh
Title: Programme Analyst
Email: ajita.singh@undp.org
Phone: +1 917 565-3243; +1 212 906-6786