Mobilizes All-Of-Government and All-Of-Society

The need for engagement and action on climate change by All-of-Society has been recognized for some time in the UNFCCC process. At COP 21 in Paris in 2015, it was agreed that mobilizing stronger and more ambitious climate action by all Parties and non-Party stakeholders was urgently required to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement. Decision 1/CP.21, adoption of the Paris Agreement agreed, “to uphold and promote regional and international cooperation in order to mobilize stronger and more ambitious climate action by all Parties and non-Party stakeholders, including civil society, the private sector, financial institutions, cities and other subnational authorities, local communities and indigenous peoples”. It also invited non-Party stakeholders to scale up their efforts and support actions to reduce emissions and/or to build resilience and decrease vulnerability to the adverse effects of climate change.

During COP 28, 2030 Climate Solutions: an Implementation Roadmap was launched as the contribution of the Marrakech Partnership (MP) for Global Action under the leadership of the High-level Champions (HLCs). It represents an integrated framework designed to bring together the existing frameworks and tools (i.e. Climate Action Pathways, 2030 Breakthroughs, Breakthrough Agenda, Sharm El-Sheikh Adaptation Agenda, Race to Zero, and Race to Resilience campaigns) into a comprehensive and coherent roadmap to mobilize all stakeholders to accelerate climate action through specific real economy and on-the-ground solutions.

All-of-Government approaches are also reflected in the Paris Agreement, noting that strengthening institutional arrangements and capacities is a key enabler of implementation.

Reporting on both processes is also required as part of the enhanced transparency framework. Reporting on All-of-Government and All-of-Society processes is also required as part of the information to enhance clarity, transparency, and understanding (ICTU). Decision 4/CMA .1, annex I Paragraph 4(a) requires that parties provide “Information on the planning processes that the Party undertook to prepare it including, as appropriate. (i) Domestic institutional arrangements, public participation and engagement with local communities and Indigenous Peoples, in a gender-responsive manner”.

The first Global Stocktake (GST) acknowledges “that climate change is a common concern of humankind and that Parties should, when taking action to address climate change, respect, promote and consider their respective obligations on human rights, the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment, the right to health, the rights of Indigenous Peoples, local communities, migrants, children, persons with disabilities and people in vulnerable situations and the right to development, as well as gender equality, empowerment of women and intergenerational equity.”

The GST also “reaffirms that sustainable and just solutions to the climate crisis must be founded on meaningful and effective social dialogue and participation of all stakeholders, including Indigenous Peoples, local communities and governments, women, and youth and children” (Paragraph 9).

The GST further emphasizes the importance of All-of-Government and All-of-Society approaches within specific outcomes. For example, on adaptation:

• Paragraph 45: “Recognizes the significant efforts of developing country Parties in formulating and implementing national adaptation plans, adaptation communications and nationally determined contributions, as appropriate, including through their domestic expenditure, as well as their increased efforts to align their national development plans;”
• Paragraph 64. (b) further notes that “by 2030 all Parties… have mainstreamed adaptation in all relevant strategies and plans.”

On means of implementation and support:

• On finance, Paragraph 70: “recognizes the role of the private sector and highlights the need to strengthen policy guidance, incentives, regulations and enabling conditions to reach the scale of investments required to achieve a global transition towards low greenhouse gas emissions and climate-resilient development and encourages Parties to continue enhancing their enabling environments”.
• On technology development and transfer, Paragraph 103: “urges Parties [to address technology gaps and barriers and] strengthen cooperative action, including with non-Party stakeholders, particularly with the private sector, to rapidly scale up the deployment of existing technologies, the fostering of innovation and the development and transfer of new technologies”.
• On capacity, Paragraph 114: “Acknowledges that developing country Parties continue to have persistent gaps in capacity and urgent needs for effectively implementing the Paris Agreement, including related to skills development, institutional capacity for governance and coordination, technical assessment and modelling, strategic policy development and implementation and capacity retention and recognizes the urgent need to address these gaps and needs that are constraining effective implementation of the Paris Agreement”.

The GST particularly highlights the role of non-Party stakeholders under International Cooperation, Paragraphs 158-162:

• Paragraph 158: “Acknowledges the important role and active engagement of non-Party stakeholders, particularly civil society, business, financial institutions, cities and subnational authorities, Indigenous Peoples, local communities, youth and research institutions, in supporting Parties and contributing to the significant collective progress towards the Paris Agreement temperature goal and in addressing and responding to climate change and enhancing ambition, including progress through other relevant intergovernmental processes”.
• 159. Welcomes current international cooperative efforts and voluntary initiatives for enhancing climate action and support by Parties and non-Party stakeholders, including through the sharing of information, good practices, experiences, lessons learned, resources and solutions;
• 160. Also welcomes the leadership and efforts of the high-level champions in supporting the effective participation of non-Party stakeholders in the global stocktake;
• 161. Urges Parties and non-Party stakeholders to join efforts to accelerate delivery through inclusive, multilevel, gender-responsive and cooperative action;
• 162. Encourages international cooperation and the exchange of views and experience among non-Party stakeholders at the local, subnational, national and regional levels, including conducting joint research, personnel training, practical projects, technical exchanges, project investment and standards cooperation.”