The UN Climate Change secretariat is launching an online portal that invites countries, businesses, local government and civil society to contribute to the climate change conversation. The platform will support the Talanoa Dialogue, an international conversation mechanism launched during COP23 in Bonn, which will help track progress on current commitments and drive global climate action.
Through the portal, countries, businesses, investors, cities and NGOs are encouraged to contribute recommendations, ideas and information that can assist the world in taking climate action to the next level in order to meet the objectives of the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals. Stakeholders are invited to make submissions into the Talanoa Dialogue around three central questions: Where are we? Where do we want to go? How do we get there?
“The portal is the gateway for the Talanoa Dialogue. It represents the central point for everyone to make their views heard around enhanced ambition. Additionally, it will make available other key resources for the dialogue,” said Patricia Espinosa, Executive Secretary of UN Climate Change.
“I very much welcome the portal because it provides transparency and broadens participation in the dialogue. I look forward to many governments and other actors making their submissions via the portal as part of world-wide efforts required for the next level of climate action and ambition.”
The Pacific island concept of ‘Talanoa’ was introduced during COP23 by Fiji, which held the Presidency of the COP23 UN Climate Change Conference. It aims at an inclusive, participatory and transparent dialogue. The purpose of the concept is to share stories, build empathy and to make wise decisions for the collective good. The Talanoa method purposely avoids blame and criticism to create a safe space for the exchange of ideas and collective decision-making.
The organization hopes the tool will facilitate constructive conversations, generate new solutions and encourage technical and political exchange.
Interested parties have until 2 April 2018 to submit inputs for the Dialogue’s May sessions. Contributions for the December sessions, which will run in conjunction with COP24, must be submitted by 29 October 2018. Once received, all submissions will be verified and published on the Talanoa Dialogue platform.
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Published Jan 31, 2018 9am EST / 6am PST / 2pm GMT / 3pm CET