Suggested changes to the Rules of Procedure for the Conference of the Parties of the InterAmerican Institute for Global Change

A report from the Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures of the Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (IAI) proposing amendments to the Rules of Procedure for the Conference of the Parties (CoP). The proposals aim to streamline the nomination process for the Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) and simplify general voting mechanisms to prevent excessively long election cycles.

• The Standing Committee proposes amending Rule 64 to limit the number of nominations the Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) submits for vacancies. The current rule allows for up to four times the number of vacancies, which the Committee suggests could lead to "a virtually endless set of CoP elections" where only one candidate is eliminated per round. The proposed rule would limit nominations to twice the number of vacancies for multiple positions, or three nominations for a single vacancy, while maintaining a focus on "representation within the Scientific Advisory Committee from a variety of disciplines relevant to global change research".
• To avoid "time-consuming and draining elections", the Committee recommends revising Rules 49 and 50 regarding general voting. The proposed Rule 49 would replace the current system of eliminating the candidate with the fewest votes with a runoff election featuring the top vote getters, eliminating all but one more candidate than the number of vacancies. The proposed Rule 50 would specify that runoff voting be used to resolve ties between candidates who have both received the required majority.
• The Committee suggests introducing a new Rule 50A to resolve cases where a runoff election still fails to produce a majority vote. Two alternatives are proposed: either the CoP accepts the candidates with the highest number of votes regardless of majority, or the Bureau is empowered to make the final selection, consulting with the SAC Chair if the vacancy is for the Scientific Advisory Board.
• The SAC is composed of ten members: six elected from nominations by the Parties, three from nominations by the SAC itself, and one from nominations by the Institute's Associates. To prevent any single member or subregion from dominating the SAC, the Rules allow each Party to submit "up to two candidates" and require the Conference to "take into account equitable geographic distribution".

APA

Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (n.d.). Suggested changes to the Rules of Procedure for the Conference of the Parties of the InterAmerican Institute for Global Change. https://archive.iai.int/admin/site/sites/default/files/12_SCRP-1.pdf

Chicago

Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research. Suggested changes to the Rules of Procedure for the Conference of the Parties of the InterAmerican Institute for Global Change. n.d. https://archive.iai.int/admin/site/sites/default/files/12_SCRP-1.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research |title=Suggested changes to the Rules of Procedure for the Conference of the Parties of the InterAmerican Institute for Global Change |url=https://archive.iai.int/admin/site/sites/default/files/12_SCRP-1.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{interamericaninstituteforglobalchangeresearchndsuggested, author = {{Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research}}, title = {{Suggested changes to the Rules of Procedure for the Conference of the Parties of the InterAmerican Institute for Global Change}}, institution = {Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research}, url = {https://archive.iai.int/admin/site/sites/default/files/12_SCRP-1.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }