Enhancing resilience to global crises in the UNFCCC climate arena

The document argues that the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated existing inequities in the UNFCCC process, particularly for Global South negotiators and civil society organizations. It highlights how travel restrictions, vaccine inequality, and the digital divide hindered participation and coordination, while broader geopolitical power dynamics and aid dependencies allowed Global North countries to maintain disproportionate influence over negotiation outcomes. The authors recommend short-term funding and logistical reforms, long-term institutional changes such as capping delegation sizes and shifting COP venues to the Global South, and a broader effort to decolonize research and build allyship to shift global power dynamics.

• The COVID-19 pandemic intensified existing participation barriers for Global South representatives through travel restrictions, visa barriers, and vaccine inequality, which were compounded by the high costs of accommodation and flights.
• Current UNFCCC financial support is insufficient for effective representation; the supplementary trust fund typically supports only two negotiators per country, forcing smaller, financially constrained nations to align with larger blocs and compromise their national positions.
• The pandemic widened the power gap between the Global North and Global South, as the latter became more dependent on the former for vaccines and health aid, providing wealthier states with additional geopolitical leverage to influence climate agendas.
• Vaccine inequality and the failure of developed nations to meet the USD 100 billion climate finance target by 2020 severely eroded trust, leading Global South negotiators to push more aggressively for adaptation and loss and damage support.
• Virtual and hybrid negotiation formats introduced during the pandemic failed to resolve inequities due to the digital divide, connectivity issues, and the loss of relationship-building opportunities, while potentially allowing Global North actors to maintain a stronger in-person presence.
• The document recommends long-term institutional reforms to the UNFCCC, including capping delegation sizes, implementing majority voting instead of consensus, and selecting future COP venues based on less restrictive visa requirements in the Global South.

APA

Nazareth, A., Shawoo, Z., & Kim, D. (2022). Enhancing resilience to global crises in the UNFCCC climate arena. Stockholm Environment Institute. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/unfccc-resilience-sei2022.048-1.pdf

Chicago

Nazareth, Anisha, Zoha Shawoo, and Dayoon Kim. Enhancing resilience to global crises in the UNFCCC climate arena. Stockholm Environment Institute, 2022. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/unfccc-resilience-sei2022.048-1.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Nazareth |first1=Anisha |last2=Shawoo |first2=Zoha |last3=Kim |first3=Dayoon |title=Enhancing resilience to global crises in the UNFCCC climate arena |publisher=Stockholm Environment Institute |date=November 2022 |url=https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/unfccc-resilience-sei2022.048-1.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{nazareth2022enhancing, author = {Nazareth, Anisha and Shawoo, Zoha and Kim, Dayoon}, title = {{Enhancing resilience to global crises in the UNFCCC climate arena}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2022}, month = nov, url = {https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/unfccc-resilience-sei2022.048-1.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }