Climate Cooperation Disparities: An Analysis of the Global South’s Limited Participation in Intergovernmental Cooperation on Climate Change Mitigation

The analysis of ninety-three intergovernmental initiatives reveals that while global participation appears broad, representation from the Global South is critically low in key sectors such as industry, transport, and buildings. The landscape is dominated by developed countries and the top ten emitters per sector, which limits Global South access to capacity-building and information sharing. While agriculture is the most inclusive sector, others like industry show severe gaps, with 73% of initiatives excluding Least Developed Countries (LDCs).

• Intergovernmental cooperation on climate mitigation is dominated by developed nations and the top ten emitters in each sector, leading to critically low representation for the Global South in most key sectors.
• Participation varies significantly by sector: agriculture is the most inclusive, while industry has the lowest representation, with 130 governments not participating in any initiative and 73% of industry initiatives excluding Least Developed Countries (LDCs).
• Specific country groups, including Small Island Developing States (SIDS), Eastern Europe and Central Asia (EECA), and Least Developed Countries (LDCs), have critically low representation across most sectors, with the exception of agriculture and forests.
• Regional representation within the Global South is uneven; Latin America has higher representation than other Global South groups, though lower-income countries in that region lack representation in all sectors except agriculture.
• Limited participation in these initiatives restricts Global South countries from accessing essential benefits, including collaborative support, information sharing, and capacity-building.

APA

World Resources Institute (n.d.). Climate Cooperation Disparities: An Analysis of the Global South’s Limited Participation in Intergovernmental Cooperation on Climate Change Mitigation. https://www.wri.org/research/climate-cooperation-disparities-analysis-global-south-climate-change-mitigation

Chicago

World Resources Institute. Climate Cooperation Disparities: An Analysis of the Global South’s Limited Participation in Intergovernmental Cooperation on Climate Change Mitigation. n.d. https://www.wri.org/research/climate-cooperation-disparities-analysis-global-south-climate-change-mitigation.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Resources Institute |title=Climate Cooperation Disparities: An Analysis of the Global South’s Limited Participation in Intergovernmental Cooperation on Climate Change Mitigation |url=https://www.wri.org/research/climate-cooperation-disparities-analysis-global-south-climate-change-mitigation |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldresourcesinstitutendclimate, author = {{World Resources Institute}}, title = {{Climate Cooperation Disparities: An Analysis of the Global South’s Limited Participation in Intergovernmental Cooperation on Climate Change Mitigation}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, url = {https://www.wri.org/research/climate-cooperation-disparities-analysis-global-south-climate-change-mitigation}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }