Conference Agenda

Multilateral climate governance is clearly not on track to avoid dangerous climate change. Hopes of revitalised climate action in the wake of the Glasgow Climate Pact adopted at UNFCCC’s COP26 in 2021 have since been undercut by the stagnation reflected in the outcomes of COP27 in Sharm El-Sheikh in 2022 and amidst geopolitical turbulences and multiple crises. Against this backdrop, a turn towards distinct partnership approaches seeks to build new momentum in international climate cooperation and to advance just transition pathways in a host of developing countries. Indeed, bi- and plurilateral partnerships are mushrooming as seemingly promising complements to get things moving. Still, realising the potential of such partnerships is obviously challenging. Failing to deliver risks exacerbating the lack of trust in international cooperation and undermining ownership. Instead, partnerships need to demonstrate that they can be instrumental in mobilising commensurate political, financial, and technical resources that will be expedient to building bridges between global imperatives and national and societal needs. Zooming in on distinct country cases, the session will follow an interactive roundtable format to scrutinize the promise of various climate cooperation partnerships and their potential to yield substantive results on the ground. The discussion will thus confront the global imperatives of climate cooperation with a reality check informed by national perspectives and expertise. It will be structured by core questions addressing inter alia: Which norms and rationales underpin the various partnership approaches? How may they actually contribute to governing transformative change at country level? What are the implications of the current geopolitical context for the implementation of established and prospective climate cooperation partnerships? Presented partnership and country cases will include bilateral climate and development partnerships between Germany and Kenya and Germany and Pakistan respectively as well as plurilateral Just Energy Transitions Partnerships with South Africa and Indonesia.