2019 Champions
The fourth champions, who served in 2019, were Mr. Tomasz Chruszczow, Special Envoy for Climate Change from the Ministry of Environment in Poland and Mr. Gonzalo Muñoz from Chile.
Main Achievements in 2019:
COP 25 decision on Global Climate Action: In Madrid, Parties acknowledged the important role non-Party stakeholders play towards the objective of the Convention and the goals of the Paris Agreement, in particular supporting Parties in mitigation and adaptation actions. In so doing, Parties also welcomed the continuation of the Marrakech Partnership for Global Climate Action and decided to have high-level champions until 2025. The champions are tasked to explore how to improve the work under the Marrakech Partnership for enhancing ambition. (Decision 1/CP.25)
Workprogramme 2019-2020: The champions developed a workprogramme for 2019-2020 and launched a consultation process releasing a letter to Parties and Non-Party Stakeholders to receive feedback on the review the work of the high-level champions so far and to take stock of where they and the Marrakech Partnership can progress towards a carbon-neutral, resilient world and stay as close as possible to the 1.5 °C limit on global warming.
Climate Action Pathways: Under the leadership of the champions, the Marrakesh Partnership developed and released the Climate Action Pathways, which provide a blue print on how collectively strive to a 1.5-degree climate-resilient future by 2050 across the thematic and cross-cutting areas of the Marrakech Partnership.
Global Climate Action portal - NAZCA: The Global Climate Action portal (NAZCA) was re‐launched in September 2019 with a new interactive map and country profile pages, making it easier for users navigate cross‐sector climate commitments from around the world. The country profile pages bring together climate action from cities, regions, companies and organizations to provide a snapshot of climate action within a country, which can inspire the replication of initiatives in other countries and help identify the potential for further collaboration across other sectors of society. Weblinks to the National Determined Contributions (NDCs) and, where applicable, Long Term Strategies are also provided.
It is the official repository for the transformational initiatives that were developed for the UN Secretary‐General’s Climate Action Summit. It will remain active in the follow‐up of the commitments and will work to further scale‐up and monitor the initiatives to achieve the promised objectives.
A major data upload of new and updated individual commitments and cooperative initiatives was implemented during COP 25.
UN Secretary‐General’s Climate Action Summit: The champions encouraged non‐Party stakeholders to participate and to take action to build momentum towards the Summit. The champions hosted a “Summit to Summit” event in New York; which analyzed all climate moments from 2014 Secretary‐General’s Summit until this year’s Summit and demonstrated the importance of these milestones in mobilizing ambitious climate action. The Global Climate Action Portal (NAZCA) had a critical role, ensuring that all initiatives launched at the Summit were included in the Portal.
The key messages from the Summit included:
- Five years of global summits /processes have helped drive a rapid increase in the number of initiatives and commitments;
- Initiatives and commitments come from all over the world and target all aspects of climate action;
- Initiatives have massive potential to help countries achieving their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and National Adaptation Plans (NAPs).
Regional Climate Weeks: The champions used the infrastructure of existing regional climate weeks to encourage, through the Marrakech Partnership, non‐Party stakeholders to interact with government representatives and create a platform of regionally focused discussions with policymakers with the aim of increasing climate action and enhancing the participation of stakeholders from the region. The regional climate weeks in 2019 aimed to discuss, among other things, the transformative areas of the Climate Action Summit hosted by the United Nations Secretary‐General.
Yearbook of Climate Action 2019: It was published on the 20 November 2019, highlights trends and provides information regarding the state of climate action. The yearbook can be found here.
Technical Examination Process (TEP): Key messages have been included in the Summary for Policy Makers.
The High-Level Champions who served in 2018 were Minister Inia Seruiratu, Fijian Minister for Defense and National Security and M. Tomasz Chruszczow, Special Envoy for Climate Change from the Ministry of Environment in Poland.
Main Achievements in 2018:
Regional Climate Weeks: They were used by the champions to have regionally-relevant discussions, with the ambition of increasing climate action and getting more stakeholders from the region involved. In 2018, the champions and Marrakech Partnership (MP) stakeholders participated in three regional Climate Weeks: Africa: Nairobi, Kenya in April; Asia-Pacific: Singapore in July; and Latin America and the Caribbean, Montevideo: Uruguay in August.
Talanoa Dialogue: The champions supported and encouraged the participation of NPS, facilitated the selection of participants in accordance with criteria defined by the Presidencies to ensure gender, regional and sectoral balance. Throughout the year, the champions provided guidance to ensure the participation of NPS in the Talanoa process was effective, including on how to tell impactful stories, make effective submissions to the platform and encouraging national governments and non-Party stakeholders to convene regional Talanoas.
Yearbook of Climate Action 2018: It was published on the 20 November 2018, highlights trends and provides information regarding the state of climate action. The yearbook can be found here.
Global Climate Action portal (or NAZCA): It was revamped and relaunched on 14 September 2018 at the Global Climate Action Summit in San Francisco. The portal shows evidence of the momentum in Global Climate Action through a new map-based interface, easy identifies the locations of engaged stakeholders. The total numbers of stakeholders increased by ~ 60% and commitments by approximately ~ 40%. There was clear growth in regional participation with the number of stakeholders in Asia-Pacific, Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean increasing by ~30%, 20% and 20 % respectively.
Technical Examination Process (TEP): Key messages have been included in the Summary for Policy Makers.
Communications and collaboration tools: To facilitate and enhance communication with and between Parties and NPS, the following initiatives were taken forward:
- An on-line platform for registered MP stakeholders to share information and work together,
- Periodic newsletters to inform the climate action community of the latest news and developments from the champions
- Mobilizing Parties’ participation in MP planning meetings and events
Further information: Letter from the High-Level Champions of Global Climate Action.
The second champions, who served in 2017, were Ms. Hakima El Haite, Special Envoy for Climate Change Kingdom of Morocco and Mr. Inia B. Seruiratu Minister for Agriculture, Rural and Maritime Development and National Disaster Management, Republic of Fiji.
On 4 May 2017, the champions published a proposed approach, draft work programme (739 kB) and an impact and priority tracker (789 kB) . During SB46, the champions consulted with Parties and observers on these documents. Based on these consultations, the champions revised and published their approach for the Marrakech Partnership (347 kB).
The first champions served in 2016 and were Ms. Laurence Tubiana, French Ambassador for climate change and Ms. Hakima El Haite, Minister Delegate to the Minister of Energy, Mines, Water and Environment of Morocco, in charge of the Environment.
In June 2016, the first champions published a roadmap for global climate action in which they described their tasks. In addition, the champions launched a consultation among Parties and non-Parties on their road map allowing for written submissions. They posed five questions to guide the submissions regarding the understanding of the landscape for global climate action; the role of the champions; the tracking and showcasing initiatives, the high-level event and the role of the TEMS.
The road map and the submissions received were discussed with Parties and non-Party stakeholders at different meetings: the Alliances and Coalitions Global Forum in Rabat (June), the Climate Chance in Nantes (September), the Climate Week NYC (September) and the Pre-COP in Rabat (September). (Synthesis report on the submissions)
On 28 October 2016, the champions made publicly available their reflections on the way forward, as a prelude to the Global Climate Action at COP 22. This document served as basis for consultations with Parties and non-Party stakeholders during COP 22.
During the two weeks at COP 22, the champions socialized the 'Reflections on the Way Forward' with Parties and observers in order to gather their inputs. Based on these consultations, the champions finalized their proposal for the future of global climate action and on 17 November presented and published the Marrakech Partnership for Global Climate Action.