5. MULTILATERAL DEVELOPMENT COOPERATION

Target

This chapter is for multilateral departments in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and relevant Danish missions and embassies dealing with multilateral organisations and international NGOs.

Entry points

• Annual negotiations with UN organisations, international financial institutions, regional organisation, international NGOs, and other multilateral partners.
• International development conferences.
• Negotiations of Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEA).

From a climate perspective, multilateral meetings tend to fall in two categories. Either climate change is the key issue or climate change is addressed only marginally, if at all.

• In the first category of meetings (UN meetings on climate, extreme weather, energy etc.), delegates and participants often are specialised climate change negotiators. Although there will be no need to raise the policy profile of climate change at such meetings, it may be relevant to help ensure that discussions on climate change are linked to the broad perspective of promoting poverty reduction and sustainable development.
• In the other category (UN Summits, UN governing bodies, etc.), delegates might have limited insights as to the magnitude of the climate change challenge. At such meetings, efforts are needed to ensure that climate change is addressed within the overall context of the agenda of the meeting.

Basic principles

• Convergence of views in order to bring forward policies and measures that are needed to strengthen the global effort to address climate change.
• Build confidence and trust between developed and developing countries and avoid deadlock and confrontation. There is also a task in identifying the potential for alliances between Denmark/EU and developing countries.
• Integration of climate change should, where relevant, be included on the agenda at annual consultations with UN organisations, international financial institutions, and international NGOs. This is the responsibility of the Multilateral Departments of the MFA and Danish missions and embassies with delegated authority. Technical input, including ’agreed EU and UN language’, may be obtained from MIL and BFT.

Initial screening points

• For annual consultations, identify whether the organisation has a policy or action programme on climate change. Does the organisation implement activities relevant for adaptation and mitigation? Are investment projects ’climate proofed’?
• Stress the importance of in-country ownership and aid coordination of projects related to climate change activities, e.g. GEF funded projects. This requirement is stressed as being universal for aid cooperation.