UNFCCC Capacity Building for Least Developed Countries

The project trains delegates from the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) to engage in the international climate decision-making processes. Three regional training workshops for delegates from Africa, Asia and the Pacific region and a further workshop before the climate change Conference of the Parties (COP) are held and they feature a negotiation simulation in a UNFCCC-like environment. The aim of these events is to improve participants’ knowledge of the international climate decision-making process, so that they can engage effectively in the negotiations once they reach the United Nations. Financial and logistical support to selected women delegates is provided so that they can attend the UNFCCC sessions. They are also offered a mentoring scheme to pair the delegates with experienced negotiators and to achieve multiplier effects through an alumni network.

Project data

IKI funding: 1,939,417.65 €
Duration: 01/2023 till 12/2026
Status: open
Implementing organisation: International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED)
Online: https://www.iied.org/training-supporting-new-climate-change-negotiators

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State of implementation/results

Since the beginning of 2023, IIED has been leading a project to equip negotiators from Least Developed Countries (LDCs) with the knowledge and the skills needed to aptly engage in negotiations around the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The project organises regional training workshops and provides mentorship support to emerging negotiators to become climate leaders. It explicitly focuses on levelling the gender gap by increasing the number and strengthening the capacity of female negotiators. The project is led in partnership with Prakriti Resources Centre, ENDA Energie, and Legal Response International, in consultation with the LDC Group.
To date, the project has trained 158 participants from 45 countries, 61% of whom are women, with 71% reporting improved knowledge and skills across trainings where comparative knowledge assessments were undertaken before and after training. In 2023, project partners organized two training workshops for African negotiators from 8-10 and 10-12 May in Senegal, followed by one for the Asia-Pacific region on 21-22 September in Nepal. A pre-COP training workshop on priority negotiation topics was held in Dubai on 28 November 2023. Two pre-COP30 virtual trainings were organized in October 2025.
Analysis of COP30 attendance reveals that 35 of 45 (78%) participants trained by IIED and partners in October 2025 went on to attend COP30 in person.
Since 2023, seven mentees, all women, have benefitted from dedicated mentorship. They are paired with seasoned LDC group negotiators and supported by project partners throughout negotiation sessions. Mentees receive financial support to travel to and attend one or more UNFCCC negotiation sessions. In the last round of negotiations, IIED and LRI supported three female mentees for their participation at COP30 in Belem, Brazil.
Project partners produced knowledge products to support LDC negotiators. LRI developed explainers on Loss & Damage, Just Transition, GGA (produced by an IIED mentee) and carbon markets, Summaries of COP28 and COP29 outcomes, and updated its A to Z Paris Agreement App in 2023, 2024 and 2025. IIED published updated versions of the toolkits "Becoming a UNFCCC delegate: What You Need to Know" in English and French and with LRI, a comprehensive Guide to Climate Negotiations Terminology as well as a condensed version.

Latest Update:
05/2026