South-South Cooperation: Diplomacy for Climate Change (An Introduction)

WHY SOUTH-SOUTH COOPERATION IS IMPORTANT

From Berlin in 1995 (COP 1) to Warsaw in 2013 (COP 19), the global community has acknowledged that manmade (anthropogenic) greenhouse gases, especially CO2, were responsible for global warming. They caused irreversible economic and social consequences, which meant climate change was no longer regarded as an environmental issue. Now a global development problem, climate change requires close collaboration from all countries in order to lessen its effects on people and the planet.

In 2015, calls for global environmental governance led to the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and Paris Climate Agreement. Multi-lateral cooperation is essential to advance the implementation of these agreements and achieve a sustainable, low-carbon and climate-resilient future. Developing countries are playing a more significant role and making greater contributions to the global climate-governance process. South-South Cooperation (SSC) has allowed developing countries to enhance their capacity and readiness in increasing their climate efforts, which has benefitted national and global sustainable development progress.[1]

Since developed countries have committed to binding targets and agree that CO2 is a global pollutant, all options, regardless of geography and economic power, should be explored. South-South Cooperation, therefore, plays a crucial role in strengthening the contribution of developing countries in combatting climate change.

Think of SSC as an alternative, but complementary, modality to international climate change policies and processes that shape the regional and global climate change agenda. South-South Cooperation can mobilize additional financial, technological, and capacity building resources from traditional partners. It also creates opportunities for new partnerships to evolve with untraditional partners to elaborate innovative modes of cooperation in sectors like climate financing, green economy growth, renewable energy and technology, sustainable agriculture and forestry, and biodiversity and ecosystem preservation.