Strengthening the Current Climate Governance System: Mapping Leading States and Initiatives

This report, published by the Climate Governance Commission and Global Challenges Foundation, reviews analysis and recommendations from leading climate experts on the following questions: Is the current ad hoc, voluntary, and decentralized climate governance landscape working to increase ambition and incentivize real progress? Which countries and climate initiatives are leading the way?

The report helps us to better understand the existing decentralized climate governance landscape. It identifies states and multi-actor initiatives that are at the forefront of international governance innovation for climate action, and that may therefore be seen to be advancing international climate governance. It also identifies a number of key bottlenecks and barriers to effective state and global action. Finally, the report offers recommendations on how to increase ambition and delivery,

Recommendations include ways to:

• Ensure that national laws addressing climate are protected from electoral cycles.
• Reform multilateral institutions leading the climate discussions including the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
• Shift the dynamics of the climate finance system from being a burdensome, slow, and disempowering mechanism to providing more direct access and support for investments in green economies;
• Reduce overlap and duplication among international climate initiatives in order to “launch less and implement more,”
• Use regional mechanisms as a lever for greater climate action.