Four-day climate change diplomacy workshop to prepare for COP 26 underway |23 July 2021

Screenshots of the workshop taking place virtually

A group of 25 environment specialists and diplomats are following a four-day training workshop on climate change diplomacy virtually in preparation for the 26th Session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 26) to be held in Glasgow, UK from October 1 to November 12 this year.

The training workshop aims to support and build the capacities of officials and other stakeholders from Seychelles to understand the climate change debates and environmental science that will prepare them for substantive discussions on the subject and improve their negotiating skills. This will ensure that the delegates can effectively represent their respective national interests at the upcoming sessions at COP 26.

Such a training programme has been designed to be highly interactive and participatory with a variety of simulation exercises, case studies and pedagogical tools that will allow the delegates to acquire adequate knowledge and understanding of the substantive topics, and gain a practical appreciation of the dynamics of the negotiation processes.

The workshop is being co-sponsored by the United Nations Resident Coordinator’s Office (UNRCO) for Seychelles and Mauritius and the Australian High Commission for Mauritius and Seychelles, offered by the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) ‒ Division for Multilateral Diplomacy.

Minister for Agriculture, Climate Change and Environment, Flavien Joubert launched the training workshop.

In his opening remarks, Minister Joubert highlighted the importance of the training which is focusing on environmental diplomacy, climate change, discussions and negotiations to take place during the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) conference in October and November.

Minister Joubert has called on negotiators, diplomats and representative groups of youth and civil society to make the most of the training during the workshop because it will improve their overall knowledge and understanding of the process and outcomes of the COP.

“Seychelles recognises the volume of technical work done from the subsidiary bodies (SBs) meeting that took place last month. It is thus important for us to progress on these technical issues between now and leading up to COP 26. As such, we see the importance of having such a training to help build your capacity in moving forward from COP 25 to the upcoming COP 26 and hopefully beyond,” said Minister Joubert.

The 25 delegates of the workshop come from the Ministry of Agriculture, Climate Change and Environment; Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Tourism; Ministry of Finance, Economic Planning and Trade; as well as various non-governmental organisations (NGOs) such as Seychelles Island Foundation, UN Youth Seychelles, Global Shapers Community and Sids Youth Aims Hub.

All delegates will be awarded a certificate at the end of the virtual workshop although not all are directly involved in nor will be taking part in the COP meeting in October and November.

Press release from the Ministry of Agriculture, Climate Change and Environment