Ecologic Institute conducted a training “National Workshop on Climate Change Negotiations - Training to Enhance the Skills of the Lebanese Negotiators” on behalf of the German Embassy in Beirut. The training took place in the Lebanese Ministry of the Environment in Beirut, on 24 and 25 September 2014, and was conducted by Dr. Camilla Bausch and Lena Donat.
The immediate objective is to enhance the negotiating capacity of the Lebanese climate change negotiating team, including the technical and political level at home, and the general capacity of other Lebanese stakeholders to understand and support the climate change negotiations. This is to strengthen the effective participation of Lebanon in the relevant fora.
The workshop was designed as a follow-up on a workshop conducted in cooperation with the Lebanese Ministry of Environment in December 2013 (“Workshop I”), which focused on essential knowledge and background of UNFCCC negotiations. The second workshop was designed to enhance participants’ practical negotiation skills, providing more detail and depth as well as a different more practical perspective.
The target audience included participants from relevant Lebanese ministries (Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Foreign Affairs) and other political levels as well as participants from academia, media and civil society in Lebanon. While the focus was on those who had already participated in the first training, a short recap session at the beginning of the workshop and small information sections before certain sessions made sure that also “newcomers” were able to follow the workshop.
The workshop provided insights in how to coordinate and participate effectively in the climate negotiations in a practical sense, including the interaction or coordination between the negotiators and the team at the conference and the political and technical level at home. Through an interactive approach, the workshop practiced practical skills and also facilitated mutual learning among participants – as well as network building.
To access the complete workshop report, click
here.