How to Talanoa – Do’s and Don’ts for Ministers

8 September 2018

Dear Ministers, we are looking forward to seeing you at the Talanoa Dialogue in Katowice. While it will be freezing outside, Talanoa Dialogue will bring some much needed warmth and lots of dialogue to the process. ECO hears the incoming Polish Presidency has begun setting the stage – but plese be reminded, dear Ministers, the Talanoa Dialogue will only be as good as you and your contributions make it!

The combination of the urgent imperative of limiting the temperature increase to 1.5oC to reduce losses and damages by climate change, and the many opportunities for accelerated climate ambition, leave plenty of options to enhance your NDCs for the 2020 submission deadline.

The NDC revision process will be different for every country, involving national stakeholders in the discussion to identify the areas that can be enhanced, and you can kick this off by coming to the Talanoa Dialogue fully engaged to share experiences from your country, learn from others, and start building a process to revise your NDC by sharing experiences and learning from others. To help you prepare for a Talanoa Dialogue with a strong outcome, ECO has put together a small list of “do’s” and “don’ts”:

Do’s:
– Prepare before attending. What is the amazing, engaging story you want to tell to inspire others?
– Socialise with other guests. Listen to their stories and concerns; listen to what they have to give. Consider that you might meet a new best friend, who knows the way forward e.g. in your discussions with your finance minister.
– Most importantly: Announce you will enhance your NDC by 2020. Beyond your story, enhanced ambition is your special contribution for the collective effort.
– Take it forward, make sure that your story and announcement to enhance your NDC don’t just remain in the Talanoa Dialogue room. Take it into a COP decision and let it be hear around the world.

Don’ts:
– Don’t forget to ask the incoming Polish Presidency for solid preparations for an engageing discussion that allows all participants to interact constructively. All participants also includes non-party actors, of course.
– Don’t assume that you know what the Talanoa will be like. Be open to surprises, listen carefully, consider new directions and perspectives.
– Don’t assume a one-size-fits-all approach. Different policies will work for different countries, regions and sectors, and being open to tailoring policies for various sectors will be useful. For example, in the transport sector you might want to launch new initiatives to decrease CO2 emissions such as support schemes for expanding electric vehicle sales. In the buildings sector you could establish standards and policies for achieving high energy efficiency, making both economic and energy savings – good for your citizens, good for the climate!

Speaking of citizens; it’s understood your voters will judge COP24 by its outcome on ambition €“ aka the Talanoa Dialogue. They expect bold announcements on enhanced NDC ambitions by 2020 (not possible considerations).

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