Talanoa Dialogues

The concept of the Talanoa Dialogue was introduced into international negotiations during the 23rd United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 23), held in 2017, and represented the first time in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) process that national governments met with non-Party stakeholders in an official setting. Local and regional governments were invited to start Talanoa Dialogues in their cities, regions and countries in 2018 during The Cities and Regions Talanoa Dialogues held by ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability (ICLEI) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in February 2018.

The Cities and Regions Talanoa Dialogues are a series of in-country climate consultations that should start in 2018. These are designed to initiate a collaborative process involving governments at all scales. They gather national, regional and local governments to take stoke of the situation and strengthen NDCs.

By the end of 2018, more than 60 dialogues in 40 countries will have been held, and submitted by ICLEI to the UNFCCC. Among these, 8 have been held in Sub-Saharan Africa, including dialogues in Accra, Lomé and Monrovia with the CoM SSA support.

These dialogues have brought multiple tiers of government, multiple sectors and non-state actors together to share what they are doing to strengthen NDC implementation, as well as raise ambition of future NDCs.

The publication “Talanoa Dialogues in Africa: Advancing coordinated action between national, subnational and international actors” is now available here.