Background
A key limitation of the UN climate change negotiations is the lack of a level playing field between delegations, both North-South, and South-South. Another major obstacle lies in mutual misunderstanding and a lack of trust, particularly between industrialised and developing countries.
The European Capacity Building Initiative (ecbi) was launched in 2005 to overcome these limitations and obstacles through a number of capacity and trust building activities. The Initiative has three main areas of work:
- A trust-building Oxford Fellowship Programme to promote an informal (high level) exchange of views and ideas, led by Oxford Climate Policy.
- A Training & Support Programme to enhance negotiating skills, particularly of new negotiators, led by the International Institute for Environment and Development.
- A Publications & Policy Analysis Unit, to support the two Programmes with the provision of information and advice.
Management
Internal Management
The day-to-day running of the Initiative is managed by the members of the Executive Committee:
- Benito Müller, Oxford Climate Policy (OCP). Deputy - Anju Sharma, OCP
- Anna Schulz, International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED). Deputy - Brianna Craft, IIED
- Christoph Schwarte, Legal Response International (LRI). Deputy - Pascale Bird, LRI
- Bridget Burns (ecbi Gender Advisor), Women's Environment and Development Organization (WEDO)
External Management
Strategic guidance for the Initaitive is provided by an Advisory Committee, with the following members:
Regular Members
- Co-Chair: Kishan Kumarsingh (Trinidad & Tobago)
- Co-Chair: Lennart Båge (Sweden)
- Maria Poddey (GIZ)
- Jan Wärbäck (Sida) tbc
- Susan Krohn (BMU) tbc
- Emmanuel Seck (ENDA Energie), nominated by IIED
- Carlos Fuller (Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre), nominated by OCP
- Linda Siegele (Independent Consultant), nominated by LRI
Ex-Officio Members
- Janine Felson, Deputy Chair AOSIS (Belize)
- Sonam P. Wangdi (Bhutan), Tenzin Wangmo (Bhutan) LDC Group Chair
- Tanguy Gahouma (Gabon), AGN Chair tbc
Emeritus Members (former Co-Chairs)
- Farrukh Iqbal Khan (Pakistan)
- Jan Cedergren (Sweden)
- Bo Kjellen (Sweden)
- Tosi Mpanu-Mpanu (DRC)
- Pa Ousman Jarju (The Gambia)
Timeframe
The ecbi began with a one-year pilot phase (2005) and a two-year 'proof-of-concept' phase (2006-7). In 2008, the ecbi established itself as a longer-term European instrument for the sustained building of developing country negotiation capacity through a second Phase (2008-2011). Phases III and IV ran from 2011-2015, and 2015 to 2020, respectively. ecbi is currently in Phase V (2020-2025).
Privacy Notice
The OCP Privacy Notice Concerning the ecbi Network can be found here.