D&C Days at 20: Ambition, action, resilience

For 20 years, the annual Development and Climate Days (D&C Days) event has taken place as a weekend-long side event at the annual United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Conference of Parties (COP) conferences for open and informal discussions about climate change, adaptation and development challenges. Thousands of climate negotiators, grassroots representatives, policymakers, researchers and development practitioners have participated in D&C Days to share best practices, explore common problems, ask challenging questions and debate radical solutions.

2023 marked the 20th anniversary of D&C Days and an important opportunity to learn from continuities and changes in the event over the last two decades, including reflecting on the wider trends in climate change governance, policy, adaptation and development that are evident in D&C Days over time.

This report presents the result of stocktaking and reflection on key themes, notable occurrences and changes in process, based on documents and other information related to D&C Days since its inception plus key stakeholder interviews with multiple people closely connected to the event.