Providing on-demand legal, technical and strategic advice to the Least Developed Countries Group

Climate change negotiations are characterised by frequently emerging issues, technical jargon, carefully crafted wording and continuous references to various legal principles and provisions.

This proliferation of scientific, technical and legal issues, institutions and processes has prolonged and increased the work burden for already strained negotiators in the Least Developed Countries (LDC) Group. Even the most senior negotiators require technical advice and support to keep up with the pace of continuous and complex scientific, policy and legal information flows.

What is IIED doing?

As early as 2001, IIED supported senior LDC negotiators to create their own negotiating bloc in climate talks, the LDC Group. And ever since we have been working closely with the group by providing legal, technical and strategic advice in the negotiations, and building its expertise in key topics by providing research and analysis.

This work falls under a larger package of support to the LDCs, through which IIED organises capacity-building workshops, enhances the representation of LDC negotiators, provides logistical and administrative support, and helps establish an online and media presence for the group.

IIED's real-time advice to the LDC Group chair and members of its core team helps to reduce the heavy burden of work associated with climate change negotiations. In addition, it helps to ensure strong group leadership, develop a long-term strategic vision, preserve institutional memory and guarantee a smooth transition as the chairpersonship rotates every two years.

As a direct result of increased capacity within the group, this support now enables the construction of mature strategic positions.

The group also needs strong research inputs to strengthen its arguments in the negotiations, and IIED strives to provide these. We work with LDC negotiators to co-produce research papers, briefings and blogs that directly inform the ongoing negotiations and ensure negotiators are well-prepared with the facts, figures and analysis they need to drive effective decisions.