29 April 2019
I'm here in Addis Ababa for my second ECBI workshop, ready to delve into three days of training alongside the other junior climate negotiators! Looking forward to meeting the experts who'll be taking us through the training sessions, and to hearing how each made their journey to become representatives of their country at the UNFCCC climate negotiations. I'm equally keen to meet my fellow junior delegates.
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15 May 2019
Back in Liberia. This morning I received an email with subject line "ecbi bursary offer – please confirm". It was the formal invitation to go to Bonn in June for the UNFCCC negotiations!
I'd applied for an ECBI bursary to attend the negotiations, having been advised that national support wasn't available. Miracles really do happen. I'm so excited to get to there and apply the skills I learnt in Addis!
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18 June 2019
I'm on Day 8 here in Bonn. A steep learning curve! Today I followed every session on capacity building. These were all about setting up and giving an overview on the mandate that set the background for the agenda items.
We're getting great support – whenever I have a question I ask my mentor and appropriate answers are given which broaden my understanding as the session goes by day-by-day. So much to learn!
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20 June 2019
This year's session for me was basically to display how text fits into the outcomes. From this point, I understood that during these negotiations, not all suggestions from a specific party are accepted.
It was vividly seen that other parties had opposing opinions, but they were expressed in a manner that did not condemn the previous suggestion posed. This was an excellent push!
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30 July 2019
Not many journalists in Liberia specialise in environmental reporting, therefore, I have the task of periodically organising training workshops to help them acquaint themselves with jargon, technical language and conventions relating to climate change and how they can use their professional skills to help spread the news.
So, there in Ganta, I have succeeded with the support of our project manager in bringing together over 50 journalists from all parts of the country to familiarise them with the Rio Convention.
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25 October 2019
Once again I have been sponsored to attend COP through ECBI!
I'm even more enthusiastic this year. As well as being part of my country's delegation, I will continue to follow all matters relating to capacity building for the LDC Group. We need to see developing countries unite behind one voice to give us the best chance of the strongest outcomes.
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9 December 2019
Yes, we did it! With unity, we succeeded: all texts on capacity building have been finalised and adopted. I'm very optimistic that, again with unity, more actions will be taken to combat climate change.
The Junior Negotiators Bloc was also successfully launched: so far we've had two meetings and have agreed to keep working together, to keep communicating, keep sharing information – which we'll do over WhatsApp.
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20 December 2019
COP25 is over. What next? Acting on the theme #TimeForAction is what's next!
COP wasn't smooth; there were hurdles on every agenda item. One big thing I realised in Madrid is that when most parties saw something wasn't working as the text was developing, they were ready to make the changes needed.
I also learned from the actions of developing countries that you must know what's good for you as a country and build a network of experts to support that. Only in this way will you get what you need at the negotiating table.
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Danise's complete diary with photos and videos from her experience is available on the IIED website. IIED's management of the European Capacity Building Initiative (ecbi) training and support programme is part of our work to create a more level playing field for all government delegations taking part in international climate negotiations. Check our website for more on the ecbi programme, including workshops, bursaries, reports and toolkits.
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