The Green Cooling Initiative and the Ministry of Environment and Forestry of Kenya organized a two-day regional negotiation training on strengthening negotiation skills for the international context for the National Ozone Officers of GCI partner countries in October 2023 in Nairobi.
The Green Cooling Initiative (Ouvrira une nouvelle fenêtre) (GCI) of the GIZ, which is funded by the Federal Ministry of Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection (BMUV) and Internationale Klimaschutz Initiative (Ouvrira une nouvelle fenêtre) (IKI) supports partner countries in implementing provisions from the Montreal Protocol (MP) including the Kigali Amendment and other international conventions such as the UNFCCC. In this context, GCI and Ministry of Environment and Forestry of Kenya organized a two-day regional negotiation training on strengthening negotiation skills for the international context for the National Ozone Officers of GCI partner countries. The training took place in October 2023 in Nairobi. 21 participants, mainly NOU officers from different African countries, participated and learned about different strategies, synergies and alliances. The training took place immediately before the 35th Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol (MOP35) and prepared the participants for the upcoming negotiations. MOP35 is the event where Parties keep track of the activities regarding the implementation of the phase-down and phase-out of HCFCs and HFCs, substances that harm the ozone layer and contribute to global warming.
The training contributed to GCI’s mandate to empower developing and emerging economies to actively participate in international negotiations and table their demands. To this end, the training’s core objective was to strengthen the negotiation capacity of delegates from GCI partner countries to actively participate in negotiations held under the MP, both at individual level (skills) and at organizational level (team capacity of the delegation).
Therefore, the training agenda included theoretical and practical exercises to better incorporate the concepts studied. Topics overviewed included the psychology of negotiations, styles and strategies, engagement with multiple parties or interests, team organization, and effective negotiation planning. Participants were given the opportunity to reflect on their negotiation skills and strategies, while also fostering their knowledge in this topic. This approach resulted in an improved capacity of NOU officers, who are now capable of a better agency and the ability to put their interests forward. The participants expressed their appreciation for the activity organized, as it was regarded as a fruitful event.