From 30 November to 11 December, the twenty-first session of the Conference of the Parties (COP21) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) took place in Paris. A new global agreement on climate change was to be adopted. This agreement is decisive for future life on our planet. Climate change threatens to undermine development achievements from the past and in the future – in the poorest countries as well as in Europe. Therefore, the Member States of the UNFCCC needed to settle a deal that entails ambitious targets regarding climate change mitigation, adaption and finance. The German Development Institute / Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE) was at the site of the negotiations during COP21 with a series of Side Events on the linkages between climate governance and development.

28 November 2015, Train from Berlin to Paris
Train to Paris

organized by "Stiftung 2°"

The campaign “Train to Paris” brought delegates including national governments, NGOs, decision-makers and journalists from across Europe and Asia by train to Paris for the COP21.

Dirk Messner provided a keynote on: "Decarbonising the world economy" and answered the questions of guests.

Dirk Messner participated in panel discussion about COP21 with Barbara Hendricks (Federal Minister for the Environment), Rita Schwarzelühr-Sutter (Parliamentary Undersecretary), Jochen Flasbarth (Undersecratary on Department of the Environment) and representatives of environmental organizations.

4 December 2015, 16:45 h-18:15 h, Climate Generations Area, Salle 10, Paris
Climate Clubs: Coalitions of ambitious frontrunner countries to help close the two degree gap

Co-organized with Germanwatch

Faciliator: Clara Brandi (DIE)

Introductory Presentation: Lutz Weischer (Germanwatch)

Speakers:

•    Emilio Larovere (University of Rio de Janeiro )
•    David Waskow (WRI)
•    Manish Kumar Shrivastava (TERI)
•    Hanna Wang-Helmreich (Wuppertal Institute for Climate Environment and Energy)

The event brought together experts from all world regions and  explored the potentials of a transformative pioneers alliance to complement the formal multilateral process and to build additional momentum for climate action.

5 December 2015, 11:15 h -12:45 h , OECD Pavilion, Blue zone, Paris
Looking beyond the mitigation targets of INDCs: finance, fairness and adaptation

Co-organized with African Centre for Technology Studies (ACTS)

Facilitator: Clara Brandi (DIE)

Speakers:

•    Pieter Pauw (DIE)
•    Kennedy Mbeva (ACTS)
•    Manish Shrivastava (TERI)
•    Anne Olhoff (UNEP DTU)
•    Axel Olearius (GIZ)
•    Delegate from an LDC/SIDS (tbc)

Based on several INDC analyses, this event discussed non-mitigation target related content of INDCs. It launched an online tool for the visualisation of INDCs that has been developed by ACTS and DIE.

7 December 2015, 12:30 h - 17:30 h, Hotel Bel Ami, Paris
Galvanizing the Post-2015 Groundswell of Climate Actions Workshop

Co-organized with Galvanizing the Groundswell of Climate Actions (GGCA)

Contact person : Sander Chan (DIE)

This workshop highlighted and engaged a wide array of stakeholders to discuss non-state and subnational climate actions in the context of the Lima-Paris Action Agenda (LPAA).

7 December 2015, 20:00 h - 21:30 h, German Pavilion, Blue Zone 
Documentary “1.5 Stay Alive”: How Global Warming affects the Caribbean

Facilitator: Steffen Bauer (DIE)

The movie “1.5 to Stay Alive” highlighted the impacts of climate change in the Caribbean, featuring music by local artists, knowledge of local experts and cartoon characters to illustrate both environmental and social challenges of global warming beyond 1.5 degrees.

8 December 2015, 16:00 h -18:00 h, German Pavilion, Blue zone, Paris
Mobilising  private finance for adaptation: private realities and public ambitions

Co-organized with United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI), Deutsche Gesellschaft für  Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and Frankfurt School of Finance and Management

Facilitator: Eric Usher (UNEP Finance Initiative)

Speakers:

•    Christine Grüning (Frankfurt School of Finance and Management)
•    Micheal Gajo (GIZ)
•    Adis Dzebo (SEI)
•    Raphael Jachnik (OECD)
•    Pieter Pauw (DIE)
•    Comments by two delegates (Morocco and Germany, tbc)

This event presented recent research findings and experiences on mobilising private finance for climate change adaptation. It showed opportunities, but also highlighted barriers and limitations.

8 December 2015, 16:45 h- 18:15 h, Observer Room 2, Le Bourget, Paris
Accelerating the Great Transformation: the Post-Paris Script

Co-organized with the German Advisory Council on Global Change (WBGU) and World Resources Institute (WRI)

Speakers:

• John Schellnhuber (WBGU and PIK)
• Dirk Messner (DIE and WBGU)
• David Waskow (WRI)
• Falin Chen (National Taiwan University and President of IER)

Transformative climate action has to be taken at all levels with a range of actors contributing towards decarbonization and climate resilience. This side-event discussed this multi-faceted responsibility, from the subnational, especially cities, to national and international levels, including both public and private actors.

9 December 2015, 16:30 h-17:45 h, CICERO & Bellona Foundation Pavilion, Paris
Private-sector finance for adaptation in LDCs? Spelling out the options

Co-organized with Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI)

Adaptation is crucial for Least Developed Countries (LDCs), as is international finance to support it. In this event Adis Dzebo (SEI) and Pieter Pauw provided and discussed a framework that addresses how realistic it is to expect private finance to cover such needs. In particular, the discussion focused on how to scale up adaptation finance in LDCs and how to ensure that finance is available to support national adaptation priorities.