The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (UN-ESCWA), and in partnership with the League of Arab States (LAS), the United Nations Environment, the Cairo office of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC), is organizing the “Tenth Regional Workshop on Capacity Development for Climate Change Negotiations for the Arab Countries” from 3 to 5 April 2018, in Kuwait.
 
The main objectives of this workshop include:

• Discuss the latest developments on negotiation issues related to the Paris Agreement on adaptation, mitigation, finance, technology, carbon markets, trade, etc. and the 2018 Facilitative Dialogue, in preparation for the Climate Change Conference and preparatory meeting that will be held in Bonn from 30 April to 11 May 2018 prior to COP-24.
• Discuss issues related to agriculture as a new item under the SBSTA and SBI, to examine the impact of climate change on agriculture and food security, agricultural productivity levels and quality of production, the implications on trade, and the need to address these issues under an adaptation and possibly mitigation co-benefits framework;
• Address issues related to response measures, in addition to mapping trade-related response measures in NDCs, including measures related to the energy sector, green industrial policies, green government procurement, financial and direct trade measures, and international cooperation;
• Discuss the potential impacts of response measures and economic diversification, and the incorporation of climate-related measures into trade-related agreements;
• Discuss the possibility of developing an “Adaptation Framework” (i.e., an adaptation matrix) to guide developing countries when submitting funding proposals and to guide donor countries in assessing and financing projects;
• Develop the negotiation skills of Arab officials in climate change negotiations on new emerging issues, discuss the outcomes of COP-23, produce a draft negotiation text, and prepare Member States for the 2018 Facilitative Dialogue and preparatory sessions leading to COP-24.