ABSTRACT

Since the establishment of the Climate Convention and its recent Paris Agreement, capacity building has been considered as a fundamental prerequisite for achieving the goals of the climate regime. Various institutional architectures have been explored, while the 2015 Paris Climate Conference (COP21) established the Paris Committee on Capacity-Building aiming to address needs and gaps, along with promoting current, emerging, and further capacity-building efforts. Efforts to build capacity have been underway for decades but have largely failed in their objectives as they were not designed from, and rooted in, the local context. Drawing from the author’s more than 40 years of personal experience in capacity building in Africa, this paper sheds light on the systemic challenges involved in building capacities. Arrangements that do not entail working on, or being led by, an agenda set by those in capacity needs are not, by definition, capacity mobilization or capacity building efforts. It is argued that capacity is tied to self-reliance and self-determination and thus ability to set and pursue the recipient’s own agenda must be at the core of development narratives.

Key policy insights

• Self-reliance and self-determination are at the core of capacity development. Therefore, countries need to set and pursue their own agenda by creating and following a bottom-up and inclusive development narrative.

• Intellectual, financial, and other important resources need to fall under the control of local leadership.

• Partnerships and networks of research centres think tanks and similar institutions in the South should be created and maintained to build capacities.

• Climate change, while a global issue, must be addressed based on a deep understanding of the local and national contexts.

摘要

自《气候公约》及其最近的《巴黎协定》成立以来，能力建设一直被视为实现气候制度目标的基本前提。已经探索了各种机构架构，而 2015 年巴黎气候会议 (COP21) 成立了巴黎能力建设委员会，旨在解决需求和差距，同时促进当前、新兴和进一步的能力建设工作。能力建设的努力已经进行了几十年，但在很大程度上未能实现其目标，因为它们不是根据当地情况设计的，也不是植根于当地环境的。本文借鉴作者 40 多年在非洲能力建设方面的个人经验，阐明了能力建设所涉及的系统性挑战。不涉及工作的安排，根据定义，由能力需求者制定的议程或由其领导的议程不是能力动员或能力建设工作。有人认为，能力与自力更生和自决有关，因此制定和追求接受者自己议程的能力必须是发展叙事的核心。

主要政策见解

• 自力更生和自决是能力发展的核心。因此，各国需要通过创建和遵循自下而上的包容性发展叙事来制定和推行自己的议程。

• 智力、财政和其他重要资源需要落入地方领导层的控制之下。

• 应该建立和维持南方研究中心智库和类似机构的伙伴关系和网络，以建设能力。

• 气候变化虽然是一个全球性问题，但必须在深入了解当地和国家背景的基础上加以解决。