We recommend that any meetings convened in alignment with this toolkit produce a short outcome report, and that this report be submitted both to relevant policy-making bodies and to the Engage4Climate team, using the submission form at the bottom of this page.
Be Identifiable
Communicate transparently which stakeholders are represented & be accessible for follow-up.
The Talanoa Dialogue set a new standard, in which the global policy process was open to all people everywhere, but to make sure valuable time was not lost digging into the origins of every report, submissions were limited to “verified stakeholders”. This standard is helpful for bringing outside voices into established policy processes.
So, your outcome report should show clearly that you and your co-authors are real people, representing a particular identifiable institution, organization, community, industry or jurisdiction, or some combination of these.
In order to qualify as a verified stakeholder, we recommend the following action steps:
- Prepare your report in collaboration with other stakeholders.
- Consider hosting a local Talanoa-style meeting, like those outlined in this toolkit.
- Designate an official point of contact for the report you are submitting.
- If necessary, create a name for the constituency, meeting, coalition, or interest area you represent.
- Where possible, align your report with partners working on matters covered in your report.
- Do not misrepresent any person, institution, relationship, or official title.
- Do not submit a report that attacks or defames any actor; focus on needs, views, and solutions.
- Keep in mind that Talanoa relates to story — pull your proposals into a coherent story of stakeholder interest or future thinking.
Be Concise
Make your report a brief to negotiators; link to detailed materials if needed.
The Talanoa Dialogue asked all people everywhere to think about what kind of climate future they want, and to submit recommendations to the 195 nations that comprise the Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC.
We want to make sure that standard for openness, inclusion, and shared ambition remains the global policy process standard, so keep in mind:
- Your brief / narrative input is more likely to be of use if it is short, clear, locally rooted, connected to bigger issues, and told in a coherent way.
- It should be no more than 2 pages in length, and have clearly defined sections and themes.
- Insert web links to any more detailed materials you would like included, to make it easier to write a 2-page brief.
- Don’t include extensive quotes from materials that can already be accessed online; focus on the stakeholder input aspect of your brief.
(You may want to produce a comprehensive report on your major areas of concern; that report could be published online and appear in the 2-page brief as a link. This will make it easier for your report to be shared more widely, and your own summary will be the summary of choice for those who share it.)
Be Timely
Policy processes take time & follow schedules; pay attention & align with key dates.
By their nature, policy processes require scheduling of key moments and institutional actions, and open or closed debate. Make sure to plan your meeting and outcome report drafting with that in mind, so you don’t miss any key moments.
- Set a timeline for your goals — If you aim for a city-wide transition to zero-emissions transport, for instance, make sure to set a date when you think that should happen.
- Identify key policy decision moments — If your report is intended as input to an established stakeholder consultation process, make sure to send it during the official consultation period. If your report is intended as guidance for lawmakers or policy-makers, without an open process, make sure to send the report ahead of major decision-moments in their own official process.
Plan your Talanoa-style working session, and the follow-up work of preparing your outcome report, with these policy process dates in mind.
Submit Here
While we encourage all people and groups to use this toolkit to shape stakeholder input to specific local, national, or international policy processes, we also invite you to share your outcome reports with our team. Reports we receive from stakeholders using this toolkit will be used to inform our own engagement — as advocates for a livable climate future and for expanded stakeholder participation — in intergovernmental climate policy processes.
Please use this form to share your outcome report:
Questions
If you have any questions about the Toolkit, or about designing your stakeholder meeting or outcome report, please use our Contact page to request more information.
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