South-South Ideas Paper: South-South Cooperation, An Opportunity to Fight Against Climate Change & Reduce Inequalities

Climate change is a global negative externality and nowadays it is considered as one of the biggest challenges on Earth. The scale of the efforts and coordination needed to alleviate climate change’s negative impacts are considerable. In this context, South-South Cooperation (SSC) presents an opportunity for supporting capacity development in the fight against climate change.

This study seeks to analyse and compare SSC in national initiatives to address climate change in three countries of Latin America: Bolivia, Ecuador and Honduras. The three case studies apply a qualitative methodology and they are based on the data collection and analysis of primary and secondary sources of information. Subsequently, a comparative analysis of the three country case studies examines: existing international cooperation in the country, the legal and institutional framework for climate change and SSC, existing climate change policies and instruments, SSC climate change programmes or initiatives over the past decade, and mapping of relevant stakeholders.

The research suggests that SSC in climate change in Latin America is under construction and still faces considerable challenges for its empowerment. The study presents policy recommendations for each of the countries analysed to overcome the identified shortcomings. In general, it recommends the following: i) improve the articulation among stakeholders, ii) improve the registration of SSC initiatives in climate change through the creation of a specific category of climate change in the official databases, iii) improve SSC catalogues through the collection of information not only at the national level, but also at local level, iv) strengthen formal negotiation mechanisms between governments, v) look for agreements that allow countries to obtain financial resources through SSC, and vi) study the good practices of North-South cooperation in relation to climate change, and adapt them to the context of SSC.