Background
Regional climate cooperation is becoming increasingly important in a more multipolar and geopolitically fragmented world. As countries seek to strengthen economic resilience, manage interdependence, preserve strategic autonomy, and reduce exposure to geopolitical shocks, regional institutions and partnerships play an increasingly important role in shaping climate action. This shift has significant implications for climate implementation.
Many of the systems through which countries achieve climate objectives, including energy, infrastructure, trade, finance, food, and water, extend beyond national borders. In these areas, countries may achieve more through collective action than through isolated national efforts. Regional cooperation can address challenges that neither global climate governance nor national policies can fully resolve on their own. It can coordinate cross-border infrastructure, facilitate investment, strengthen regional markets, and improve responses to transboundary climate impacts.
Across Africa, Asia and Latin America, regional organisations, development banks and intergovernmental initiatives are experimenting with different approaches to climate cooperation. These efforts provide important lessons on how regional institutions can support climate implementation, mobilise finance and align climate objectives with broader development priorities. At the same time, progress remains uneven. Regional cooperation varies significantly across sectors and geographies, and important gaps remain in institutional capacity, financing arrangements and implementation frameworks.
As climate action increasingly shifts from target setting to delivery, understanding where regional cooperation is delivering results, where it faces constraints, and where opportunities for greater impact exist has become more important. Regional cooperation may be a key frontier for climate implementation, yet the current landscape remains underexplored.
This side event will examine the evolving landscape of regional climate cooperation and its contribution to climate implementation. Drawing on experiences from Africa, Asia and Latin America, the discussion will explore where regional approaches are delivering results, what barriers continue to limit cooperation and where the greatest opportunities exist for stronger investment, institutional innovation and collective action.
The Event
Organised by the APRI-Africa Policy Research Institute (APRI), World Resources Institute (WRI), Transforma and the Climate Emergency Collaboration Group (CECG), this COP31 dinner event will bring together policymakers, researchers, practitioners and representatives of regional and international organisations to discuss the role of regional climate cooperation in advancing climate implementation. Drawing on experiences from Africa, Asia and Latin America, participants will examine where regional cooperation is delivering results, what barriers continue to constrain progress and where the greatest opportunities exist for investment, institutional innovation and collective action. The discussion will generate insights for governments, philanthropic organisations, regional institutions, and other stakeholders seeking to strengthen climate cooperation in an increasingly multipolar world.
