The Paris Agreement is an international framework on climate change issues, which was agreed at the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 21). Its central goal is to strengthen the global response to the threat of climate change by limiting the rise in average global temperature to 2°C above pre-industrial levels.

The Talanoa Dialogue is the process to improve motivation to achieve this goal by sharing good practices related to the efforts of reducing greenhouse gas emissions worldwide.

“Talanoa” refers to the “inclusive, participatory, transparent dialogue process” in the words of Fiji, chair of COP23.
The process of Talanoa involves the sharing of ideas, skills and experiences through storytelling. During the process, participants build trust and advance knowledge through empathy and understanding.

Based on this spirit of “Talanoa”, participants in the dialogue are expected to share their stories by answering three questions;

• Where are we?
• Where do we want to go?
• How do we get there?

In order to 1. Grasp the current situation, 2. Look forward to the future image (goal) to be aimed and 3. Confirm actions to achieve it.

How will the Talanoa Dialogue proceed?

The Talanoa Dialogue will be held throughout the year from January 2018 until COP24 in December. This will be the “preparatory phase” during which information on measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, etc. will be gathered from all governments, local governments, companies, organisations and others who are working on climate change issues.

Information gathered by 2 April was discussed at the Subsidiary Bodies Meeting (SB: 30 April 30 - 10 May, 2018), which is the preparatory meeting of COP and this information gathering will continue until 29 October 29. In addition, the 1.5 degree special report which will be issued by the IPCC this October is one important input to the Talanoa Dialogue.

COP24 will be held in Katowice, Poland from 3-14 December. This political phase will be carried out with the participation of ministerial level representatives from each country. Statements, keynote lectures, and round-table talks will take place based on information gathered during the preparatory phase. Dialogue outcomes will be compiled as reports and summary documents.

Japanese version of Talanoa Dialogue portal site
Talanoa JAPAN: a portal of best practices to shape the future on climate change

The Paris Agreement set a target for creating a society (decarbonised society) which will reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the second half of this century to zero. Everyone needs to be involved, not just governments but also, companies, local governments, research organizations, and NGOs. The Japanese government feels it is important for the Talanoa Dialogue to be an open process in which everyone participates, just as the name Talanoa implies.

Information will be welcomed from a wide range of actors including Japanese companies, local governments, NGOs, and research organizations about outstanding, knowledge and initiatives—including analyses, plans, and systems— that can assist to achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement.

Talanoa JAPAN: a portal of best practices to shape the future on climate change (hereafter Talanoa JAPAN) will serve as a site that:

1. Gathers and compiles information, which the Japanese government will feed into the official platform of the Talanoa Dialogue
2. Gathers information from Japan and conveys it to the world, as well as providing global information to Japan.

Experiences and stories from Japan will be compiled as a Japanese initiative and submitted to the secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) by 29 October, 2018. This will contribute to increasing ambition to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, which is the goal of the Talanoa Dialogue, as well as to the spreading and promotion of outstanding initiatives.

Why participate in the Talanoa Dialogue?

In recent years, the COP has brought together tens of thousands of people from governments, companies, local government leaders, and the media all over the world and has become an arena calling for outstanding technologies and efforts. As the Talanoa Dialogue will be one of the events attracting the greatest attention at COP24 this year, communicating through the Talanoa Dialogue can be considered highly effective.

Additionally, outstanding national and international initiatives that are shared through the Talanoa Dialogue are likely to become hints or solutions to the challenges faced by various entities. Talanoa JAPAN will present useful information from Japan to the world as well as sharing outstanding information from the world in Japan, thereby assisting the further reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.