The One UN Climate Change Learning Partnership, or UN CC:Learn, is a collaborative initiative of 36 multilateral organizations supporting countries to design and implement continued, results-oriented climate change learning programmes.
UN CC:Learn was launched at the 2009 Climate Change Summit held in Copenhagen. During our three-year pilot phase, from 2011‑2013, we worked in five countries. We expanded to a further 11 countries in the following phase (2014-2017), during which we also developed new learning products and upgraded our online learning platform.
During our third phase, from 2017-2020, we aim to put climate change education at the heart of decision-making, as well as to continue to support and meet the learning needs of our partner countries. Currently, UN CC:Learn engages with 30 countries, either bilaterally or through regional programmes.
Funding for UN CC:Learn is provided by the Swiss Government and UN partners
Our Objectives
In close collaboration with partners across the UN system and partner countries, UN CC:Learn aims to build human capacity to plan and implement effective climate change actions.
At the global level:
- We support knowledge-sharing on climate change
- We promote the creation of common climate change learning materials
- We raise the visibility of climate change education and training.
At the national and regional level:
- We support countries to develop and implement climate change learning strategies aligned with their National Determined Contributions and (NDCs) and National Adaptation Plans (NAPs).
- We support countries to share experiences and promote joint climate change learning activities.
We concentrate on the key areas of knowledge needed to empower individuals in organizations to tackle climate change.
Our thematic focus areas include:
- Climate change science
- Climate finance
- International climate negotiations
- Adaptation planning
- Climate change and health
- Climate change and forests
- Climate change education for children and youth
- Gender and climate change
Our work contributes to the implementation of Article 6 of the UNFCCC and Article 12 of the Paris Agreement which deal with education, training and public awareness-raising, as well as to the 2012-2020 Doha Work Programme.
Our Areas
1. Promoting Global Climate Literacy
Knowledge Sharing and Management
There is a wealth of training and learning materials about climate change within the UN system. But from a user’s perspective, it is often challenging to identify and access the specific resources that will meet their needs.
The UN CC:Learn knowledge sharing platform is a ‘one-stop-shop’ to access learning materials, activities and services offered by UN organizations.
The knowledge sharing platform includes:
- A searchable library with over 3,000 entries
- A calendar including events with a learning or training component
- News articles featuring the latest developments and services in climate change learning
- A map of existing good learning practices
- Other resources, including videos, links to other platforms, and much more.
Online Learning on Climate Change
UN CC:Learn partners work together to create climate change learning resources that are available to everyone, anywhere in the world.
Our resources include more than 25 self-paced e-courses on different climate change and green economy topics, such as on climate change negotiations, gender and environment, sustainable diet and sustainable finance. Among these products, an introductory course provides “everything you need to know about climate change in a nutshell”. Other resources offer content that is tailored to specific regions, for instance a course on sustainable consumption and production in Africa.
Most resources draw on the specialized expertise of UN CC:Learn partners, and build on UNITAR’s know-how on learning methodologies. For instance, we have worked with the World Health Organization (WHO) in the area of health and with the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) in the area of climate change science.
Through the UN CC:Learn affiliation programme, other high quality learning products developed by recognized institutions are highlighted and made available to complement the UN CC:Learn offer.
Flagship Initiatives
Flagship initiatives offer further learning opportunities to specific audiences and contribute to raising the global visibility of climate change education and training in innovative and engaging ways. These initiatives include:
- The Climate Classroom
- The Youth Climate Dialogues
- The UN CC:Learn Teacher Portal
- Communication campaigns.
2. Human Resources, Learning and Skills Development in Partner Countries
UN CC:Learn supports partner countries to develop climate change learning strategies that are based on multi-sectoral and multi-stakeholder collaboration and contribute to the implementation of climate change policies, such as the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and the National Adaptation Plans (NAPs). We also support for initial roll out of these strategies in collaboration with national and regional learning institutions.
National Climate Change Learning Strategies
These strategies look at the learning and skill development needs in key sectors affected by climate change. UN CC:Learn works in country projects in Benin, Burkina Faso, the Dominican Republic, Ethiopia, Ghana, Indonesia, Malawi, Niger, and Uganda
Regional Hubs
UN CC:Learn supports two regional hubs in Central America and West Africa that promote education, training and public awareness on climate change in these two regions, building respectively on the experience of the Dominican Republic and of Benin, Burkina Faso and Niger.
Experience Sharing
UN CC:Learn actively fosters South-South-North collaboration through international knowledge-sharing events and bilateral advisory arrangements.
Governance and Partnerships
Global Level
Our global partners appoint ‘focal points’ to UN CC:Learn to share their expertise and help create new learning products and activities. These focal points make up our Steering Group, which meets each year to advise on the implementation of our programmes.
The organizations that are currently in the Steering Group include: CEB, EMG, FAO, GEF Secretariat, IDB, IFAD, ILO, ITU, IMO, ITU, OCHA, UNAIDS, UNDP, UNECA, UNECE, UN Environment, UNESCO, UNESCWA, UNECE, UNFCCC, UNFPA, UNHCR, UN-HABITAT, UNICEF, UNIDO, UNISDR, UNITAR, UNSSC, UNU, UN WOMEN, UNWTO, UPU, WFP, WHO, WMO, WTO, and the World Bank. Contact information is available on the Partners page.
The Steering Group can be expanded if needed. Its meetings may be held together with, and include, national partners, development agencies, learning institutions and other actors working in climate change.
The UN CC:Learn Secretariat provides management and coordination support and facilitates knowledge-sharing and the development of the right methodologies for the right users.
In-Country
Project activities in our partner countries are overseen by National/Regional Coordination Mechanisms that brings together relevant sectors and stakeholders.
It is preferred that the mechanism be an existing committee, such as a climate change policy committee or similar body. Where such structures do not exist, a mechanism can be established specifically for the UN CC:Learn project.
National partners and the Secretariat also collaborate with UN in-country teams and other development partners to ensure that UN CC:Learn’s support is integrated and complements existing climate change programmes and actions taking place in each of our partner countries.
Our global partners also work closely with UN in-country teams to deliver learning activities in partner countries.
Regional Coordination Mechanisms are in place in the Central American and West African hub.
The UN System Working as One on Climate Change
UN CC:Learn is a One UN Initiative. For an overview of how UN organizations are working together to tackle climate change, see “How the United Nations System Supports Ambitious Action on Climate Change – The United Nations System Delivering as One on Climate Change and Sustainable Development“, or take a look at our partner’s websites.