Capacity Building Programme
The Capacity Building Programme is the first phase of the COP31 Simulation Programme. Delivered over two weeks as an online programme, it equips participants with the knowledge, analytical skills, and practical tools needed to engage effectively in international climate negotiations. The Programme features a diverse range of sessions delivered by leading academics, climate scientists, policymakers, diplomats, negotiators, representatives of international organisations, and experts from the public and private sectors, providing participants with multidisciplinary perspectives on the key issues shaping global climate action.
Designed around the Road to COP31 in Antalya, the Programme combines academic expertise with practitioner insights, offering a comprehensive understanding of the scientific, political, financial, legal, and diplomatic dimensions of the UNFCCC process. Participants learn directly from leading academics, policymakers, negotiators, diplomats, and international experts, gaining perspectives from those actively shaping global climate negotiations.
The Programme is structured around four core modules:
- Foundations: Understanding climate science, the evolution of the COP process, and the institutional architecture of the UNFCCC.
- Thematic Pillars: Exploring mitigation, adaptation, loss and damage, climate finance, the just transition, youth engagement, and Action for Climate Empowerment (ACE).
- AI and Climate Innovation: Examining the role of artificial intelligence, Earth observation, satellite technologies, data science, sustainable food systems, oceans and seas, and climate resilience in accelerating climate action.
- Diplomacy and Negotiation: Developing the skills required for multilateral negotiations through sessions on negotiation strategy, geopolitical dynamics, coalition-building, diplomacy, and consensus-building.
Throughout the Programme, participants strengthen their understanding of the issues that define contemporary climate negotiations while developing the analytical, research, and diplomatic skills required to represent their assigned delegations during the COP31 Simulation Conference.
The Capacity Building Programme also introduces participants to the research phase of the Simulation. Working within dedicated research tracks, participants develop evidence-based policy positions and practical solutions that will inform negotiations and contribute to the COP31 Simulation Youth Declaration.
COP31 Simulation Online Capacity Building Agenda
