GTO took active participation in the work of International Climate Councils Network at COP30
During COP30 members of the Green Transition Office took active participation in the events of the International Climate Councils Network and further strengthened its cooperation with the network.
On 12 of November, Head of Secretariat of the ICCN, Mr. Ben Rhodes, moderated an event "Building Effective Climate Governance for Integrating Climate Aspects into Post-War Recovery" in Ukraine Pavillion. While discussing the creation of Scientific and Expert Council on Climate Change and Ozone Layer Protection in Ukraine and potential role of the Green Transition Office as a Secretariat, Mr. Rhodes supported such an approach and noted the importance of relying on existing institutions and organizations and evolving them rather than creating new organizations and duplicating efforts. He also offered the support of the ICCN Secretariat in analyzing different models based on the experience of climate councils in the network.
On November 13, 2025 the International Network of Climate Councils (ICCN) presented the report "Harvesting Solutions: Real-World Policy to Transform Food, Land and Agriculture". The event brought together representatives of climate councils from different countries, including Sweden, South Africa, and the Republic of Korea, to exchange practical examples of policies and measures in the food and agricultural sector. During the event at the Swedish Pavilion Mykola Shlapak, climate policy expert at the Green Transition Office, presented a sectoral decarbonization report for the Agriculture sector in Ukraine.
On 14th of November ICCN held a Member Forum, where participants of the network discussed three-year strategy process update, role of climate councils under the multilateral governance systems, as well as ways for ensuring the institutional resilience of councils. The ICCN Member Forum also included a networking event, where members of the network had the opportunities to discuss experience in building climate councils in different countries and key challenges of their work.
On 15th of November, GTO representatives took part in the presentation of a ICCN policy brief focused on the experience of climate councils on advising governments in the area of climate adaptation and presenting examples of cost-effective and impactful adaptation policies. Adaptation Working Group of the ICCN unites representatives of 20 climate councils, who regularly meet to share best practice, build capacity and plan more effectively for climate adaptation action. The advice of climate councils covered all key themes identified under the Global Goal for Adaptation: health, water management, ecosystem conservation, food security, infrastructure development, preservation of cultural heritage and poverty alleviation.
Dumisani Nxumalo, Acting Chief Operations Officer of the South Africa’s Presidential Climate Commission and Co-Chair of ICCN, in his opening remarks stressed that every dollar invested in climate adaptation now avoids 10 dollars of future costs related to recovery, preventing financial losses from infrastructure damage or providing financial benefits.
Joint activities during the COP30 strengthened the cooperation between the Green Transition Office and the Secretariat of the International Climate Councils Network and individual climate councils from around the world.
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