Collective Bargaining in Climate Finance
Selected Strategy: B – Coordinate with Regional/Global Blocs
Equity
Working in blocs strengthens the voice of vulnerable countries and helps ensure climate finance is directed to poorest and most affected communities, not only central governments. Joint positions can demand safeguards so benefits reach Indigenous peoples, women, and marginalized groups.
Efficiency
Regional coordination improves efficiency by sharing technical capacity, preparing joint proposals, and reducing duplication. Collective monitoring also helps reduce mismanagement and corruption, increasing impact per dollar.
Sustainability
Blocs support long-term sustainability by aligning regional policies, protecting shared ecosystems, and securing more predictable climate finance flows, which strengthens environmental and financial resilience over time.
Peer Response
Our strategies can complement each other: bloc coordination strengthens natural-capital approaches, strategic signaling, and loss-and-damage advocacy. However, risks include political tensions, unequal influence within blocs, and slower decisions.
A key lesson from the DRC is that leverage increases dramatically when countries act together rather than individually. But the DRC case also reminds us that strategies must protect local communities and ecosystems, not just national bargaining power.
I agree that working with regional and global blocs is a smart way to amplify the voice of vulnerable countries and make sure climate finance reaches the people who need it most, including Indigenous communities and marginalized groups. This approach complements strategies like protecting forests because blocs can negotiate bigger, more effective deals. The DRC shows that countries have more leverage when they act together, but it also reminds us to balance national interests with protecting local communities and ecosystems.