Thousands Vie for Five Places as COP31 Panel Asks Who Builds Capacity
COP 31 Special Events • United NationsNovember 14, 2026
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A single early-career research program drew thousands of applicants for five places. That gap between demand and opportunity was the backdrop for a Nov. 14, 2026, UNFCCC Capacity Building Hub session at COP31 on who gets to build climate capacity. The session was informational and took no formal action. Its four showcases and audience questions kept returning to one theme: training is not enough without funding, institutions and pathways that last.
- CLAIR drew thousands of applicants for five places as chapter scientists on the IPCC cities report.
- UNFCCC University Partnership Program links students to demand-driven climate work, including Solomon Islands.
- Audience pressed panelists on language, internet access, private educators and bureaucracy as barriers to inclusion.
- Polar scientist Burcu Özsoy urged pathways that move women from participation to leadership.
- UNIDO report finds less than 1% of African climate-tech funding went to all-women founding teams.
Why it matters: The IPCC and UNFCCC shape the science and policy that cities and national governments use to plan for climate change. Programs that give early-career researchers from the Global South real roles in that work decide whose expertise reaches the table. The demand far exceeds the supply.
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