This report defines climate diplomacy as encompassing a rich understanding of how to shape the national interest debate, through engaging new constituencies that can leverage change. The aim was to provide practitioners of climate diplomacy, especially those inside government, with a shared analytical and conceptual basis to underpin more effective cooperation between Ministries of Environment, Energy, Foreign Affairs, Trade, Economy and Finance. Ultimately the publication seeks to help fully integrate climate change into ‘whole of government’ decision-making and through this manage climate risk more successfully.

The report concludes that the application of diplomacy to climate change is critical to embedding the issue in decision-making processes to shape and reframe the core national interest at home and influence debates in other countries. Diplomacy should align climate with other national interest priorities and use all the tools at its disposal to bridge the artificial divide between the national and the international. It should turn national action into political outcomes and progress at the international level, and conversely use the international momentum to drive and stimulate ambition domestically.