Online training for climate change diplomats

Over the next three months, 26 diplomats and officials from small and developing states will be trained in climate change diplomacy. The first online course will be offered by the Diplo Foundation with the support of the governments of Malta and Switzerland.

In his welcome address to course participants, Deputy Prime Minister Tonio Borg said: "Climate change affects all of us. Yet some of our voices - especially those from small island states - are not always heard on the global scale. We hope that providing skills and knowledge on climate change will make global negotiations on climate change more inclusive and effective."

Among the participants is Suriname's Ambassador to Indonesia, Ms Angelic Alihusain-del Castilho, who explains why this course is important to her and to others from small states: "...when I attended the Climate Change Conference in Bali in 2007, I personally experienced the limitations of all of us representing the smaller states in the world. We are limited in quantity and quality. We cannot easily change the quantity, I thought, but if we could improve the quality, we would already be one step ahead in managing our interests in the midst of the 'big boys'."

Ambassador Alihusain-del Castilho, currently a participant in Diplo's two-year online Master's in Contemporary Diplomacy, reflects on online learning: "Particularly useful was the fact that I could arrange my own study hours during the week as well as the time for preparing my assignments. The course information and work is practical, and I could even apply some of it immediately to my job as Ambassador. It also allowed me to understand issues better and view different perspectives."

By attending this course online, participants will save 60 tonnes of CO2. On completion of the course in February, participants will be the first recipients of the Certificate in Climate Change Diplomacy, and professional advocates of the position of their countries in international climate change negotiations.