Register Now: Two-Day Zoom Workshop on Effective UN Lobbying - 26th of January and 2nd of February

Welcome to 2026 and the need for an even more 
impactful stakeholder engagement in the UN processes.

Chris Spence and Felix Dodds will be running a two-day Zoom workshop on Environmental, Climate, and Sustainable Development  Lobbying at the United Nations, 8:00 AM–2:00 PM (New York time), January 26 and February 2, 2026. Although focused on the sustainable development world, most of what we cover is also relevant to any issue you are engaging in at the UN. 

$589 Developed countries and $240 Developing Countries and Students.

A lot of organizations waste a considerable amount of funds sending their staff to a UN meeting without being prepared in understanding how the meeting operates, how to influence policy before, during, and ensure an effective follow-up.

This workshop is designed to help your staff be effective from day 1 – actually, well before day 1!!!

A small investment NOW will pay huge dividends in your staff being able to be effective.

This workshop will provide a practical, step-by-step guide to how environmental lobbying works in the UN system. Participants will gain a clearer understanding of:

• How UN negotiations actually function
• Who the key actors are and how they shape outcomes
• The formal and informal spaces where influence happens
• How to prepare effectively for a meeting
• How stakeholders can intervene at the right moments
• What to expect in the lead-up to, during, and after a UN meeting
• What is it like being a government representative?
• And much more!!!!

There will be a restriction on the number of attendees.

Register here: https://tally.so/r/kdab06

As global debates intensify around climate change, chemicals, plastics, and biodiversity loss, understanding how the UN system works and how to engage effectively is more critical than ever.

This workshop is aimed at NGO and other stakeholders' staff, sustainability professionals, academics, youth leaders, and anyone preparing to participate — or support colleagues participating — in UN environmental processes.

The two sessions will provide the context, tools, and confidence needed to be effective from the outset.

Prof. Felix Dodds is an Adjunct Professor at the University of North Carolina. He chaired the UN Conference in 2011 that proposed the first set of Sustainable Development Goals, he facilitated the retreat in 2008 that proposed the themes of Rio+20, and he has written over 25 books on sustainable development – all of which are great Christmas presents. They include Negotiating the Sustainable Development Goals, written with Ambassador David Donoghue, Jimena Leiva Roesch, and Only One Earth, written with the father of sustainable development, Maurice Strong, and Michael Strauss.

Chris Spence is an environmentalist, writer, and former nonprofit leader in New York, New Zealand, and California. He has consulted for the UN, IUCN, and IISD, where he was Deputy Director of the Earth Negotiations Bulletin. His work has taken him to over 40 countries. An award-winning writer, he is the author of Environmental Lobbying at the UN (2025)  and Heroes of Environmental Diplomacy (Routledge, 2022), both with Felix Dodds, and Global Warming: Personal Solutions for a Healthy Planet (2005). Chris has also served as a journalist, political advisor and board member for several environmental organizations.

We look forward to seeing those who attend, and hope everyone had a restful holiday season.

A few comments about our book, Environmental Lobbying at the UN:

“This practical lobbying guide, rich in lessons learned from multilateral negotiations, reveals the importance of knowing how to navigate United Nations halls to make a difference. An engaged and effective multilateralism, involving all stakeholders, is the way forward to solve global issues.”

Paula Caballero and Patti Londoño (authors of Redefining Development: The Extraordinary Genesis of the Sustainable Development Goals)

“During my days as UN Major Groups Coordinator, I witnessed firsthand how inclusive stakeholder engagement and multilateral collaboration are critical to shaping the UN decision-making, especially the Sustainable Development Goals. This book is an essential resource for anyone striving to navigate UN complex processes and help influence the environmental agenda.”

Chantal Line Carpentier, Head, Trade, Environment, Climate Change and Sustainable Development

"This book is brilliant. Beautifully written, engaging and informative. Felix and Chris can explain how the UN works better than anyone else I have met. This book is their gift to the next generation of those seeking to influence positive outcomes at this incredibly important institution.“

Steve Waygood, Chief Sustainable Finance Officer at Aviva Investors

“Let Felix and Chris be your guides. They put in the 10,000 hours, they know who the people are and how the system works, or doesn’t, and where the power is or isn’t.”

James Cameron, Hon Fellow Grantham Centre, Imperial College London; Director Ignite Power; Senior Advisor Pollination, Worthwhile Capital and Undaunted.

“Superheroes aren’t born – they’re made! This book puts you in the middle of the action – behind the placards, in the corridors, and inside the government offices where decisions get made. It shows how one person, in the right place, at the right time, with the right message, can make the world a better place. It may look like chaos, but Chris and Felix deftly navigate the complexities of the UN, find poetry in process, and show how all of us can all become effective agents of change.”

Aaron Salzberg, former Special Coordinator for Water at the U.S. Department of State; Global Fellow, Environmental Security, Woodrow Wilson Center

See you at the workshops.