Climate change and developing countries: from background actors to protagonists of climate negotiations

The role of developing countries in climate negotiations has been changing over time, evolving from spectators to main actors. Accordingly, this paper provides a descriptive analysis of the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), the formal documents containing mitigation and adaptation efforts voluntarily set by each country, submitted by developing countries. In particular, the purpose of the paper is to analyse the contents of NDCs moving from the regional analyses provided by most of literature to the examination of NDCs among countries that are similar and that might share common negotiating positions. The analysis of the documents focuses on both mitigation and adaptation actions, together with an evaluation of the financial efforts required. From the descriptive analysis, specific needs and priorities emerge, as well as the need for external support in the form of technology transfer, capacity-building and financial support. In this respect, the analysis identifies a gap between supply and demand for climate funding. Trying to fill this gap would represent one of the main challenges in future.