Climate governance
Mitigation Work Programme (MWP)
Definition
The mitigation work programme is a process under the Paris Agreement's CMA, established by decision 1/CMA.3 (Glasgow, 2021) and operationalised by decision 4/CMA.4 (Sharm el-Sheikh, 2022), to scale up mitigation ambition and implementation in this critical decade in a manner complementing the Global Stocktake. It runs to 2026 (with possible extension), holds at least two global dialogues and investment-focused events annually, and is non-prescriptive, non-punitive and facilitative.
References
Supports definition and framing.
Overview
What it means
The MWP is a venue — not a target: it cannot impose new goals but convenes Parties, experts and investors around sectoral mitigation topics chosen each year, aiming to unlock implementation barriers.
How it is used
Governments and stakeholders submit views; co-chairs organise dialogues on themes such as energy, cities and waste; investment events pitch projects to financiers.
Why it matters
It is the UNFCCC's dedicated engine for pre-2030 mitigation — the decade on which 1. 5°C credibility depends — and a bridge between negotiation outcomes and real-economy delivery.