{"id":44730,"date":"2025-01-22t16:19:23","date_gmt":"2025-01-22t16:19:23","guid":{"rendered":"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/?p=44730"},"modified":"2025-01-22t17:49:52","modified_gmt":"2025-01-22t17:49:52","slug":"global-climate-action","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/story\/global-climate-action\/","title":{"rendered":"essay | building bridges for global climate action: a conversation on trust and culture"},"content":{"rendered":"
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in 2019, i read \u201cthe culture map\u201d by erin meyer. the book came to me as an assignment from my boss at the time. we were building a team to take on global climate action with people from different countries, developing projects across five continents. cultural diversity was intrinsic to our day to day work, and my boss was embarking us on a journey to better understand how to navigate it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

in her book, meyer identifies eight scales that she believes are critical to understand when working with different cultures: communication, evaluation, persuasion, leading, decision-making, trusting, disagreeing, and scheduling. according to meyer, the interplay of these scales creates a culture\u2019s map, and understanding where each culture lands on each of these scales helps us engage more effectively with others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

reading this book was eye-opening. suddenly, all the challenges we faced in our global team began to make sense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

i have been reflecting on these ideas a lot lately. in the lead-up to and during last november\u2019s cop29, or the conference of the parties of the united nations climate change conference, i found myself thinking how meyer\u2019s culture map might translate into international climate negotiation space. what role do cultural differences play when nearly 200 parties come together to address one of the most pressing global challenges of our time?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

implications in the international climate space<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

negotiations on climate finance took center stage at the recent cop29. the conference of the parties faced high expectations regarding the new collective quantified goal, with tension between developed and developing countries<\/a> over the target amount, who should contribute, and the mechanisms for doing so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

in the end, delegations in baku agreed to a goal of $300 billion annually by 2035<\/a>. this target triples the previous $100 billion goal but falls significantly short of the $1 trillion developing countries were advocating for. the results have significant implications, given the direct relationship between countries\u2019 ambitions and the availability of financial resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

from 11,400 km (7,083 mi) away, i followed the negotiations in baku, azerbaijan, captivated by the tensions between developing and developed countries over climate finance. it reminded me that i was able to experience a glimpse of these tensions in an entirely different setting. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

one afternoon, during a discussion about the quantified goal in my climate finance class \u2014 a culturally diverse classroom \u2014 i witnessed 18 of us each wanting a different outcome, and i couldn\u2019t stop thinking about this challenge for negotiators. beyond identifying a way to reach consensus on complex issues, negotiators must navigate a room filled with representatives from nearly 200 different cultures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

it struck me that meyer\u2019s cultural scales could be just as relevant in climate negotiations as they are in business contexts. in particular, one question kept popping into my mind: how do different approaches to trust influence the outcomes of global climate agreements?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

building trust across cultures<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

driven by the culture map<\/em> and a series of life events that deepened my love for multicultural spaces, i decided to take a class on building trust across cultures during my master\u2019s program. this class was taught by professor jacqueline (jacqui) oliveira, a leading expert in intercultural communication and trust-building, with more than 30 years of experience as an intercultural consultant. intrigued by the intersection of trust and culture, i met with her to ask her some questions about the role trust could have in international climate negotiations.<\/p>\n\n\n

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our class on building trust across cultures with jacqui oliveira. (courtesy of sue su)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

jacqui began working on intercultural trust in 2010 when she started asking clients what they needed for their multicultural business ventures to thrive. she recalls how the word \u201ctrust\u201d kept coming up in their responses and said: \u201ci started asking, \u2018and what does that (trust) look like?\u2019… and that’s where culture was really magnified, because what looked like trustworthy behavior in one culture can look completely the opposite in another culture.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

despite the varied expressions of trust across different cultures, jacqui emphasized its universal importance: \u201ctrust is ubiquitous. i have never met a culture that says we don’t need trust,\u201d and continued: \u201c…if you want things to happen, if you want people to be open to sharing information, to not withhold information, to be open about maybe a mistake that was made, be open about questioning authority. if you want that, you have to have trust.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c(trust is) essential!\u201d jacqui said in exclamation, adding, \u201cintercultural communication, intercultural trust will tackle global challenges.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

author meyer identifies communication styles as one of the eight crucial scales to understand when dealing with different cultures. for jacqui, this is especially important in settings like international negotiations: \u201cwith regard to the many parties \u2026 communication styles are really different, and this is really important.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

she highlighted three different communication styles that are strongly influenced by culture: linear-active, multiactive, and reactive communication styles. she also emphasized how non-verbal cues can convey a depth of information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

as explained by jacqui in her class, linguist richard lewis defines these three communication styles as what he calls the lewis model<\/a>: <\/p>\n\n\n\n