RINGO Thematic Groups

To build capacity and opportunities for knowledge sharing and collaboration, RINGO has developed thematic groups around issues related to the UNFCCC. RINGO thematic groups share knowledge, best practices, research ideas, and other resources on chosen topics, and promote networking among  RINGO members.  These groups do not engage in advocacy by RINGO for particular issues under negotiation; they instead build substantive knowledge among interested RINGOs, which may lead to individual member advocacy on that topic. 

See below for the groups that have been developed. If you are interested in area that is not listed, please let your RINGO focal points know. We can talk with you about developing an additional thematic group.

RINGO Agriculture Group

  • Contact –
  • About – The direct impacts of agriculture on climate change are recognised not only by the IPCC but within the wider scientific, practice and policy communities. In recent years, Member States have been working across the various UN intergovernmental processes to identify the necessary actions that need to be taken towards more sustainable and resilient agricultural practices.  Within the UNFCCC process, the 2017 landmark decision on the Koronivia Joint work on agriculture requested the UNFCCC subsidiary bodies (SBSTA and SBI) to jointly address issues related to agriculture working with constituted bodies under the Convention and taking into consideration the vulnerabilities of agriculture to climate change and approaches to addressing food security. At COP27, Member States continued to consider these matters and established the four-year Sharm el-Sheikh joint work on implementation of climate action on agriculture and food security. As this new joint work programme commences, this thematic group aims to build capacity and create opportunities for knowledge sharing and collaboration on the issue of agriculture as well as issues related to it such as food systems, food and nutrition security, land use change, agroforestry, sustainable nutrient management, etc. 

RINGO Article 6 Group

  • Contact – Emma JAGU SCHIPPERS, Researcher, CIRAD/CIRED (emma.jagu_schippers@cirad.fr)
  • Join by filling the following form: https://forms.gle/RePUoDboWvoy2WYn6.
  • About – Article 6 of the Paris Agreement acknowledges the Parties’ voluntary cooperation in implementing their nationally determined contributions. Such collaboration aims to heighten ambition in both mitigation and adaptation efforts and to promote sustainable development and environmental integrity (https://unfccc.int/process/the-paris-agreement/cooperative-implementation). Due to the scientific and technical questions raised by the implementation of Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, RINGO and its members will continue to be actively engaged in monitoring its development. The article 6 thematic group is designed to unlock RINGO Members’ potential to meaningfully engage with matters relating to Article 6 of the Paris Agreement. Members are committed to ensuring the meaningful participation of research communities in matters related to Article 6 in order to provide and promote the best available knowledge. 

RINGO Cryosphere Group

RINGO Finance Group

  • Contact – Eda Kosma, Center for Climate and Energy Solutions
  • Join by adding your name to this list in this Google Doc
  • About – Climate finance is a necessary precursor to climate action, but mobilizing the vast sums of funding needed to combat climate change is not a simple task. The RINGO Finance Group is intended for researchers who focus on the process of raising public climate finance and the UNFCCC finance-related procedures, as well as relevant research in climate debt, international financial architecture reform, climate spending of the multilateral development banks, private sector climate finance, among others. Members follow myriad climate negotiation tracks, to include at the COPs, Standing Committee on Finance (SCF) meetings, ongoing discussion of developed climate finance obligations as covered under Article 9 of the Paris Agreement, and negotiations surrounding the implementation of Article 2.1(c) of the Paris Agreement.

RINGO Loss and Damage Group

  • Contact – Towrin Zaman Raya, Research Associate, International Centre for Climate Change and Development (ICCCAD) (towrin.zaman@icccad.org)
  • Join by filling out this form: https://forms.gle/jmJogAhRW4eJwiKL8
  • About – Loss and Damage has emerged to be a crucial field within climate change research. The aim of this thematic group is to foster collaboration and knowledge-sharing among researchers and practitioners working on key areas related to loss and damage. This group will serve as a platform for connecting researchers and informing them about developments related to the Santiago Network on L&D (SNLD) and Fund for Responding to L&D (FRLD), encouraging interdisciplinary collaboration, and ensuring that research findings contribute meaningfully to global negotiations as well as to locally-led responses. The group will also provide a forum for sharing case studies and lessons learned from diverse contexts.

RINGO Ocean Group

  • Contact – Miriah M. Russo Kelly, Ph.D. (MiriahKelly@gmail.com)
  • Join by adding your name to the list in this Google Doc
  • About – We represent an international, transdisciplinary group of ocean-climate researchers who regularly plan, participate in, and attend UNFCCC proceedings as part of the RINGO (Research and Independent Non-Governmental Organizations) ‘Ocean Group.’ The Ocean Group of the RINGO constituency was formed in 2022 as an open forum for ocean scientists from all backgrounds to contribute to, and participate in science-to-policy work related to the ocean-climate nexus. Representing some of the most influential ocean research organizations in the world, our group is dedicated to knowledge-sharing, coordination of efforts, and collaboration on outreach and engagement. To this end, we continue to follow COP negotiations and seek to work with policymakers in the development of ocean-climate protections and policies based on sound and diverse ocean science.

RINGO Public Health Group

  • Contact –
  • About – A growing literature recognizes climate change’s direct impacts on human health. The IPCC over the years has collected scientific evidence to inform us on the health impact as a consequence of climate change and the preamble of the Paris Agreement acknowledges that Parties should consider the right to health when taking climate action.  Some of these health issues directly relate to water security and air quality.  Health has been analyzed as a cross-cutting theme for the UN climate change agenda for resilience and mitigation. COP 27 highlighted the opportunities for public health scientists and practitioners to work together with policy makers within the climate negotiations space.  

RINGO Technology Group

  • Contact – Shikha Bhasin, ​​Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW)

RINGO Gender and Climate Group

  • Contact – Alison Lam, University of Toronto (alisonyw.lam@mail.utoronto.ca) 
  • Join – Fill out this form
  • About – Gender affects every dimension of climate change, from exposure and vulnerability to adaptive capacity and access to resources. The IPCC and a growing body of interdisciplinary research have demonstrated that gender inequities amplify climate risk and constrain the effectiveness of climate action. Within the UNFCCC, Parties have sought to recognize and rectify these dynamics through the Lima Work Programme on Gender and the Enhanced Gender Action Plan, which call for strengthened gender‑responsive climate policy and improved participation of women in the decision‑making process. As negotiations continue to evolve, gender remains a cross‑cutting issue that intersects with mitigation, adaptation, just transition, finance, technology, capacity‑building, and loss and damage. The Gender Thematic Group aims to support RINGO members in engaging meaningfully with these processes by fostering collaboration, sharing emerging research, and strengthening the evidence base for gender‑responsive climate governance. The group will serve as a platform for connecting researchers across disciplines, tracking developments in the UNFCCC gender agenda, and ensuring that gender‑related insights contribute to more equitable and effective climate policy.