How to Use the Co-Facilitators (They're a Mirror, Not Your Friend)
COP30 day 24 of 30: "Cofacs" are a mirror for the Parties, not your ally. Here is how to use them.
Welcome to day 24 of your 30-Day Series!
In this series, we’re building from LCIPP mechanics through Indigenous participation frameworks to COP negotiating tactics. By day 30, you’ll understand how Indigenous Peoples move from values to operative text at the world’s largest climate negotiations. Today we’re talking about the “co-facilitators” who run the negotiating rooms.
When you go to your negotiating room, you will not see the COP President. Instead, you will see two negotiators sitting at the front.
These are the “co-facilitators”. One is from a developing country, and one is from a developed country. They are not neutral UN staff, They are active negotiators chosen to guide the process.
To a first-timer, they seem powerful. They control the mic, they control the text, and they seem to be in charge. It is tempting to spend your time trying to convince them of your position.
This is a complete waste of your political capital.
Facilitators are not your target for influence. Nope, they are your target for information. They are not your ally, your champion, or your friend. They are a mirror meant to reflect the will of the Parties. Mistaking that mirror for a person with power is a trap.
What a Facilitator Actually Does
The co-facilitator’s job is to manage the process, not to influence the content. They are bound by their role to be neutral. Their powers are purely procedural:
They Write the First Draft: After listening to Parties, they get permission (”a mandate”) to prepare the first draft. They are supposed to include all proposals.
They Control the “Iterations”: They are the ones who compile all the new changes and produce the next version of the text.
They Test Compromises: They hold private meetings (”bilaterals”) to “test” new wording and find out where Parties might be flexible.
They Suggest New Formats: When the room is deadlocked, they can suggest breaking into a “huddle” or an “informal-informal”.
They Can Propose a Text: If the room is completely stuck, they can propose their own “non-paper” (an unofficial text), but they do so as a neutral suggestion to get things moving.
The Facilitator’s Two Deflections
This is the key: Facilitators are professional deflectors. They need to appear to never take a position. Trying to influence them is useless, and they will use two specific phrases to shut you down.
When you (as an observer) ask for their help, they will smile and say: “You will always have an ally in us.” This is a polite, meaningless phrase. It is a “no” that sounds like a “yes”.
When a Party asks them to intervene or make a decision, they will say: “We are in your hands.” This is their core defense. It means: “I am a mirror. I have no power. I will only reflect what you, the Parties, decide.”
Do not try to convince the mirror. Use it to see what is happening in the room.
How to Use a Co- Facilitators Correctly
If you cannot influence them, what are they good for? Information. You must treat them as your primary source of intelligence.
Ask for Information, Not Help:
Bad: “Can you please help us get Indigenous Peoples’ rights into the text?” (They will give you the “ally” speech).
Good: “Who is blocking the reference to Indigenous Peoples? Which Parties should we talk to?” (This asks for information they can give).
Use Them as a Thermometer:
Good: “What is the “landing ground” you see for this section?”
Good: “What is the “mood in the room” when you meet with Parties in private?”
The Bias Trap (The Exception): The only time you fight a facilitator is when they break their neutrality. If they are clearly biased, letting their “own country’s position influence their work,” you must report it.
Report Up, Not Sideways: Do not argue with a bad co-facilitator in the room. Take your evidence of bias directly to the SB Chair (who we’ll cover tomorrow). That is the only person who can control them.
Before You Go
Treat facilitators as valuable sources of information. Use them to understand the room. But do not waste your political capital trying to convince them. They are not your ally. Save your fire for the Parties.
Co-facilitators are powerful, but they still report to someone.
They are part of a larger structure of power.
Tomorrow, I will explain the “SB Chairs”, the real bosses of the entire first week.
See you then!