At the heart of the ecbi is an Oxford-based Fellowship Programme for climate negotiators and other stakeholders directly involved in the UNFCCC process from the participating developing countries. Its primary purpose is to build trust and exchange procedural and institutional knowledge both among the Fellows ('South-South trust-building'), and between them and their European colleagues ('North-South trust-building').

The North-South trust building-Bonn Seminar

To maintain the momentum of these trust-building activities, the Fellowship Programme also organises an annual one-day Bonn Seminar during the intersessional Subsidiary Bodies meetings in Bonn/Germany.