Overview:

Date: Tuesday 31 August 2021       Time: 14:00 – 16:00 GMT+12

Platform: MS Teams via this Link

Background and context

Under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Parties are obliged to communicate information on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, mitigation and adaptation actions, as well as on means of implementation to understand and inform ambition and progress on climate action and support provided and required by Parties. Article 13 of the Paris Agreement on transparency of action and support establishes an Enhanced Transparency Framework (ETF) designed to build trust and confidence that all countries are contributing their share to the global effort of combating climate change. Decision 18/CMA.1 and its annex at COP 24 in Katowice elaborated on the requirements of the ETF.

The ETF provides a common set of Modalities, Procedures and Guidelines (MPGs) for all countries, with built-in flexibility for developing countries in certain provisions in light of their capacities and national circumstances. It sets out mandatory reporting requirements for Parties on the necessary information to track progress made in implementing and achieving their NDCs under Article 4 of the Paris Agreement as well as information on reporting on adaptation action, national circumstances and institutional arrangements, and financial, technology development and transfer, and capacity-building support provided and mobilized under Articles 9 – 11.

Through the detailed MPGs, on the reporting, review and consideration of processes for information to be submitted by the Parties to UNFCCC and by making it publicly available, the ETF will make it possible to track the progress made by each Party. In this way, it will be possible to compare a country’s actions against its plans and ambitions as described in its regularly updated Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). Importantly, measuring the Parties’ emissions and the progress made towards reducing them as well as adaptation action is critical for evaluating the overall progress towards the 1.5oC temperature target and the global goal on adaptation of the Paris Agreement.

Measurement, Reporting and Verification (MRV) of climate action, including emissions and reductions at country level is therefore necessary to keep track of efforts to combat climate change are paying off. To enable effective reporting under the ETF, a national MRV system and related institutional arrangement at the country level are necessary. Effective national MRV systems and institutional arrangements can also help countries better understand their respective emission sources and sinks trends, develop mitigation and adaptation plans and projects, attract funding for climate action through enhanced credibility, and take other, for example, policy related actions.

Objectives and expected results

The webinar aims to achieve the following objectives and results:

1. Give an overview of the key elements and characteristics of a good national MRV system in the context of UNFCCC under the Paris Agreement;

2. Present some of the capacity support available for developing functional MRV systems based on national context and circumstances; and

3. Facilitate the sharing of experience in developing and implementing effective MRV systems through the presentation of practical examples from countries in the Pacific Islands region.

The webinar is organized by the UNEP through the Global Support Programme (GSP) in collaboration with the UNFCCC Secretariat and the Regional Collaboration Centre (RCC) Bangkok and the Partnership for Market Implementation (PMI) of the World Bank.