26th Partnership Meeting of the Partnership on Transparency in the Paris Agreement
On June 8, 2022 the Secretariat of the Partnership on Transparency in the Paris Agreement (PATPA) hosted its 26th Partnership meeting on the side-lines of the 56th Subsidiary Bodies Meeting in Bonn, Germany.
The Partnership Meeting serves as an informal forum to identify key issues, the work ahead and opportunities for collaboration among PATPA members related to Transparency under the Paris Agreement. In addition, it provides PATPA members and newcomers with networking opportunities, an update on recent PATPA activities and informal discussions outside of the UNFCCC negotiations. The Meeting was organized in close coordination and with guidance from the Founding Members of PATPA – Germany, Republic of Korea and South Africa.
This year’s Partnership Meeting brought together more than 80 negotiators and practitioners from partner countries and international organizations to exchange on the issue of global and national benefits of climate reporting and the related challenges, opportunities and needs of the countries for transitioning to the Enhanced Transparency Framework (ETF) under the Paris Agreement.
On behalf of the host country, Ms. Luisa Rölke, Head of the Division of International Climate Policy at the Federal Foreign Office of Germany opened the event with welcoming words to the participants.
Mr. Mkhuthazi Steleki, Director of the Climate Change Development and International Mechanisms at the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) of the Republic of South Africa, presented a brief overview about the work of PATPA and provided an outlook into PATPA’s activities for this year at the global, regional and national levels as well as an overview of different technical and policy publications that have been produced by the Partnership.
All the participants were invited to share views and experiences on the global and national benefits of climate reporting and the relevant challenges and needs through an open and facilitated exchange. Representative of Germany, Republic of Korea, South Africa, United Kingdom, Panama, Dominican Republic and international organizations took the floor to share their insights and experiences. Key take-aways from the discussion could be summarized as follows:
- The input of the ETF to the first Global Stocktake (GST) will be fully realized and better understood after the first GST and as countries start reporting under the new transparency framework. This requires further study in the future.
- To ensure sustainability and a longer-term impact, as well as to progress on capacity development efforts, it is important to transition from project-based approach to transparency to a system-based approach.
- Different stakeholders, including line ministries, sub-national governments and the private sector should be engaged in data compilation, validation and reporting.
- For the ETF to be fully implemented and its benefit harnessed, political will, commitment and clear incentives need to be put in place. On example is making the case for the importance of information for accessing climate finance (e.g. the challenging information requirements to access GCF financing)
- Developing countries need financial and technical support for timely and regular submissions of BTRs and further strengthening and maintaining their transparency systems
- Establishing and strengthening institutional capacities for transparency is progressing in some countries through international support, national commitment and south-south learning and exchange formats.
- Maintaining institutional knowledge and continuity can be promoted through various approaches and tools, among which is the NDC Handover Checklist.
Mr. Jae Jung, Second Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea and one of the first founders of PATPA, closed the discussion with inspirational words for further fruitful collaboration on transparency and expression of gratitude to all the participants for their interest and engagement with PATPA.
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