News

PATPA organized a Transparency Side-Event “Ready for the BTR? Implications of the Katowice Rulebook for Latin American countries” aimed at supporting Latin American countries to be prepared for the Enhanced Transparency Framework (ETF) and the submission of the Biennial Transparency Report (BTR) in 2024.

From August 19th  to 23rd the Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) Climate week took place in Salvador de Bahia, Brazil. 4.000 representatives from national and subnational governments, intergovernmental organisations, businesses and academia from approximately 22 countries attended this event. The LAC Climate Week this year offered discussions and work-streams on many issues, such as infrastructure, cities and local actions, nature-based solutions in agriculture and land management and transforming NDCs into investment plans. The LAC Climate Week 2019 in Salvador was divided into two parts. On Monday and on Tuesday, technical trainings were held for the represented countries. On Wednesday, August 21st, the Mayor of Salvador opened officially the principal part of the event. 

PATPA had three contributions during the LAC Climate Week. At the transparency workshop on Tuesday (August 20th), PATPA presented the experiences and lessons learnt on Capacity Building based on PATPA’s, as well as on the former Project Information Matters’ experiences. After the presentation, the countries joined a discussion about their necessities and experiences with the build-up of capacities to enhance their transparency systems.

Right after that, PATPA organized a Transparency Side-Event. This session provided a hands-on opportunity for participants to develop a roadmap for the submission of the first BTR from now on until the end of 2024. Further, the session facilitated the exchange of experiences and good practices on an ongoing basis. All participating countries mentioned the issue of standardisation in the data and information collection for the Biennial Update Report as the biggest challenge to the transparency system. They recognised the necessity to continue capacity building to the ETF requirements. Another highlighted topic was the necessity to begin the preparation process for the ETF. Furthermore, the submission of a BUR is seen as a milestone and learning opportunity before submitting a BTR. All results of this session are being used for the development of the roadmap tool, which PATPA is jointly preparing with FAO and ICF. The Roadmap Tool will be presented at COP 25 during the Transparency Day in the context of the second capacity-building hub organized by the Paris Committee on Capacity Building (PCCB).

In the session Enhanced Transparency Framework as a Driver for Ambition: Opportunities and Challenges, organized from ICAT and DTU, Chile presented the results of the LAC Adaptation workshop, which took place in August in Colombia.

The highlight on adaptation represented a notable shift in Latin American countries’ communication, as adaptation has primarily been viewed as a cost-intensive measure. Finally, the closing plenary highlighted the need for stronger youth participation as well as stakeholders from the private sector. The next LAC Climate Week will be hosted by the Dominican Republic in 2020.