News

Lima, April 2025. In early April, authorities and climate action representatives from 15 countries across the region gathered in Lima, Peru, for a technical training organized by the Partnership on Transparency in the Paris Agreement (PATPA), the Capacity-building Initiative for Transparency – Global Support Programme (CBIT-GSP), and Peru’s Ministry of Environment, with support from Libelula.

Over the course of three intensive days, participants strengthened their capacities to address both progress and challenges in updating their NDC 3.0 and enhancing the implementation of their second Biennial Transparency Report (BTR).

Cooperation: A Catalyst for Transparency

To date, 101 countries have submitted their first BTR, with 19 of them from Latin America and the Caribbean -an important sign of leadership and progress in the region-. Additionally, 68 countries have updated their NDCs, and the world’s major economies, accounting for 87% of global GDP,  have committed to reaching net-zero greenhouse gas emissions in the coming decades.

In this context, Tim Bantel, PATPA’s Regional Coordinator for Latin America and the Caribbean, emphasized that cooperation between countries is more than just the exchange of good practices: it is a critical tool to accelerate the implementation of climate transparency in the region. “This gathering showed that continuous improvement under the Enhanced Transparency Framework (ETF) is not a distant ideal, but an achievable reality when we work together and share what works. Climate action requires coordination and strengthened capacities,” said Bantel.

The creation of communities of practice and spaces like those promoted by PATPA and CBIT-GSP has been key to South-South cooperation. Sharing experiences and tools among countries has enabled faster progress, learning from common challenges, and the construction of more robust reporting systems.

Lisandra Rodriguez, from the Metrics and Transparency Department of the Dominican Republic, highlighted that one of their main challenges is working simultaneously on the LTS, NDC 3.0, and their first BTR with limited time, few personnel, and political changes. “We’ve learned in this workshop from countries that have already reported to the Convention and undergone technical reviews,” she said.

Leonardo Pineda, Coordinator of the Global Change Group at Colombia’s IDEAM, noted that his country is advancing through a participatory process to update its 2030 targets and move toward decarbonization by 2050. He stressed that the Lima exchange strengthened regional cooperation and provided key inputs to improve indicators, integrate projections, and elevate the role of adaptation.

Latin America Moves Toward NDC 3.0

Beyond meeting ETF requirements, countries face the additional challenge of updating their NDCs. The training highlighted the importance of aligning both processes to achieve more ambitious and coherent climate progress.

Participants reviewed progress on the first BTRs, delved into the Technical Expert Review (TER), and explored how NDC 3.0 can align with the ETF and outcomes from the first Global Stocktake (GST1), incorporating concrete improvements and more ambitious goals.

The NDC 3.0s, which are due in 2025, represent a crucial opportunity to enhance climate ambition and connect short- and long-term planning by aligning mitigation and adaptation goals.

One of the key takeaways from the training was the need to strengthen national capacities not only to ensure the quality, transparency, and traceability of reported climate data but also to effectively implement the commitments. Countries such as Uruguay, Mexico, and Peru shared significant progress in integrating mitigation and adaptation measures through solid regulatory frameworks, monitoring systems, and participatory governance.

Berioska Quispe, Director of Climate Change and Desertification at Peru’s Ministry of  Environment, stressed the importance of showing that countries are accelerating climate action. “In the five years leading up to 2030, we in Peru also face significant challenges. However, we managed to submit our first BTR by the end of December 2024 and are now working on our NDC 3.0,” she explained.

Key Country-Level Results and Lessons

The dialogue between countries enabled the identification of innovative approaches and common challenges. Notable highlights include:

• Uruguay developed a visual monitoring system that provides public access to progress on mitigation and adaptation measures.
  
   
• Peru reported advances in institutionalizing adaptation with a National Adaptation Plan aligned to the transparency framework and supported by specific indicators.
  
   
• Dominican Republic emphasized the need to simplify indicators and expressed openness to enhanced regional cooperation.
  
   
• Venezuela, despite facing challenges in updating its GHG inventory, demonstrated a commitment to continuous improvement by identifying the need to include new indicators and sectors in its NDC.
  
   
• Cuba identified cooperative mechanisms as a pathway toward a low-carbon economy and is exploring the innovative area of blue carbon.
  
   
• Mexico underscored the importance of clear methodologies for projections and legal coherence between plans and climate reports.
  
   

Carbon Markets and Climate Ambition

A key session in the workshop focused on Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, which addresses carbon market mechanisms and their implementation in the region. Countries such as Cuba, Brazil, Ecuador, and Uruguay have already expressed their intent to use this article in their NDCs, while Peru has made regulatory and technical progress in preparation.

Participation in carbon markets was discussed as a pathway to increase climate ambition, provided that environmental integrity and long-term sustainable benefits are upheld. The challenge lies in designing transformative projects that contribute to national targets without compromising local development.

Roadmap for Greater Climate Transparency

The effective implementation of the Paris Agreement depends on two core pillars: ambitious climate action and the transparency that supports it. Measuring, monitoring, and reporting progress are not standalone processes—they drive better planning, informed decision-making, and the credibility of national commitments. Without a robust transparency framework, implementation efforts risk being fragmented and difficult to scale.

In this context, countries are advancing a roadmap that links the strengthening of climate transparency with the progressive enhancement of their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). This roadmap not only improves the quality of reported information but also drives effective climate action in the short and long term, ensuring that commitments translate into tangible outcomes.

The main steps in this pathway include:

1. Preparation of the first BTR (BTR1):
   Countries submitted their first Biennial Transparency Reports, yielding valuable lessons on challenges and national capacities.
   
    
2. Launch of the Technical Expert Review (TER):
   Ongoing process analyzing BTR1s and providing recommendations to enhance the quality, transparency, and traceability of reported information.
   
    
3. Integration of BTRs and NDCs into the Global Stocktake (GST):
   Inputs from BTR1 and NDC 3.0 feed into the GST, helping assess collective progress under the Paris Agreement.
   
    
4. Preparation of the second BTR (BTR2):
   With lessons learned and technical guidance, countries are expected to produce a more robust second report aligned with transparency standards.
   
    
5. Update of the NDC 3.0:
   Simultaneously, countries are updating their NDCs with more ambitious goals and new areas (mitigation, adaptation, markets, etc.). The BTR plays a key role in this process, and the GST should help guide the content of NDC 3.0.
   
    
6. Needs Assessment:
   Through NDC 3.0 and reporting processes, countries identify technical, financial, and institutional gaps.
   
    
7. Identification of Areas for Improvement in BTRs:
   These represent concrete opportunities to strengthen climate action and enhance future reports.
   
    
8. Development of an Improvement Plan:
   Based on the previous stages, a roadmap is developed to guide the creation of BTR2 and other reports required under the Convention.
   
    

The training on the interconnection between NDC 3.0, BTR, and progressive improvement under the ETF concluded with a clear message: advancing climate transparency is both possible and necessary. To achieve it, countries must strengthen technical capacities, solidify regulatory frameworks, and promote participatory processes involving all sectors. The path toward NDC 3.0 is already charted, and the region is moving forward with shared learning, clear challenges, and renewed conviction that climate action is only effective when built collaboratively and grounded in evidence.