News

2021 was another year for collaboration and mutual learning through online video conferences (please see our YouTube channel for recordings of these events). We met, discussed and cooperated with partners and experts from both the Global South and the Global North, to enable our partner countries to reduce their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions effectively, to increase their adaptive capacities, and monitor and communicate their achievements in a transparent manner.

The Partnership on Transparency in the Paris Agreement (PATPA) organised numerous activities in 2021, some of them together with partners, that made the best possible use of the virtual exchanges: some 25 workshops in our five regional groups; six Climate Transparency Helpdesk missions; eight global events; and the launch of three new knowledge products. Here we provide a brief overview of what happened last year.

Global level

On a global level, the Special Spring Edition of the Annual Partnership Retreat (APR) in May maintained the strong momentum of transparency related discussions in the run-up to the regular APR, ahead of COP26. As in the past, both these events proved to be great opportunities for negotiators and practitioners to exchange views and find common ground on crunch issues before the event in Glasgow. During COP26, PATPA held back-to-back events, one examining the process by which developing countries prepare for their first Biennial Transparency Reports (BTR), the other looking at how they access finance for these reports.

Throughout 2021, PATPA also contributed actively to the COP26 Catalyst for Climate Action (C4CA) initiative of the UK Presidency. This culminated in Glasgow with the launch of the COP26 C4CA recommendations on capacity building for transparency and reporting, among other thematic areas.

Regional level

Regionally, PATPA organised 25 workshops on different topics. All five of the regional groups paid particular attention to institutional arrangements as well as enhanced data collection (in some cases with a specific focus on Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use). Also important for all the regional groups were the preparation of the BTRs and the transition to the Enhanced Transparency Framework (ETF).

To address the specific needs of its members, PATPA also arranged a number of workshops specific to the separate regional groups. To highlight just a few, there were meetings to address the links between gender and transparency and about updating and tracking the progress made in implementing Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) in the regional group for Latin America and the Caribbean, while other workshops considered the use of the LEAP software tool in the Francophone cluster, or the potential for using satellite images to monitor GHG emissions from forests and land use change in the Lusophone cluster.

National level

At the national level, PATPA started six Climate Transparency Helpdesk missions in 2021, tackling a wide variety of issues in Malawi, Guinea Bissau, Grenada, Laos, Montenegro and Saint Lucia. The last four of these missions will continue running into the new year. The missions revolved around different topics appropriate to the needs of the respective partner countries. This included support for developing a National Adaptation Plan (NAP), the preparation of the Biennial Update Report, and compiling and reporting GHG emissions. For more details see the table below.

Knowledge products

Besides these various events, PATPA also launched three new knowledge products: the Biennial Transparency Report Guidance and Roadmap Tool, the Projection of Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Removals Guide and the NDC Handover Checklist. The knowledge products were introduced at special events, regional group meetings and COP26 side events. Since their launch, they have received a lot of attention and have been put into practice by partners and partner countries.

The large number of active participants and the positive evaluations made about our events and activities motivates the PATPA Secretariat to continue developing and sharing knowledge and providing services, both with and for our partners.

We look forward to welcoming you again at our upcoming activities in 2022!

Please get in touch with us if you have any questions or feedback: @email

List of Climate Transparency Helpdesk missions in 2021 (click on country names for further information):