Capacity to MRV – Assessing Capacity as a Basis for Differentiating the Implementation of MRV Requirements
This discussion paper is based on the main findings from the Summer School as well as further experiences and debates in order to provide knowledge to climate policy practitioners and experts.
A successful common Measurement, Reporting and Verification (MRV) framework in the post-2020 regime will need to acknowledge the fact that Parties differ greatly in terms of current capacity to deliver the high quality data and information required. While the MRV framework should include high quality standards applicable to all Parties and take into account the different types of commitments, it must also recognise that not all Parties will be able to fully meet them at the outset of the new regime. In that regard, the MRV framework should also include a qualitative and/or quantitative indicator-based system to periodically assess a Party's capacity to conduct MRV. On this basis flexibility in the fulfillment of MRV requirements could be granted to Parties requesting it. There are currently several methodologies used by various international organisations (such as the World Bank) to assess Parties' capacity which can serve as a model for designing this proposed MRV capacity assessment methodology.