Since the inception of the international climate regime, the measuring, reporting and verification (MRV) of Parties’ progress has been one of its most important building blocks. For climate policy to be effectively designed and implemented, Parties need reliable information on emissions, actions and support on both the international and the national level. This is becoming ever more important since robust information will be needed for the 2018 Facilitative Dialogue and the global stocktakes from 2023 onwards.
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First the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) (Art. 12) and later the Kyoto Protocol set up a system of National Communications (NCs) and national inventory reports, which are to be compiled by Parties and published by the UNFCCC. The full package of MRV rules and guidelines was defined in Cancun 2010, and elaborated in the years thereafter until Warsaw 2013. In Cancun 2010 all Parties agreed to submit NCs every four years, and in between every two years less comprehensive biennial reports (BRs) from Annex I countries and biennial update reports (BURs) from Non-Annex I countries. These reports provide clarity and transparency on the current level of global emissions and the ambition of efforts to combat climate change at the national and the international level.
More information on the current MRV framework: http://unfccc.int/focus/mitigation/items/7173.php
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- 2010
Within the framework of the Petersberg Climate Dialogue in Bonn (Germany) in May 2010, South Africa, South Korea and Germany launched the International Partnership on Mitigation and MRV (now PATPA) with the aim of promoting ambitious climate action through practical exchange.
- 2015
The Agreement established an enhanced transparency framework (ETF) ‘in order to build mutual trust and confidence and to promote effective implementation’ (Art. 13). Many government representatives and climate experts consider the ETF to be the central mechanism to facilitate and catalyse the implementation of the nationally determined contributions (NDCs), to ramp up their ambition, and thus ultimately to achieve the Agreement’s goal to keep the increase in temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels while pursuing efforts to limit it to 1.5°C. While the current MRV system differentiates between Annex I and Non-Annex I countries, the Paris Agreement establishes a single framework applicable to all Parties with ‘built-in flexibility’. The framework provides flexibility to those Parties that need it in the light of their capacities and different national circumstances.
Under the ETF, countries will report on national greenhouse gas inventories, progress made in implementing NDCs under Article 4, climate change impacts and adaptation under Article 7 (as appropriate) as well as financial, technology transfer and capacity-building support needed and received under Articles 2.1 c), 9, 10, 11 (with differentiation between developed and developing countries).
Find out more about the Paris Agreement here: http://unfccc.int/paris_agreement/items/9485.php
- 2016
To reflect the new challenges arising from development of the transparency rules, while continuing to support the practical exchange between developing and industrialised countries and serving as a forum to discuss climate negotiation-related topics, the International Partnership on Mitigation and MRV was renamed “Partnership on Transparency in the Paris Agreement” at the partnership meeting held at COP 22 in Marrakech (Morocco).
- 2018
At COP24 in Katowice, Poland, delegates agreed on the ‘Katowice Climate Package’ which defines how the Paris Agreement will be implemented globally. One major element of the Katowice package is the adoption of ETF modalities, procedures and guidelines (MPGs). These apply to all Parties, while providing flexibility for those developing country Parties that need it in the light of their capacities. The MPGs cover national inventory report on anthropogenic emissions by sources and removals by sinks of greenhouse gases, technical expert review and facilitative, multilateral consideration of progress. Furthermore, the MPGs include information necessary to track progress made in implementing and achieving NDCs, information related to climate change impacts and adaptation as well as information on financial, technology development and transfer and capacity building support needed and received plus provided and mobilised.
Find out more about the MPGs here: https://unfccc.int/node/184700
- 2024
Under ETF, starting in 2024, countries will transparently report on actions taken and progress in climate change mitigation, adaptation measures and support provided or received through the submission of the first biennial transparency reports and national inventory reports.
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On the national level countries already have experiences of varying degree with developing and implementing systems for MRV or monitoring and evaluation (M&E). This experience will be the foundation to build on when preparing to implement the new requirements under the ETF.
Several initiatives and organisations are providing support to developing countries for further development of their MRV/M&E systems, among them the Partnership on Transparency in the Paris Agreement and the Initiative for Climate Action Transparency (ICAT). The Paris Agreement itself established a new global support programme, the Capacity Building Initiative for Transparency (CBIT), implemented by the Global Environment Facility. The goal of the CBIT is to strengthen the institutional and technical capacities of developing countries to meet the enhanced transparency requirements of the Paris Agreement.
More information on CBIT: https://www.thegef.org/topics/capacity-building-initiative-transparency-cbit
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For many years, the Partnership on Transparency in the Paris Agreement has brought together transparency negotiators and practitioners for MRV and M&E in order to foster learning among leaders in transparency in parallel with UN climate negotiations and to build mutual trust among developing, emerging and industrialised countries.
The Partnership will continue to provide a forum for practical exchange and political dialogue between countries on enhanced climate transparency. It will actively support further developing the MPGs, reflecting on the interlinkages between transparency and raising ambition, and strengthening national capacities for implementing MRV and M&E systems. Therefore the Partnership serves as a forum for exchange between negotiators and implementers to enhance their capacities to implement a robust transparency system in their countries.