At COP 13, through the Bali Action Plan, Parties agreed on the principle of applying measurement, reporting and verification (MRV) for developing country Parties, which laid the foundation for the subsequent elaboration of the existing comprehensive MRV framework for developing country Parties.
Measurement (M) for non-Annex I Parties applies both to efforts to address climate change and to the impacts of these efforts. It occurs at the national level and refers to GHG emissions, mitigation actions and their effects, and the support needed and received;
Reporting (R) for non-Annex I Parties is implemented through the national communications and BURs, where Parties report on their actions to address climate change in their national communications and biennial update reports;
Verification (V) is addressed at the international level, through the ICA of BURs; It can also occur at the national level, but is voluntary.
(More information is available in this handbook)
The existing framework for MRV under the Convention for developing country Parties consists of several elements, which have been gradually implemented through a set of decisions by the COP over the period 2004–2015.
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International Consultation and Analysis (ICA) |
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What is ICA? At COP 16 in 2010, Parties decided to conduct international consultation and analysis (ICA) of BURs from developing country Parties under the Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI). This process aims to increase the transparency of mitigation actions and their effects, in a manner that is non-intrusive, non-punitive and respectful of the national sovereignty. The discussion on the appropriateness of domestic policies and measures is not part of the process. The process consists of two steps, which are triggered from the submission of BURs:
Parties can choose policies and measures to address climate change based on their domestic priorities, and ICA will focus on the information provided on the latter. The modalities and guidelines for ICA were adopted at COP 17, COP 19 adopted a further decision on the composition, modalities and procedures of the team of technical experts (TTE) for undertaking the technical analysis (TA) of BURs under ICA. The ICA process contributes towards the capacity-building of non-Annex I Parties leading to improvement in the quality of its subsequent BURs. All documents related to the ICA process (e.g. summary reports of the technical analysis, FSV records, etc.) for outcome cycle 1 can be found here and outcome cycle 2 here. 
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Technical support for the Team of Technical Experts (TTE) to conduct the technical analysis |
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The Consultative Group of Experts (CGE) on National Communications from Parties not included in Annex I to the Convention, in fulfilling its mandate, also provides support to the TTE with the aim of enhancing their capacity to conduct an efficient and effective technical analysis under the ICA. Among others, these criteria for selection of the TTE include successfully completing the CGE training programme prepared by the CGE. Recognizing the increasing numbers of BURs submitted over time and the likely high demand on experts nominated to the UNFCCC roster of experts to undertake the technical analysis, the secretariat encourages eligible experts to enrol in the CGE training programme. For more information on the training programme: link here |
Contact and Feedback
For questions on the ICA process, please e-mail the secretariat at ICA@unfccc.int