The multilateral assessment (MA) is part of the international assessment and review (IAR) for developed countries where countries are assessed on their progress in meeting their 2020 targets. MA and IAR help to promote the comparability of efforts among all developed countries and this builds confidence that all developed countries are implementing climate actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The MA of the progress towards achieving the quantified economy-wide emission reduction target for 2020 is undertaken for each developed country Party after the submission and technical review of their biennial reports.
In 2018, the third cycle of IAR started with the submission of the third biennial reports and the seventh national communications from Annex I Parties and the technical review of these reports by international expert review teams.
The following 10 Parties will be multilaterally assessed at SBI 51 in Santiago, Chile, December 2019:
| Austria | Kazakhstan |
| Belgium | Luxembourg |
| Bulgaria | New Zealand |
| Cyprus* | Portugal |
| Greece | Switzerland |
*Cyprus has gone through the Question and Answer period for SBI 50 already.
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Timeline for the MA session during SBI 51: |
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30 August to 30 September 2019: |
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1 October to 29 November 2019: |
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By 1 December 2019: |
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During SBI 51, December 2019, Santiago, Chile: |
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January 2020: publication of summary reports |
Multilateral Assessment is undertaken for each developed country Party based on the Party's technical review report, the biennial report, the national GHG inventory, including the national inventory report and the national communication; and any supplementary information on the achievement of the Party's 2020 target. There are three stages to MA:
- Preparation for the MA before the SBI working group session. Encompassing a three-month "questions and answers" period among Parties via the MA portal. This process is completed before an SBI session. Questions can be submitted by any Party under the Convention electronically to the Party under MA. These questions are based on their national biennial reports and their review reports. This question period is open for one month. Following this, the Party under the MA will respond to these questions within two months. All questions and responses submitted by Parties will be tracked, compiled and published by the secretariat and can be accessed via the respective Party pages.
- International assessment during the SBI working group session. All Parties under MA may make a brief oral presentation that will be followed, as necessary, by an oral Q&A session that may last for an average of one hour to a maximum of two hours.
- Completion of the Party record after the SBI working group session. The final stage of the MA is the publication of a Party record for each country. This includes the technical review reports, an SBI summary report, Q&A compiled for each Party through the MA portal, and the observation made by the Party within two months after the SBI working group session for the MA.
More about the MA portal: To access the MA portal log-in credentials are required. All national focal points have been invited to submit nominations to the MA. Should further nominations be required national focal points are requested to contact the secretariat at: MA-portal@unfccc.int
* Turkey does not have a quantified economy-wide emission reduction target for 2020, therefore it is not subject to multilateral assessment.
More about MA
Importance of transparency for climate action
Explaining the MA process, video shown during COP21
