UN Climate Change News, 28 March 2022 – Around 160 experts from around the world who review information submitted by developed countries on their: greenhouse gas emissions; progress towards their 2020 targets; and support provided to developing countries, met online in a series of three meetings this March.
These experienced experts – known as Lead Reviewers – discussed not only technical and procedural issues of reviewing the information submitted by Annex I Parties under the Convention and the Kyoto Protocol, but also reflected on lessons learnt that could be useful for the upcoming reviews under the Paris Agreement.
As developing and developed Parties to the Paris Agreement start to plan ahead to submit their first Biennial Transparency Reports (starting in 2024), experts also considered the role Lead Reviewers will play in the Technical Expert Review process under the Enhanced Transparency Framework (ETF).
The ETF is an important tool to assess the progress countries are making in implementing their national climate action plans or NDCs and is crucial for global efforts to achieve the Paris goal of limiting global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees.
One of the issues they considered was the immediate need for a larger pool of experts with the right training for the reviews under the Paris Agreement, which will require larger number of experts than the analysis and reviews process currently conducted.
As part of the update on the transition to the ETF, the session on 2 March included an update on the transparency-related outcomes from negotiations at COP26 in Glasgow, including the completion of the guidance to Parties to implement the ETF, as well as critical timelines and milestones between now and 2024.
Underscoring the critical role that experts play in supporting transparency, Transparency Division Director Donald Cooper noted: “In preparation for the ETF, we need to quickly scale up the number of available technical review experts who can participate in the technical expert review of available technical review experts who can participate in the technical expert review of biennial transparency reports, develop new tools and systems for reporting and review, establish new procedures and processes, and begin testing a new universal transparency system.”
Given the high interest of experts in the next steps toward implementing the ETF, the secretariat plans to schedule further townhalls/discussions later in the year.
On 7 to 9 March, the Lead Reviewers for the review of Biennial Reports and National Communications looked back over the fourth cycle of the International Assessment and Review process, where a trend toward more complete and more transparent reporting is clear, particularly when the latest reports are compared to the first reports submitted in 2014.
Lead Reviewers also looked ahead to upcoming challenges, such as reviewing the final round of Biennial Reports which will be submitted in 2022, and which should indicate whether the Parties met their 2020 quantified economy-wide emission reduction targets.
Celebrating the experts that participated in the fourth cycle of the international assessment and review process.
On 14 to 17 March, the Lead Reviewers for the GHG review met in a virtual setting for their 19th annual meeting. Nearly 80 Lead Reviewers from all over the world participated in the meeting which was opened by UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Patricia Espinosa.
The meeting was particularly crucial as participants discussed the approaches and plans for the final reviews under the Kyoto Protocol, as the reporting of emissions and removals for the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol (2013-2020) will be completed and will allow assessment of whether developed country Parties have achieved their commitments under the Kyoto Protocol.
These reviews are the culmination of eight years of technical reviews. In addition, lead reviewers and Land Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF) experts considered in detail the effectiveness and consistency of the review process and agreed on innovative technical and operational guidance that will be used for the reviews in 2022.
The meeting was organized by the UN Climate Change secretariat under the leadership of two experienced lead reviewers, Thelma Krug from Brazil and Ole-Kenneth Nielsen from Denmark.
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Further information on the International Assessment and Review process can be found here.
Further information on how transparency underpins global climate action and support can be found here.
Further information on transparency-related outcomes from Glasgow can be found here.
Further information on the review of inventories submitted by developed countries can be found here.