The year 2020 was also going to be decisive in accelerating efforts to put a stop to humanity’s uncontrolled interference with the planet’s climate system. Then, the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted and slowed these efforts.

Despite the challenges brought about by the pandemic, new, remote ways of working and collaborating helped the secretariat to continue working closely with Parties, and many UNFCCC processes went forward as planned.

The scientific community continues to call for urgent action. Climate action cannot be ignored while we grapple with the more immediate threat of the pandemic. Climate action and the green economy must be at the centre of the COVID-19 recovery.

The recovery from the pandemic needs to include a new, planet-friendly economic model. Investments in low-emission development, clean energy production, ecosystem restoration, and sustainable production and consumption need to benefit people, nature and climate.

We have a unique opportunity to create a positive, inclusive, sweeping and lasting transformation on a global scale.

The UNFCCC secretariat is the United Nations entity supporting the global response to climate change. It supports a complex architecture that serves to advance the implementation of the Convention, the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement.

The UNFCCC has near universal membership (197 Parties) and is the parent treaty of the 2015 Paris Agreement, and the parent treaty of the 1997 Kyoto Protocol and its Doha Amendment, adopted in 2012.

Throughout the year, the secretariat works with countries to build technical expertise and capacity, develop national climate change strategies for mitigation and adaptation, facilitate access to finance, share knowledge and technology, support the reporting and review of information for transparency, and operate the mechanisms of the Kyoto Protocol. It also creates a space for thousands of stakeholders and coalitions to dialogue and draw on wide-ranging expertise to design cutting-edge climate solutions.

In 2020, the secretariat completed its restructuring process. The resulting new structure is flexible, agile and service-oriented, and is better equipped to respond to requests from Governments and other stakeholders, including in a virtual environment.

To ensure continuity in the processes supported by the UNFCCC, in 2020, the secretariat organized 473 virtual meetings and events, and continued to strengthen the accessibility and security of its data collection, storage and dissemination systems. It also launched a review of the UNFCCC website to improve user experience and strengthened its social media and video production to maximize outreach over virtual platforms.

Nationally determined contributions

The submission of nationally determined contributions was substantially delayed in 2020 in many countries owing to the COVID-19 pandemic. As at 31 December 2020, 48 nationally determined contributions had been received from 75 Parties. As a result, the NDC synthesis report in two stages: an initial version in February 2021 on the basis of the 48 submissions received, and a final version before the Glasgow Conference.

Mitigation

In 2020, 28 Parties submitted their long-term low greenhouse gas emission development strategies.

Working through its decentralized regional collaboration centres, the secretariat worked with a global coalition of countries and international institutions to mobilize support for ambitious climate goals, organizing virtual regional dialogues and webinars.

The coordination and regional activities of the Nairobi Framework Partnership focused on enhancing the capacity of designated national authorities to become fully operational. It also helped build national capacity to develop clean development mechanism project activities; promote investment opportunities for projects; improve information-sharing, outreach and training; and strengthen inter-agency coordination.

Finally, the Katowice Committee of Experts on the Impacts of the Implementation of Response Measures met once virtually in 2020 to kick-start delivery of its workplan and define a strategy to implement future activities.

Adaptation

In 2020, the Least Developed Countries Expert Group maintained its direct support to countries through virtual dialogues to monitor progress, identify challenges and help target technical assistance. It published its 2020 progress report on the process to formulate and implement national adaptation plans and met with Parties in the first quarter of 2020 to take stock of progress in achieving its mandate.

In collaboration with the National Adaptation Plan Global Network, the Adaptation Committee published a toolkit for engaging the private sector, which proposes methods and approaches that countries can use to strengthen partnerships with business entities and create a more inclusive and participatory national adaptation process. The Adaptation Committee also initiated analytical work on the global goal on adaptation and launched its technical paper on data for adaptation at different spatial and temporal scales.

The technical examination process on adaptation ended in 2020, after five years of work. For the first time, the annual technical expert meeting included a visual art competition for children 17 years and under, which showcased their vision of a resilient future.

The Nairobi work programme on impacts, vulnerability and adaptation to climate change convened partners and experts, constituted bodies and Parties on topics such as oceans, coastal areas, and biodiversity of forest and grassland ecosystems. Making the most of its relationships with academic institutions, United Nations entites and other partners, the UNFCCC secretariat continued to involve researchers and students in developing climate scenarios to support national decision-making and policy making and, help close persistent knowledge gaps.

The Executive Committee of the Warsaw International Mechanism further strengthened its institutional set-up to better support developing countries in averting, minimizing and addressing loss and damage associated with catastrophic climate-related impacts and slow, incremental climate processes. It focused on providing technical support on risk management approaches and climate-related human mobility, and increased cooperation in relation to slow onset events, non-economic losses, and action and support. In 2020, the Executive Committee of the Warsaw International Mechanism published jointly with the Technology Executive Committee a policy brief on technological solutions to address climate change risks in coastal zones.

Climate finance

Progress was made on the critical issue of climate finance even in the absence of formal intergovernmental negotiations. Thematic issues, such as finance and investment for a sustainable recovery, needs-based climate finance, the work of the Standing Committee on Finance and the pledge by developed countries to mobilize USD 100 billion annually, were discussed by Parties and observer organizations during the June Momentum for Climate Change and the 2020 Climate Dialogues. Also discussed in 2020 was the issue of access by developing countries to funding from the Green Climate Fund.

In response to the challenges of the pandemic, the Adaptation Fund took immediate measures to give flexibility to projects. It was the first climate fund to hold a virtual board meeting and approve projects virtually. The Adaptation Fund also approved a new dedicated funding window for enhanced direct access and raised USD 116 million in new pledges after raising its annual resource mobilization target by one third, to USD 120 million.

Design and preparation of the next Standing Committee on Finance forum, planned for 2021, took shape thanks to input from Parties, climate funds, intergovernmental organizations and experts.

Progress also continued on the Needs-based Finance project to facilitate access to and mobilize climate finance for mitigation and adaptation projects in developing countries. More than 100 countries participated in assessing needs and flows of climate finance.

Technology

The Technology Executive Committee updated Parties on the implementation of the technology framework and discussed how the work of the Technology Mechanism and climate technology can contribute to global efforts to recover better. It also held regional four virtual events to explore new sustainable solutions for cooling that take into consideration climate impacts and new societal needs.

The Technology Executive Committee also organized an event on innovative approaches for climate adaptation technologies as part of the 4th Global Sustainable Technology and Innovation Community Conference.

Together with the Green Climate Fund, the Global Environment Facility, the United Nations Environment Programme, and the United Nations Environment Programme and Technical University of Denmark Partnership, the secretariat helped developing countries plan and implement climate actions. It continued to promote the global technology needs assessment project, monitored the implementation of technology action plans in developing countries and published a synthesis report on technology needs identified by developing country Parties, for consideration at the fifty-second session of the Subsidiary Body for Implementation.

Capacity-building

In 2020, the secretariat focused on strengthening the coherence and coordination of capacity-building activities under the Convention and the Paris Agreement, as well as supporting the Paris Committee on Capacity-building in successfully concluding activities under its first workplan and preparing its second workplan.

The Paris Committee on Capacity-building (PCCB) Network was launched in 2020 as a critical tool to increase the reach and impact of capacity-building efforts under the Paris Agreement. The Paris Committee on Capacity-building organized, with support from the Network, the Capacity-building Momentum to Recover Better initiative – four virtual events on capacity-building for enhancing resilience at the local level, the “dos, don’ts and doubts” of virtual capacity-building, capacity-building needs related to enhancing nationally-determined contributions, and the work of the Paris Committee on Capacity-building in 2020 and going forward.

In addition, together with the United Nations System Staff College, the secretariat conducted capacity building activities on legal matters and organized an online course titled "The Paris Agreement on Climate Change as a Development Agenda" for development practitioners from the United Nations system, governments, non-governmental organizations, the private sector, civil society and academia whose work relates to climate change and sustainable development. It has also engaged in various partnerships and collaborations with academic institutions and international organizations on building capacity to promote implementation.

Transparency, reporting and review

The secretariat continued to support Parties in implementing the existing measurement, reporting and verification system, and continued to lay the groundwork for Parties’ implementation of the enhanced transparency framework under the Paris Agreement. It also organized annual meetings of lead reviewers for the review of biennial reports and national communications and for reviews of greenhouse gas inventories of developed country Parties, and continued to support the Consultative Group of Experts to successfully implement its workplan in 2020 and published various resource materials.

The secretariat worked in collaboration with partner organizations to support developing country Parties in formulating their nationally determined contributions and preparing to implement and track progress. It also launched the Universal Participation in the Enhanced Transparency Framework initiative, which serves as a platform for the international community to collaborate, mobilize and act.

The secretariat completed 91 technical reviews, analyses and assessments of annual greenhouse gas inventory submissions, biennial reports and biennial update reports, including REDD+ results and REDD+ forest reference emission levels. It published 112 reports on the reviews of those submissions. The secretariat organized reviews of 26 greenhouse gas inventories, virtual multilateral assessment workshops for 10 developed countries and a presentation of biennial update reports – also known as facilitative sharing of views – for 17 developing countries, and the international assessment and review of the fourth biennial reports. The secretariat also continued to coordinate the assessment of progress developing countries in reducing deforestation.

The secretariat trained experts on the review of national communications and biennial reports and on the technical analysis of biennial update reports, as well as on the annual reviews under Article 8 of the Kyoto Protocol. It continued to enhance all systems and tools to facilitate reporting and review processes, and regularly updated its greenhouse gas data interface to publish the most recent data from Parties. The secretariat also initiated an analysis of possible design and infrastructure options for the tools required to support the implementation of the enhanced transparency framework.

Carbon markets

In 2020, the clean development mechanism issued 70.9 million certified emission reductions (or carbon credits) to the developing countries hosting clean development mechanism activities – the highest volume since 2013. Countries submitted a large number of requests for renewal of ongoing clean development mechanism activities, while the voluntary cancellations of clean development mechanism carbon credits as related to private companies’ corporate social responsibility programmes, citizens’ climate actions and conversion of certified emission reductions into other schemes saw an 80 per cent increase compared with in 2019.

The Executive Board of the clean development mechanism ensured business continuity during the pandemic by switching to a virtual working mode and introducing flexible measures with respect to on-site inspections requirements, adherence to the monitoring plan, accreditation procedures and deadlines for submitting post-registration change requests.

The secretariat continued to enhance and offer access to open-data sources and reached out to entrepreneurs, project developers and the public to help them better understand the carbon credit market and identify opportunities for reducing or offsetting emissions.

Science-based activities

The secretariat continued to strengthen its engagement in support of science–policy knowledge-sharing, including on the state of the global climate system and its observation, modelling, research and climate services in support of mitigation and adaptation action and reporting, and input to the second periodic review of the long-term global temperature goal and preparatory efforts for the global stocktake.

Virtual process, tangible results

To ensure the continued functioning of the intergovernmental process in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, the secretariat intensified the support provided to the COP 25 Presidency, the incoming COP 26 Presidency, the Bureau of the COP, the CMP and the CMA, and the Chairs of the subsidiary bodies to help them guide the UNFCCC process in a manner that maximizes progress and minimizes delays, while addressing emerging legal issues.

In an effort to keep Parties and stakeholders engaged, the Chairs of the subsidiary bodies, in collaboration with the COP 25 Presidency and the incoming COP 26 Presidency, convened two series of virtual meetings: the UNFCCC June Momentum for Climate Change, held from 1 to 10 June 2020, and the UNFCCC Climate Dialogues 2020, held from 23 November to 4 December 2020. Formal negotiations and decision-making procedures were not part of these events.

UNFCCC June Momentum for Climate Change

The aim of the June Momentum was to showcase progress on climate action despite the COVID-19 pandemic. The 23 virtual meetings led to active exchanges among Governments, experts and relevant stakeholders around the world and was an opportunity to enhance understanding of climate change, climate action and the negotiation process. The June Momentum helped advance technical work under the constituted bodies and provided a platform for information exchange and engagement on other work being done under the UNFCCC, including on adaptation, mitigation, science, finance, technology, capacity-building, transparency, gender, Action on Climate Empowerment, and the preparation and submission of NDCs. It also featured an event with the scientific community to discuss the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on science observation and research, including on changes in greenhouse gas emissions and concentrations.

UNFCCC Climate Dialogues 2020

The Climate Dialogues provided a platform for Parties and other stakeholders to showcase progress in 2020 and exchange views and ideas to pave the way for a successful Glasgow Conference.

With a total of 83 meetings, the Climate Dialogues was one of the largest virtual events on the United Nations agenda in 2020. Over 8,000 registered participants attended the meetings and interacted with the presenters and other participants at the virtual venue.

The event also served as a space for engaging the public. The winners of the 2020 Adaptation Youth Policy Case Competition were announced at the Climate Dialogues 2020 and, in a series of short inspirational videos, the secretariat brought together leaders from across the world to raise their voices to deliver one common, emphatic message: “Now is our moment to take action on climate change!”

The Doha Amendment, which established the second commitment period under the Kyoto Protocol in 2012, entered into force on 31 December 2020. The Doha Amendment strengthens the emission limitations or reduction commitments of developed countries, including countries with economies in transition, and sets an overall goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 18 per cent compared with the 1990 level in 2013–2020.

Under the Resilience Frontiers initiative, a two-year collective intelligence process to design novel visions for long-term resilience, a number of webinars exploring the social, political, economic, environmental and technological challenges and opportunities of the fourth industrial revolution were held in 2020. The discourse covered the evolution of regenerative production and consumption practices, as well as of restorative design fuelled by ancient and indigenous knowledge. Resilience Frontiers is an inter-agency effort that engages United Nations agencies, international non-governmental organizations, research institutes and youth networks, among others.

The secretariat collaborates closely with a wide range of partners to support knowledge-sharing of initiatives on science, technology and policy, provide technical support and build Parties’ capacity on legal matters. On climate finance, the secretariat collaborates with climate funds, multilateral development banks, United Nations entities and the broader financial community.

Through the regional collaboration centres, the secretariat has joined the new regional collaborative platform of the United Nations, for greater regional coordination and coherence in activities and better cooperation among United Nations and non-United Nations entities. The secretariat also joined issue-based coalitions, through which it is raising awareness about its various workstreams among United Nations agencies in the regions while also keeping abreast of the latest developments.

The secretariat catalyses climate action on a global scale across a range of initiatives and areas. In 2020, the secretariat achieved a step change in innovation towards more concrete, more visible and more effective ways to engage non-Party stakeholders, including observer organizations, in the UNFCCC process.

By the end of 2020, more than 27,000 climate actions were registered in the global climate action portal. The high-level champions for climate action – Gonzalo Muñoz from Chile and Nigel Topping from the United Kingdom – continued to reach out to and consult with Parties and non-Party stakeholders on ways to improve collaboration under the Marrakech Partnership for Global Climate Action. The champions also launched Race to Zero, a campaign to mobilize non-government actors to join the Climate Ambition Alliance.

The Climate Neutral Now initiative engaged more than 400 organizations, governments and citizens in 2020, encouraging them to accelerate the transition to global climate neutrality by addressing their climate footprint.

In 2020, 13 projects for climate solutions received Global Climate Action Awards for their innovative, scalable and practical climate actions. Winners were celebrated through the first-ever online award ceremony.

Despite the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2,500 observer organizations accredited by the UNFCCC continued to actively engage in the UNFCCC process throughout the year. They made more than 100 submissions on various agenda items and were invited to 16 meetings of constituted bodies and work programmes.

To enhance the engagement of all observer organizations in the UNFCCC process, the Executive Secretary launched an open channel for communication with non-governmental organization constituencies in 2020, in partnership with the COP 25 Presidency, the Chairs of the subsidiary bodies and the incoming COP 26 Presidency.

The secretariat organized a review of the Doha work programme, which ended in 2020. The secretariat collected input from Parties, other stakeholders, produced two reports and convened the 8th Dialogue on Action for Climate Empowerment. These activities also aimed to identify ways to enhance implementation of Action for Climate Empowerment and enable everyone to contribute to the urgent and needed transition to just, low-emission and climate-resilient economies.

The secretariat worked closely in 2020 with the Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples Platform and its Facilitative Working Group to implement the Platform’s workplan 2020–2021, develop a dedicated web portal, and address the challenges of working remotely with members across different time zones and with varying levels of access to technology.

Following up on its efforts to mainstream gender considerations in all aspects of its work, the secretariat reached out to Parties throughout 2020 to disseminate the Toolkit for a gender-responsive process to formulate and implement National Adaptation Plans (NAPs), and supported the Technical Executive Committee in mainstreaming gender considerations into its work.

In 2020, the secretariat also participated in the first stocktaking exercise on disability inclusion across the United Nations system in the areas of management, inclusiveness, programming and organizational culture. As a result, the secretariat identified key action areas to improve disability inclusion in the UNFCCC.

Raising ambition to address climate change by urgently reducing greenhouse gas emissions, building resilience to the unavoidable impacts of climate change based on the best available science and ensuring climate financing are critical areas of focus going forward.

The Race to Resilience – a sibling campaign of Race to Zero – will kick off in 2021 to catalyse businesses, investors, cities and civil society to invest in a resilient world where people and nature can thrive.

Across the secretariat, technical teams will continue to engage with broader audiences to better communicate progress and share solutions. Technical teams will also step up their outreach to Parties to support the development and implementation of national climate goals, share solutions for a successful transition to a post-2030 world, and respond to their technological, technical, capacity-building needs.

The secretariat will expand collaboration with a variety of partners on common themes and channel financing for climate action. It will also work closely with indigenous peoples, local communities, women, youth and people with disabilities.

Transitioning to the enhanced transparency framework under the Paris Agreement is a major undertaking. The secretariat will strengthen the dialogue with Parties to explore ways to ensure a sufficient number of experts are nominated in order to successfully undertake the technical expert reviews under the Paris Agreement.

Our vision for 2021 is a successful Glasgow Conference, based on collaboration, in the true spirit of multilateralism. Pledges must be honoured, we must wrap up outstanding items and negotiations and fully implement the Paris Agreement, and we urgently need to close the emissions gap and raise ambition on adaptation and resilience.

As we move closer to 2030, we cannot afford to slow down. Global efforts to address climate change must accelerate and increase in scope if we are to avoid the worst impacts of the inevitable, dramatic changes ahead.

The annual report provides key financial results for 2020, including total revenue and expenses, funding by trust fund, and comparisons of budgeted and actual expenditure for the core budget and the international transaction log, as well as lists of Party and non-Party contributors to the Trust Fund for Supplementary Activities.