The technical paper was developed by the UNFCCC secretariat and PATPA, with the support of the ICAT, IGES, IIED, UNDP and FAO, and aims to highlight the benefits that robust and self-sustained transparency systems can bring to governments, beyond fulfilling current and future reporting requirements under the Convention and the Paris Agreement. In addition, the paper provides examples from developed and developing country Parties to explain and showcase how increased efforts to allocate human and financial resources for climate transparency can improve political commitment and enhance climate ambition.

Benefits of Climate Transparency

The technical handbook aims to improve awareness and understanding of the ETF and its MPGs by national experts and practitioners from developing country Parties so that they may consider opportunities to improve current reporting and start planning for the establishment of institutional arrangements and reporting under the ETF.

The technical handbook contains two parts: the main handbook and its addendum (English and Portuguese* only).

The main handbook (2^nd edition) is available in:

^NEW:

• Arabic
• Chinese
• English 
• French
• Spanish
• Russian

• Portuguese* (1^st edition)

*This translation was provided in the context of  the Lusophone Cluster under the Partnership on Transparency in the Paris Agreement by the governments of Belgium, Germany and the Global Support Program (GSP) UNDP/UNEP, with technical support of the UNFCCC Secretariat.

This training material, developed by the Consultative Group of Experts (CGE), with the support of the secretariat, aims to equip developing country Parties with the latest knowledge on methodological tools and models, which will facilitate the preparation of relevant inputs for reporting information on vulnerability and adaptation in the national communications and biennial transparency reports required by the enhanced transparency framework (ETF) under the Paris Agreement.

• CGE adaptation material for ETF reporting

• Introduction
• Module A 
• Module B 
• Module C 
• Module D
• Module E

Short videos that provide an overview of the ETF available in Arabic, English, French, Spanish and Russian languages, on the secretariat’s YouTube channel.

• Introduction and overview of ETF: Presents an overview of the existing MRV arrangements under the Convention and the ETF under Paris Agreement;
• Reporting under the ETF: Presents an overview of the reporting provisions under the ETF based on MPGs and how the existing MRV arrangements can support the transition towards ETF;
• Foundational elements of MPGs: Provides an overview of foundational elements of the MPGs, including flexibility provisions, institutional arrangements and continuous improvement;
• Linkages – How ETF supports the Paris Agreement: Provides an overview of some explicit linkages of the ETF with other elements of the Paris Agreement, such as NDCs, adaptation reporting, GST, and the committee to facilitate implementation and promote compliance.

The Consultative Group of Experts (CGE), with a view to providing technical assistance and support to developing countries in a targeted and strategic manner, conducts an assessment of the existing and emerging needs and gaps of developing countries in implementing the existing measurement, reporting and verification (MRV) arrangements under the Convention and preparing for the enhanced transparency framework (ETF) under the Paris Agreement, and prepares, annually, a technical paper containing the results.

The information on the existing and emerging constraints and challenges, lessons learned and capacity-building needs draws on, among others, national communications (NCs) and biennial update reports (BURs) submitted by developing countries and summary reports on the technical analysis of BURs.

More information can be found here.

Transparency of action and support is critical to achieving the objectives of the Convention and the Paris Agreement, and well-functioning institutional arrangement is key to transition to the enhanced transparency framework by 2024. In that context, the Consultative Group of Experts (CGE) developed the toolbox on institutional arrangements, which is a one-stop shop that offers a technical handbook (available in all UN languages), video interviews and case stories presenting experiences of developing countries in improving and sustaining national MRV process, and a list of relevant technical resources.

For more information, please click here.