One of the key elements of the Paris Agreement is the Enhanced Transparency Framework (ETF), set out in
Article 13, that requires countries to provide information on progress made in implementing their nationally determined contributions (NDCs). To build technical and institutional capacities in countries to respond to these reporting requirements and foster climate adaptation action, the international community is mobilizing a vast array of support. Joining this effort, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) together with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) released a
Training Package on monitoring and evaluation (M&E) of adaptation in the agriculture sectors, which offers guidance to help countries address and fulfil adaptation-related reporting requirements under the ETF.
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Enhanced transparency of adaptation reporting can help countries better identify and address their adaptation needs, measure the progress of their efforts, and attract adaptation finance for greater action. The FAO is continually updating existing tools and developing new ones to support countries to improve reporting on adaptation and mitigation in the agriculture and land use sectors.", said Elisa Distefano, Environment and Climate Adaptation Specialist, FAO.
The package provides guidance for technical staff working to strengthen M&E of adaptation in agriculture sectors but is also relevant for policy and decision makers engaged in broader national adaptation and development planning, budgeting and implementation processes. It was developed and further improved under the
Integrating Agriculture in National Adaptation Plans (NAP-Ag) programme, funded by Germany’s Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) through its International Climate Initiative (IKI) and the GEF FAO Global capacity-building products towards enhanced transparency in the AFOLU sector (CBIT-AFOLU).
Supporting national M&E systems
The training package,
now available on the Adaptation Knowledge Portal, includes step-by-step guidance on how to design a national M&E system for tracking adaptation action and plans, and report progress on the implementation of NDCs, National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) and climate change strategies. It consists of a Guidance Note complemented by eight training modules. Read
the full scope of the package here.
Guatemala is one of the countries that has already made use of this training package to develop their national M&E system for adaptation in the agriculture sector, as part of the NAP-AG programme.
How can countries achieve the ETF?
Under the ETF, countries provide information on progress made in implementing their NDCs, including adaptation action, such as:
1) national circumstances, institutional arrangements and legal frameworks;
2) impacts, risks and vulnerabilities;
3) adaptation priorities and barriers;
4) adaptation strategies, policies, plans, goals and actions to integrate adaptation into policies;
5) progress on implementation of adaptation;
6) M&E of adaptation actions and processes;
7) information related to averting, minimising and addressing loss and damage;
8) cooperation, good practices, experience and lessons learned; and
9) any other related information.
More informationIf you are in the process of getting ETF-ready for adaptation reporting, need guidance on any of the steps mentioned above, or would like to establish or update your own national M&E system for adaptation, make sure to check out the ETF-related
tools and resources page on FAO website, and get in touch with the FAO team:
ETF@fao.org.
Picture by Ms. Elisa Distefano (FAO)