An event showcasing success stories of measurement,
reporting and verification (MRV) and the transparency of action and support was
held on 08 May 2018, during the 48th session of the Subsidiary
Bodies here in Bonn. The expert panel comprised of Deutsche Post DHL Group, Deutsche
Bahn, the government of Singapore, the Global Environment Facility (GEF), and the
Global Support Programme (GSP). The event was moderated by Mr. William Agyemang-Bonsu from
the UNFCCC secretariat. It was well-attended and generated keen interest from the
audience.
Mr. Björn Hannappel from the Deutsche Post
DHL Group and Mr. Constantin Zerger from Deutsche Bahn (DB) shared their
experiences and best practices in adopting climate change goals/targets and tracking
it using innovative approaches. They are currently implementing more
environmentally friendly corporate strategies to reduce GHG emissions with a long-term
goal of reaching zero net emissions. A
key message shared by both Björn and Constantin was the need to make a good
business case for reducing emissions with the understanding that this may be
easier and more effective to carry out in some parts of the business process
over others, and that some emission reduction initiatives may not have a strong
business case but may be good to do anyway because they support the corporate
long-term goal of reaching zero emissions. Government could play a defining role
in coordinating the data collection essential for accounting GHG emissions,
e.g. in supporting global reporting standards. Government policies and
incentives could enhance innovation and commitment to climate change mitigation
action in the private sector.
Mr. Santhosh Manivannan of the government
of Singapore shared his country’s experience in preparing information and
reporting via their National Communications (NCs) and Biennial Update Reports
(BURs). Preparing NCs and BURs has taught Singapore that the best way is to
learn by doing recognizing that there will be challenges in improving the
reporting over time. Santhosh highlighted that it would be useful if there were
sustainable institutional arrangements and the national reports are relevant for
domestic purposes too thereby ensuring political buy-in at national level. He
also highlighted that it takes a ‘’whole of government’’ effort to collect
information from various stakeholders and use it to prepare reports.
The representative of the GEF, Ms. Milena
Gonzalez Vasquez and Mr. Damiano Borgogno from GSP presented support
initiatives focused on the enhancement of developing countries’ national capacity to effectively participate
in the existing MRV arrangements under the Convention. To add to that, they
also mentioned their preparedness to support implementation of the transparency
framework under the Paris Agreement.
Photo (L-R): Damiano
Borgogno (UNDP GSP), Milena Gonzalez Vasquez (the GEF), William Agyemang-Bonsu
(UNFCCC secretariat), Santhosh Manivannan (Singapore), Constantin Zerger (Deutsche
Bahn), Björn Hannappel (GoGreen Deutsche Post DHL Group).
The UNDP GSP has supported the
preparation of approximately 332 NCs and 56 BURs to date. Some key points
highlighted by UNDP GSP include the following: MRV is a great entry point for promoting
gender-based climate actions; peer-to-peer collaboration between development
countries is an effective tool to motivate, engage and enhance MRV
arrangements; there is a strong case to linking the MRV and transparency framework
into the broader national development agenda.
Since the establishment of the Capacity-building
Initiative for Transparency, 22 projects have been approved by the GEF to a
total of US$28.5 million (20 national projects; including 6 least developed
countries; 2 small island states and 2 global projects viz. the Global
Coordination Platform and Global AFOLU).
Both the GSP and GEF intimated that the
degree to which support opportunities are effectively utilized can be enhanced
by a high degree of political commitment from policy-makers and government
officials. In addition, the national level actions on MRV could further
catalyze voluntary action from the private sector to help curb climate change
impacts as shown by Deutsche Post DHL Group and Deutsche Bahn.
If you missed the event, more information can be obtained
here and the webcast is available here.