The Consultative Group of Experts on National Communications from Parties not included in Annex I to the Convention (CGE) organized a side-event on 9 November 2017 on the margins of COP 23 to showcase the key achievements of the group and success stories of developing countries on the preparation of the national communications (NCs) and biennial update reports (BURs). The panel of speakers consisted of Mr. Stephen King’uyu, the CGE member from Kenya, Ms. Emma Rachmawaty from Indonesia, and Ms. Mariana Kaspzyk from Uruguay. Mr. William Agyemang-Bonsu from the secretariat moderated the event.
Mr. King’uyu outlined the key objectives of the group, its strategic priorities, and its key activities in 2017. The key outputs of the CGE included updated training materials on:
- Reporting of mitigation actions and their effects in BURs;
- National greenhouse gas inventories;
- Reporting information on finance, technology transfer and capacity-building needs and support received;
The CGE also prepared a “Technical Tool to Facilitate Parties Prepare for and Participate in The International Consultation and Analysis”;
Mr. King’uyu also informed that in addition to the updated training materials, the CGE had also conducted two regional hands-on training workshops on the preparation of mitigation action and reporting on them in national communications (NCs) and biennial update reports (BURs), and 7 webinars, which is complemented by the online e-learning courses on the topics of GHG inventories, mitigation assessment and vulnerability and adaptation assessment.
Two countries, Indonesia and Uruguay, presented their success stories regarding the preparation and submission of NCs and BURs.
Ms.Rachmawaty from Indonesia shared how the process of preparing the national reports are being improved based on the lessons learned and feedback from the participation in the facilitative sharing of views (FSV). She noted that work on NC and BURs could improve capacity of national and sub-national experts, promote stakeholder engagement and strengthen institutional arrangements. She highlighted a few challenges that needs to be overcome. These relate to data availability and collection, use of IPCC 2006 guidelines, assessing impacts of mitigation actions, and enhancing and maintaining on a continuous basis appropriate institutional arrangements. In terms of next steps, she highlight two concrete actions: incorporating baseline and target under its NDC into national development plan.
In addition to the views from Indonesia, Ms. Kasprzyk shared the success stories of Uruguay. Uruguay had first initiated the process of preparation of the NCs in 1994, and since then it has been maintained on a continuous basis. This resulted in having in place sound institutional arrangements with permanent team in the Climate Change Division supported by specific sectoral working groups. This, in turn, enable Uruguay to continuously and actively engage in the MRV process. Till date, Uruguay has already completed 4 rounds of NCs and the first BUR. The preparation of the fifth NC is underway and is about to submit second BUR. These reports were noted to be help at the national level, among other things, in raising awareness on climate change and also as a tool for policy-making.
This
animation explains the benefits of the measurement, reporting and verificationThe webcast of the side-event is available
here (starting at 8:50)The presentations are available
here.