The
Consultative Group of Experts (CGE) conducted three regional hands-on training
workshops in 2019 on institutionalization of data management for the national
greenhouse gas inventory. The workshops were conducted for three regions:
Africa; Latin America and the Caribbean; and Asia-Pacific and Eastern Europe.
The
aim of the workshops was to enhance the technical capacity of national experts
involved in the preparation of national communications, biennial update reports
and national greenhouse gas inventories to institutionalize data management in
their national institutional arrangements.
The
workshops covered a wide variety of issues and problem areas to data that are
among the most persistent challenges faced by developing countries in their
implementation of the existing measurement, reporting and verification (MRV)
arrangements under the Convention and preparation for the enhanced transparency
framework (ETF) under the Paris Agreement. Data issues manifest in various ways
– lack of availability of data that are consistent with the reporting
guidelines, inaccessible data, lack of adequate data collection and management
process and/or system.
The workshops also introduced for
the first time a pre-workshop webinar and homework exercise that allowed
participants to already have basic knowledge of the topic prior to the
workshop. In addition, the workshop provided an opportunity for experts to work
on simulated cases, which equipped the participants with hands-on experience on
handling cases.
Another key aspect of the
workshops was creating a platform for collaboration and interacting with their
peers, CGE members and other experts. This includes sharing of views, lessons
learned and experience relating to institutional arrangements for data
collection and data management processes, including commonly used techniques,
approaches and tools. The participants also expressed interest in enhancing
regional collaboration on the institutionalization of data for GHG inventories
on the basis of similarities in national circumstances in the region, noting
the potential for sharing best practices, resources and expertise with a view
to overcoming common challenges.
In general, the workshops were
successful in:
(a) Familiarizing
national experts with the process and methods for institutionalization of data
management for the national GHG inventory;
(b) Providing a platform
for national experts from the same region to share experience and lessons
learned;
(c) Promoting networking among national experts;
(d) Providing a platform
for the CGE to interact with national experts and gain insight into relevant
lessons learned, experience, constraints and challenges.
Some participants expressed their
intention to use the training materials as a basis for training other national
experts, enhancing existing institutional arrangements, furthering their
knowledge of GHG inventory preparation and improving their terms of reference
for hired experts and consultants.
Participants
expressed interest in learning more about enhancing existing institutional
arrangements to improve the collection, management and reporting of GHG
inventory data, including incorporating GHG inventory component into the
existing data collection and management systems and processes in sectors so
that proper data for the inventory can be generated in a timely manner.
The
workshops were attended by 106 experts from 91 developing country Parties. The
CGE members from the respective regions also participated in these workshops,
which allowed them to gain first-hand knowledge on the technical capacity of
the national experts.