Under the Convention, developing country Parties are to submit National Communications (NCs) every 4 years to report on their progress to address climate change. These arrangements further enhanced by the Bali Action Plan at COP 13 where Parties adopted decisions introducing the principle of measurement, reporting and verification (MRV) for all Parties and introducing the reporting of Biennial Update Reports (BURs) and consideration of information through the international consultation and analysis (ICA) process for developing country Parties.
The CGE, as part of its support to developing countries, has prepared technical materials on the MRV to provide experts, practitioners and other stakeholders on the ground with a clear overview of concepts, elements and requirements of the MRV framework for developing country Parties.
The handbook on MRV for developing countries, developed by the secretariat, aims to provide experts, practitioners and other stakeholders on the ground with a clear overview of concepts, elements and requirements of the MRV framework for developing country Parties under the Convention.
Handbook on MRV for developing countries:
- English
- Français
- Español
- Russian
- Arabic
In response to a request by SBI 18, the secretariat prepared a user manual to facilitate the use of the guidelines to the Convention annexed to decision 17/CP.8, and also a Resource Guide for preparing the NCs of non-Annex I Parties.
User Manual:
Resource Guide: Module 1, Module 2, Module 3, Module 4
Graphic – https://unfccc.int/files/inc/graphics/image/jpeg/infographic_mrv_jan2018_large.jpg
In accordance with Article 4, paragraph 1 and Article 12, paragraph 1, each Party shall communicate to the Conference of the Parties, through the secretariat, the following elements of information:
- A national inventory of anthropogenic emissions by sources and removals by sinks of all greenhouse gases not controlled by the Montreal Protocol, to the extent its capacities permit, using comparable methodologies to be promoted and agreed upon by the Conference of the Parties.
- A general description of steps taken or envisaged by the Party to implement the Convention.
- Any other information the Party considers relevant to the achievement of the objective of the Convention and suitable for inclusion in its communication, including, if feasible, material relevant for calculations of global emission trends.
Guidelines for the preparation of initial NCs from non-Annex I Parties were adopted at COP 2 in Geneva in 1996. COP 5 (Bonn, 1999) initiated a process of reviewing the guidelines, with the aim of improving them and established a Consultative Group of Experts on National Communications from non-Annex I Parties (CGE) in order to improve the process of preparation of NCs by non-Annex I Parties. The CGE made major contributions to the review of the guidelines. At COP 8 (New Delhi, 2002) Parties adopted revised guidelines ( decision 17/CP.8).
These training materials are designed to facilitate the preparation of National Communications (NC) by non-Annex I Parties can be found here.
COP 17 adopted the guidelines for the preparation of BURs from non-Annex I Parties contained in annex III of decision 2/CP.17, and also decided the following:
- That non-Annex I Parties, consistent with their capabilities and the level of support provided for reporting, should submit their first BUR by December 2014; the least developed country Parties and small island developing States may submit BURs at their discretion;
- That in using the Guidelines, non-Annex I Parties should take into account their development priorities, objectives, capacities and national circumstances;
- That the Guidelines should be used as a basis to provide guidance to an operating entity of the financial mechanism for funding the preparation of biennial update reports from non-Annex I Parties and, in the case of the first BUR, to the Global Environment Facility;
- To urge non-Annex I Parties to submit their requests to the Global Environment Facility for support, in a timely manner;
- That enhanced support for the preparation of BURs should be ensured by developed country Parties and other developed Parties included in Annex II to the Convention by means of resources, in accordance with Article 4, paragraph 3, of the Convention, on the basis of agreed full-cost funding;
- That non-Annex I Parties shall submit a BUR every two years, either as a summary of parts of their NC in the year in which the NC is submitted or as a stand-alone update report; the least developed country Parties and small island developing States may submit BURs at their discretion;
- That the first BUR submitted by non-Annex I Parties shall cover, at a minimum, the inventory for the calendar year no more than four years prior to the date of the submission, or more recent years if information is available, and that subsequent BURs shall cover a calendar year that does not precede the submission date by more than four years;
- That these guidelines should be reviewed and revised as appropriate, in accordance with decisions of the Conference of the Parties.
These guidelines outline the objectives and scope of the information to be reported in Biennial Update Reports (BURs) can be found here.
COP17 also adopted the modalities and guidelines for ICA contained in annex IV of decision 2/CP.17, and decided the following:
- That the first rounds of ICA will be conducted for developing country Parties, commencing within six months of the submission of the first round of BURs by developing country Parties;
- That the frequency of participation in subsequent rounds of ICA by developing country Parties, based on their respective capabilities and national circumstances, and special flexibility for small island developing States and the least developed country Parties, will be determined by the frequency of the submission of BURs;
- To revise the modalities and guidelines prescribed herein based on experiences gained in the first round of ICA, no later than 2017;
- That small island developing States and the least developed country Parties may undergo ICA as a group of Parties at their discretion.
For more information on the ICA process can be found here.
Participating in MRV
| Effective participation in the measurement, reporting and verification (MRV) can result in a number of benefits at the national level. View the two videos, which explain the MRV process under the UNFCCC and the benefits at the national level. |
