Further work will be needed in the coming years to define the whole and the end of the new transparency system. The parties face significant challenges. The agreement promises to give flexibility to developing countries, but the exact nature of this flexibility and how it will be operationalized is an important consideration when the parties begin negotiations on implementing rules. Parties should consider how flexibility can be incorporated into modalities, procedures and guidelines for transparency of measures and whether existing communication channels can be streamlined to avoid overburdening developing countries. The agreement addresses some of these concerns by strengthening flexibility and capacity building measures under the agreement. In order to enable developing countries to comply with the new requirements, the Transparency Framework provides flexibility in the implementation of the provisions of this Article to developing countries that are Parties and need them because of their capacities. Article 13(2) It also establishes an improved capacity-building framework to assist developing countries. The Paris Outcome launched the Capacity Building Initiative for Transparency, which will be funded by contributions from developed countries to help developing countries create or improve the national instruments and institutions they need to meet these commitments. The Paris Committee on Capacity Building was also established to oversee a four-year work programme to support capacity-building activities necessary for the implementation of the Paris Agreement. For example, the programme of work will identify and formulate recommendations to address capacity gaps and needs, promote the dissemination of capacity-building tools and methodologies, and explore how developing countries can assume responsibility for capacity-building and maintenance over time.
Id. in article ¶74(b),(c),(f). Flexibility can be integrated into the transparency process in a variety of ways. For example, some countries may initially submit their reports less frequently. Parties currently report on their GHG inventories on guidelines that offer multiple or “third-party” approaches. Each level represents a degree of methodological complexity in categorizing emissions and activity data. Level 1 is the most basic method, while Levels 2 and 3 are each more demanding in terms of complexity, security and data requirements. Another option would therefore be for some developing countries to start at the lowest and least rigorous level of reporting and reach higher levels as they build institutional capacity over time.
From 2024, all contracting parties will have to submit biennial transparency reports (BTI) every two years. With these transparency reports, Parties submit their greenhouse gas inventories and disclose information on progress in implementing their NDCs. Unlike the reporting obligations of the Framework Convention on Climate Change, the transparency framework for climate protection does not distinguish between industrialized and developing countries, and the requirements apply to all States. However, developing countries with limited capacity have been given the opportunity to deviate from the requirements and report to a lesser extent, less frequently or in less detail. However, countries wishing to make use of this flexibility must justify their need and indicate a date by which they will have overcome the obstacles to full reporting. [9] Existing transparency requirements under the UNFCCC differ for developed and developing countries. Parties to the Convention are required to submit national communications on their mitigation and adaptation measures every four years, although the content required varies between developed and developing countries. United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change [`the UNFCCC`] Art. 12, 9 May 1992, S. Treaty Doc.
No. 102-38, 1771 U.T.S. 107 (effective March 21, 1994). In order to improve the reporting of national greenhouse gas inventories and efforts to implement the requirements of the Convention, the agreements reached in Cancun in 2010 introduced two parallel processes: one for developed countries and the other less stringent for developing countries. UNFCCC, Conference of the Parties, Seventeenth Session, Durban, S. Afr., 28 November – 11 December 2011, Decision 2/CP.17: Results of the work of the Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperation Actions under the Convention, Doc. FCCC/CP/2011/9/Add.1 (15 March 2012). Improving the transparency framework is essential to the design, credibility and implementation of the Paris Agreement. The development of the transparency part of the regulation did not start from scratch, as countries were able to draw on the experience gained under the UNFCCC. However, unlike previous UNFCCC agreements, the Paris Agreement provided for the establishment of common guidelines for all countries while providing flexibility to developing countries in need.
Transparency processes will feed into a global stocktaking exercise that will assess collective progress towards the long-term goals of the Paris Agreement. Id. to art. 14. You will also work with a new expert committee to “facilitate implementation” and “promote compliance”. Id. in Article 15(1). Unlike the Kyoto Protocol, which included an enforcement-based compliance system, this committee will be facilitative in nature and will operate in a “non-adversarial and non-punitive” manner. Id. in Article 15(2). The Enhanced Transparency Framework (ETF) for action and support is a central element in the design, credibility and functioning of the Paris Agreement. [1] [2] [3] The framework sets out how the parties to the agreement are to report on progress in climate change mitigation, adaptation measures and support provided or received.
It also provides for international procedures for the review and evaluation of such reports. The adoption of the Paris Agreement marked a turning point in international climate policy, which had already been initiated at the Copenhagen climate conference in 2009. The binding and global international agreement not only sets ambitious global targets, such as limiting the increase in the earth`s average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels, but also introduces a new climate policy paradigm that leaves states considerable leeway in setting their climate protection targets – the individual targets of the contracting parties are not negotiated at international level, but determined by the contracting parties themselves. Compliance with these objectives is also not binding. To ensure the implementation of the goals and targets they set, an innovative architecture of international review and transparency mechanisms has been incorporated into the agreement. The transparency framework is an essential element of this architecture. The Paris Agreement relies heavily on transparency as a means of holding countries to account. Over the next few years, the parties will do the necessary technical work to build on the lessons learned and move to a new transparency system. The creation of a flexible system that increases the capacities of the parties over time is of paramount importance in this endeavour and will send a positive political signal to developing countries. As countries strive to set the same standards over time, learning by doing should be a guiding principle that allows them to build on existing experiences, build trust and identify gaps and encourage them to recognize the value of active participation and learn from the transparency process. Creating a transparency framework that applies to all while providing flexibility to developing countries with weaker capacities is one of the greatest achievements of the Paris outcome. Countries have adopted the necessary guidelines to operationalize the enhanced transparency framework.
They agreed to report under enhanced transparency through documents known as biennial transparency reports (BTRs) and agreed that the first RTBs will be due by 31 December 2024. Countries will complete their existing transparency reports by 31 December 2022 (for developed countries) and by 31 December 2024 (for developing countries). The Paris Agreement, adopted at the Conference of the Parties (COP) 21, calls for an improved transparency framework that obliges all countries to work towards the same standards of transparency and accountability. UNFCCC, Conference of the Parties, Twenty-first Session, Paris, France, 30 November – 13 December 2015, Decision 1/CP.21: Adoption of the Paris Agreement, Doc. FCCC/CP/2015/10/Add.1 (29 January 2016). The new framework will build on the parties` experience with the existing system, but not strictly distributed between developed and developing countries. .