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WORKING PAPER BUILDING CAPACITY FOR THE PARIS AGREEMENT’S ENHANCED TRANSPARENCY FRAMEWORK: WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM COUNTRIES’ EXPERIENCES AND UNFCCC PROCESSES? YAMIDE DAGNET, NATHAN COGSWELL, NEIL BIRD, MATHILDE BOUYÉ, AND MARCELO ROCHA EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Highlights CONTENTS Executive Summary ....................................................................................1 Capacity building is essential to drive climate trans- Introduction .....................................................................................................4 ▪ parency. The 2015 Paris Agreement outlines an “en- hanced transparency framework” including greater The Paris Agreement’s Enhanced requirements for developing countries. Some devel- Transparency Framework .....................................................................7 oping countries have struggled to fulfill pre–Paris Lessons from Current Efforts and Needs ...............................10 Agreement transparency requirements and will need Enhancing Capacity Building under capacity-building support to implement the Paris Agreement’s more stringent requirements. the Convention and the Paris Agreement .............................20 Conclusion .....................................................................................................29 New efforts to build capacity for the transparency ▪ framework need not “start from scratch” but should Appendices ...................................................................................................32 build on and learn from the history of transparency and Endnotes .........................................................................................................43 capacity building under the United Nations Framework References ....................................................................................................44 Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Acknowledgments ..................................................................................46 Countries agreed on the guidelines for the enhanced Other PACT Papers ..................................................................................47 ▪ transparency framework in December 2018. This paper shows how these guidelines strengthen the framework. Drawing on 13 case studies that illustrate countries’ Working Papers contain preliminary research, analysis, ▪ experiences in developing capacity for transparency, findings, and recommendations. They are circulated to this paper highlights six key lessons to consider stimulate timely discussion and critical feedback, and to when building such capacity. influence ongoing debate on emerging issues. Working This paper also maps international initiatives aimed papers may eventually be published in another form and ▪ at supporting climate transparency, discusses how their content may be revised. bodies under the UNFCCC can support capacity building, and highlights upcoming UNFCCC trans- Suggested Citation: Dagnet, Y., N. Cogswell, N. Bird, M. Bouyé, parency-related capacity-building decisions. and M. Rocha. 2019. “Building Capacity for the Paris Agreement’s Enhanced Transparency Framework: What Can We Learn from The lessons presented throughout the paper aim to Countries’ Experiences and UNFCCC Processes?” Working paper. ▪ inform capacity-building efforts in order to be more Washington, DC: Project for Advancing Climate Transparency (PACT). effective, integrated, and sustainable than before the Paris Agreement, and enable countries to implement the Agreement at the pace and scale required. WORKING PAPER | March 2019 | 1 Context Countries will need to assess whether the priority areas established under the Convention’s capacity-building While countries have been engaging in transpar- framework are still relevant under the Paris Agreement ency arrangements under the UNFCCC (also and seek to address them together with any newly iden- referred to in this paper as the Convention) tified or emerging priority areas. for many years, the Paris Agreement sets out a new paradigm with its enhanced transpar- ency framework for action and support. Under About This Paper the enhanced transparency framework, a single set of This paper examines capacity building in light requirements applies to all countries, with “flexibility” of the Paris Agreement’s requirements for an in meeting these requirements provided for developing enhanced transparency framework. Further, countries that need it. This represents a departure from capacity building for the enhanced transparency previous transparency arrangements, which included framework is the sole focus of the paper. The authors two distinct sets of transparency requirements for recognize that capacity building for nontransparency developed and developing countries. Capacity building activities is also essential to support the Paris Agree- is crucial to ensure all countries are able to engage fully ment but have limited the scope of this paper in order to and effectively in the new and enhanced processes and provide focused discussions and analyses. Their aim is requirements established under the Paris Agreement. to identify opportunities for accelerating the pace, scale, Developing country Parties have different starting points and effectiveness of capacity building in order to support and, without capacity building, some may struggle to developing countries in meeting the requirements of the implement the Paris Agreement’s enhanced transpar- enhanced transparency framework. The paper begins by ency framework. describing the modalities, procedures, and guidelines for the enhanced transparency framework as adopted by Some developing countries have struggled to Parties in December 2018. meet their transparency reporting requirements under the pre-Paris requirements, suggesting This paper reviews the challenges and gaps in significant opportunities for improvement and capacities that countries face related to imple- additional capacity-building support. The require- menting the enhanced transparency framework ments for the enhanced transparency framework will of the Paris Agreement and lessons learned from take effect by 2024. Until then, countries will continue the “transparency journey” thus far. In addition to to use the pre-Paris arrangements.1 Very few developing a description of countries’ reports on their capacity gaps, country Parties have been able to submit their required the paper uses 13 case study countries to highlight both transparency reports within the suggested time frame. the challenges and opportunities faced by efforts to build Currently, developing country Parties are to provide and mobilize capacity more effectively and sustainably, national communications every four years as well as fulfill international requirements, and best collaborate to biennial update reports. National communications were achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement. The case stud- first put in place by the Convention in 1992, while the ies are not meant to capture the full extent of national biennial update reports represent a newer requirement. efforts. Rather, they are intended to provide examples The first biennial update reports were due at the end of from which lessons can be drawn, as well as inspiration 2014. Only 45 of the 156 first biennial update reports for further efforts. had been submitted as of February 1, 2019. If developing countries are to improve upon the low submission rate, Key messages emerge from the paper on how additional capacity building will be needed, and efforts countries have built their capacities to meet will need to be directed toward implementation of the transparency-related goals by addressing gover- enhanced transparency framework. nance issues (institutional arrangements) and striving to provide the specific transparency information required. These lessons may be famil- Capacity-building efforts do not “start from iar to capacity-building experts and practitioners but scratch.” In 2001, countries agreed to the capacity- remain key challenges that need to be addressed. Box building framework under the UNFCCC. This frame- ES-1 summarizes these lessons and lists the case studies work outlines 15 priority areas to focus capacity-building explored in the paper. efforts. Together with previous experiences in capacity building, this framework provides essential insights Processes set up by the Paris Agreement can to inform future efforts to build capacity for the Paris be helpful in supporting countries in enhanc- Agreement’s enhanced transparency framework. ing their capacities. The paper discusses how three separate processes under the Paris Agreement—the 2 | Building Capacity for the Enhanced Transparency Framework Box ES-1 | Summary of Key Lessons and Corresponding Case Studies Building and mobilizing capacity is a process that takes Tracking tools and platforms are emerging to increase ▪ time and requires countries to “learn by doing.” Developed ▪ countries’ abilities to monitor support received and countries built their capacities to meet transparency require- progress toward their commitments. Countries are seeking to ments under the Convention, in part, based on their experiences build systems that allow them to more effectively track and report with the Kyoto Protocol. Expectations that developing countries on support received. The example of Colombia’s Climate Finance can build similar capacity overnight are unrealistic. A case MRV system illustrates one innovative system for tracking finance study from Japan illustrates the multidecade

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