Southeast Asia Network for Enhancing Climate Transparency

SOUTHEAST ASIA NETWORK FOR ENHANCING CLIMATE TRANSPARENCY

GLOBAL SUPPORT PROGRAMME – GSP

INITIAL CAPACITY ASSESSMENT REPORT FOR THE GSP

SOUTH EAST ASIA NETWORK

SOUTHEAST ASIA NETWORK FOR ENHANCING CLIMATE TRANSPARENCY

Initial capacity assessment report for the GSP South East Asia network

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DISCLAIMER This publication has been produced as part of a component of the Global Support Programme (GSP) implemented by the UNEP DTU Partnership (UDP). The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the GSP or UDP.

PUBLISHED BY Global Support Programme (GSP) and UNEP DTU Partnership (UDP).

PREPARED UNDER The Global Support Programme (GSP) funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and jointly implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

Acknowledgment

We would like to express our gratitude to the Global Support Programme for selecting the South Asia and Southeast Asia regions to establish the collaboration networks in order to enhance the climate transparency activities.

We appreciate the contributions and continued support extended by all representatives of the countries and international organizations such as UNDP, UNEP, UNFCCC, and ASEAN Secretariat.

We would also like to appreciate Ms. Fatima-Zahra Taibi, Senior Advisor in UNEP-DTU Partnership, for her contribution in supervising, reviewing, editing, and providing valuable inputs to improve the quality of this report.

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List of Acronyms

2006 IPCC Guidelines 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories AC Adaptation Communication AD Activity data AFOLU Agriculture Forestry and Other Land Use AR Assessment Report BN Brunei BTR Biennial transparency report BUR Biennial Update Report CGE Consultative Group of Experts CMA the meeting of the Parties to the Paris Agreement CO Carbon monoxide COP Conference of the Parties CTF Common Tabular Format EF Emission Factors ETF Enhanced Transparency Framework FNC Fourth National Communication FOLU Forestry and other land use GHGs Greenhouse gases GPG Good Practice Guidance GSP Global Support Programme GWP Global Warming Potential HFC Hydrofluorocarbons ICA International Consultation and Analysis ICAT Initiatives for Climate Action Transparency ID Indonesia INC Initial National Communication IPCC Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change IPCC good practice Good Practice Guidance and Uncertainty Management in guidance National Greenhouse Gas Inventories IPCC good practice Good Practice Guidance for Land Use, Land-Use Change, and guidance for LULUCF Forestry

IPPU Industrial processes and product use KH Cambodia LA Lao -PDR LULUCF Land Use, Land Use Change, and Forest MM Myanmar MPGs Modalities, Procedures, and Guidelines MRV Measurement, Reporting, and Verification MY Malaysia NC National Communication NDC Nationally Determined Contributions NIR National Inventory Report NMVOC Non-methane volatile organic compounds

NOX Nitrogen oxides PFC Perfluorocarbons PH Philippines QA/QC Quality assurance/quality control Revised 1996 IPCC Revised 1996 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Guidelines Inventories SEA Southeast Asia SEANM Southeast Asia Network Members

SF6 Sulfur hexafluoride SG Singapore SNC Second National Communication

SOX Sulfur oxides TH Thailand TIMES The Integrated MARKAL-EFOM System TNC Third National Communication UNEP United Nations Environment Program UNFCCC United Nation Framework Convention on Climate Change VN Vietnam

Glossary of Terms

Adaptation Adjustment in natural or human systems in response to actual or expected climatic stimuli or their effects, which moderates harm or exploit beneficial opportunities. Capacity In the context of climate change, the process of developing the building technical skills and institutional capability in developing countries and economies in transition to enable them to address effectively the causes and results of climate change. COP Conference of the Parties. The supreme body of the Convention. It currently meets once a year to review the Convention's progress. The word "conference" is not used here in the sense of "meeting" but rather of "association". The "Conference" meets in-sessional periods, for example, the "fourth session of the Conference of the Parties." Fugitive fuel Greenhouse-gas emissions as by-products or waste or loss in the emissions process of fuel production, storage, or transport, such as methane given off during oil and gas drilling and refining, or leakage of natural gas from pipelines. GWP An index representing the combined effect of the differing times greenhouse gases remain in the atmosphere and their relative effectiveness in absorbing outgoing infrared radiation. ICA International consultation and analysis, a form of review currently being negotiated and designed in the UNFCCC intergovernmental process. LULUCF A greenhouse gas inventory sector that covers emissions and removals of greenhouse gases resulting from direct human-induced land use, land-use change, and forestry activities. LDCs The world's poorest countries. The criteria currently used by the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) for designation as an LDC include low income, human resource weakness, and economic vulnerability. Currently, 48 countries have been designated by the UN General Assembly as LDCs.

Mitigation In the context of climate change, a human intervention to reduce the sources or enhance the sinks of greenhouse gases. Examples include using fossil fuels more efficiently for industrial processes or electricity generation, switching to solar energy or wind power, improving the insulation of buildings, and expanding forests and other "sinks" to remove greater amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. MRV Measurable, reportable, and verifiable. A process/concept that potentially supports greater transparency in the climate change regime. National A document submitted following the Convention (and the Protocol) communication by which a Party informs other Parties of activities undertaken to address climate change. Most developed countries have now submitted their fifth national communications; most developing countries have completed their first national communication and are in the process of preparing their second. NDC According to Article 4 paragraph 2 of the Paris Agreement, each Party shall prepare, communicate, and maintain successive nationally determined contributions (NDCs) that it intends to achieve. Parties shall pursue domestic mitigation measures, to achieve the objectives of such contributions. Non-Annex I This refers to countries that have ratified or acceded to the United Parties Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change that is not included in Annex I of the Convention. Party A state (or regional economic integration organization such as the European Union) that agrees to be bound by a treaty and for which the treaty has entered into force. Sink Any process, activity, or mechanism which removes a greenhouse gas, an aerosol, or a precursor of greenhouse gas from the atmosphere. Forests and other vegetation are considered sinks because they remove carbon dioxide through photosynthesis.

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Sustainable Development that meets the needs of the present without development compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Technology A broad set of processes covering the flows of know-how, experience, transfer and equipment for mitigating and adapting to climate change among different stakeholders Vulnerability The degree to which a system is susceptible to, or unable to cope with, adverse effects of climate change, including climate variability and extremes. Vulnerability is a function of the character, magnitude, and rate of climate variation to which a system is exposed, its sensitivity, and its adaptive capacity. Source: UNFCCC- 2020d, Glossary of climate change acronyms and terms

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Table of Contents

Acknowledgment ...... III

List of Acronyms ...... IV

List of Tables ...... XI

List of Figures ...... XII

List of Annexes ...... XIII

Executive Summary ...... XIV

1 Background ...... 19

2 Introduction ...... 20

3 Methodology...... 26

4 Overview of the status of National Communications of South East Asia ...... 27

4.1 Status of the submission, use of IPCCC guidelines and the GWP ...... 27

4.1.1 Status of the submissions ...... 27

4.1.2 Use of the IPCCC guidelines ...... 28

4.1.3 Use of the Global Warming Potentials (GWP) ...... 29

4.2 Analysis of the content of the NCs to identify gaps and needs ...... 30

4.2.1 Outline of the NCs ...... 30

4.2.2 National Circumstances...... 31

4.2.3 National GHG inventory ...... 34

4.2.4 Programs containing measures to facilitate adequate adaptation to climate change 40

4.2.5 Programmes containing measures to mitigate climate change ...... 42

4.2.6 Other information considered relevant to the achievement of the Convention ...... 43

4.2.7 Constraints and gaps, and related financial, technical, and capacity needs 44

4.2.8 Common capacity building needs of the SEANM ...... 45

4.3 Existing institutional arrangement ...... 46

4.3.1 Existing institutional arrangement ...... 46

4.3.2 Common gaps identified in the existing institutional arrangements ...... 47

5 Overview of the status of Biennial Update Reports of South East Asia ...... 48

5.1 Status of the submission, use of IPCCC guidelines and the GWP ...... 48

5.1.1 Status of the submissions ...... 48

5.1.2 Use of the IPCCC guidelines ...... 49

5.1.3 Use of the Global Warming Potentials (GWPs) ...... 50

5.2 Analysis of the content of the BUR to identify gaps and needs ...... 51

5.2.1 Outline of the BUR...... 51

5.2.2 National circumstances and institutional arrangement ...... 52

5.2.3 National GHG Inventory ...... 53

5.2.4 Mitigation actions and their effect, including associated methodology and assumptions ...... 58

5.2.5 Other information considered relevant to the achievement of the convention 59

5.2.6 Constraints and gaps, and related financial, technical and capacity needs, including a description of support needed and received ...... 59

5.3 Existing Instituional Arrangement ...... 61

5.4 Outcomes of the international consultation and analysis (ICA) ...... 62

5.4.1 Technical Analyses for the South East Asian Region ...... 62

5.4.2 Facilitative sharing for the South East Asian Region ...... 63

6 Conlusion ...... 64

7 References ...... 66

List of Tables

Table 1: Preparation and submission status of National Communications of SEANM ..... 27 Table 2: Aligning the outline of NCs submitted by SEANM with UNFCCC requirements 31 Table 3: Status and gaps in the content of the national circumstances chapter of NC submitted by SEANM ...... 32 Table 4: Content of the GHG inventory in the NCs submitted by SEANM ...... 36 Table 5: Analysis of the programmes which contain measures to facilitate adequate adaptation to climate change in SEA ...... 40 Table 6: Analysis of the programs which contains measures to mitigate climate change in SEA ...... 42 Table 7: Other information related to the implementation of the Convention as given in NCs of SEANM ...... 43 Table 8: Identified constraints and gaps, financial, technical, and capacity needs of SEANM ...... 44 Table 9: Common capacity building needs as per the NCs of the SEANM ...... 45 Table 10: Preparation and sumbmission status of BURs of SEANM ...... 48 Table 11: Aligning the outline of BUR submitted by SEANM with UNFCCC requirements ...... 51 Table 12: Gaps in the content of the national circumstances chapter of BUR submitted by SEANM ...... 52 Table 13: Content of the GHG inventory in the BURs submitted by SEANM ...... 55 Table 14: Content of the Mitigation actions in the BURs submitted by SANM ...... 58 Table 15: Information relevant to the achievement of the convention in the BURs submitted by SEANM ...... 59 Table 16: Constrains, gaps and related financial and technical capacity needs identified in BURs submitted by SANM...... 60 Table 17: Common capacity building needs as per the BURs of the SEANM ...... 60

List of Figures

Figure 1 Key elements of Enhanced Transparency Framework ...... 20 Figure 2: Key elements of international consultation analyses ...... 25 Figure 3: IPCC guidelines used by countries in its latest NC ...... 28 Figure 4: GWP used by the SANM in its latest NC ...... 29 Figure 5: Generalized institutional arrangement of NC for the SEANM ...... 46 Figure 6: IPCC guidelines used by SEANM in its latest BUR...... 49 Figure 7: GWP used by the SEANM in its latest BUR ...... 50 Figure 8: Generalized institutional arrangement of BUR for the SEANM ...... 61

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List of Annexes Annex I Overview of National Communications and Biennial Update Reports Annex II Assess the content of the National Communications against the UNFCCC guidelines Annex III Existing Institutional arrangements to prepare National Communications and Biennial Update Reports Annex IV Assess the content of the Biennial Update Reports against the UNFCCC guidelines Annex V Capacity building requirements of the country as per the National Communications Annex VI Capacity building requirements of the country as per the Biennial Update Reports Annex VII Outcomes of the international consultation and analysis (ICA)

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Executive Summary

The South East Asia network for enhancing climate transparency was initiated by the Global Support Programme (GSP) in order to provide technical guidance and assistance to South East Asian countries for the preparation of National Communications (NCs) and Biennial Update Reports (BURs).

Support for the network members is provided through active transparency entities, regional centers and international experts. Various means, such as, webinars, workshops, bilateral meetings, multilateral meetings, desk review of the documents, etc. will be used to support members. In addition, members will be encouraged to exchange data and information, tools and methodologies, lessons learnt and good practices on the platform to be developed under this assignment in order to enhance the quality and utility of their reports.

Currently ten countries including Brunei(BN), Cambodia(KH), Indonesia(ID), Laos (LA), Malaysia (MY), Myanmar(MM), Philippines(PH), Singapore(SG), Thailand(TH) and Vietnam (VN) have confirmed their participation to the SEA Network.

Laying foundation to the Network, background data related to the transparency activities of the network members were studied. Latest NCs, BURs and NDCs submitted by network members to the UNFCCC were assessed against the requirements of the Convention.

A. National communications

In the SEA network, the latest NCs submitted by Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao-PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam were considered for the analysis. This includes 1 Initial National Communication (INC), 4 Second National Communications (SNC), 4 Third National Communications (TNC), and 1 Fourth National Communication (FNC).

In line with the UNFCCC guidelines for preparation of NCs, majority of countries have used the 1996 IPCC guideline and the IPCC AR2 for the report preparation. However, four countries in SEA namely Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Myanmar have used the 2006 IPCC guideline while two countries; Singapore and Vietnam have used the 2006 guideline only for selected sectors.

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Following the UNFCCC guidelines for NCs, the content of the report were analyzed under six main categories: i) National Circumstances; ii) National GHG Inventory; iii) Programmes containing measures to facilitate adequate adaptation to climate change; iv) Programmes containing measures to mitigate climate change; v) Other Information considered relevant to the achievement of the objectives of the convention; and vi) Constraints and gaps and related financial, technical and capacity needs.

Among others, the following were identified as gaps in the NCs of SEA countries;

I) Institutional arrangement

• Unavailability of clear TORs of various committees, task groups, and/or expert/thematic working groups involved in the preparation of the national communication; and • Absence of details on the overall institutional arrangements for the implementation, monitoring of adaptation/mitigation priorities.

II) GHG inventory

• Unavailability of procedures for managing uncertainties in inventory data and GHG emission calculations; • Exclusion of emission sources such as solvent and other product use from the inventory; and • Use of the Tier 1 approach for most of the emission source analysis

III) Adaptation and mitigation

• Adaptation measures are not evaluated in terms of costs, practicability, environmental and cultural appropriateness; and • Unavailability of costs associated with the GHG reductions/mitigation projects.

IV) Other

• Details on the steps taken to integrate climate change considerations into national development and policy formulation are not available.

The transparency network can support the countries in SEA region to overcome the identified gaps through mobilizing international expertise, facilitating knowledge/data sharing, and training.

B. Biennial Update Reports

Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos PDR, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam have submitted BURs to the UNFCCC. Submissions include 2 First Biennial Update Reports (BUR 1), 4 Second Biennial Update Reports (BUR 2) and 1 Third Biennial Update Report (BUR 3). However, Brunei, Myanmar and Philippines are yet to submit their initial BURs.

In preparing the BURs, countries have commonly used the IPCC 2006 guideline . IPCC AR2 and AR 4 were commonly used as the references to the GWP values. Singapore, Thailand and Lao PDR have used the IPCC AR2. IPCC AR4 were used by Cambodia, Malaysia and Vietnam. Indonesia is the only country which has reffered to the GWP values of the IPCC AR5 report.

In accordance with the UNFCCC guidelines for BUR , contents of the report were analyzed under five main categories: i)National circumstances and institutional arrangement; ii) National GHG Inventory; iii) Mitigation actions and their effect, including associated methodology and assumptions; iv) Other information considered relevant to the achievement of the convention; and v) Constraints and gaps, and related financial, technical and capacity needs, including a description of support needed and received.

Gaps identified in the BURs for South East Asian countries are listed below:

I) Institutional arrangement

• Unavailability of clear TORs of various committees, task groups and/or expert/thematic working groups involved in the preparation of the biennial update report.

II) GHG inventory

• Unavailability of procedures for managing uncertainties in inventory data and GHG emission calculations;

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• Commonly Observed exclusions ( E.g. Emission sources such as solvent and other product use from the inventory); and • Use of Tier 1 approach for most of the emission source analyses.

III) Mitigation actions and their effect, including associated methodology and assumptions

• Lack of description of the mitigation action, nature of the action, coverage and indicators to track the progress of mitigation actions and Absence of the details related to market mechanisms

IV) Other information considered relevant to the achievement of the convention are unavailability of information on;

• Climate change research and systematic observation; • Climate change education, training, and public awareness; • Measures to promote information exchange and networking; • Constraints and gaps, and related financial, technical and capacity needs, including a description of support needed and received; and • Information on opportunities to implement adaptation measures

C. Institutional arrangement

As per submitted NCs and BURs, the countries have project specific and/or permanent institutional arrangements, which include, among others, national coordination agency/unit, data sources, etc.

Countries have maintained similar institutional arrangements over the successive submissions of international reporting to UNFCCC (NCs and BURs), while only minor modifications were observed.

Common elements of the institutional arrangements established by each country in order to develop the NCs and BURs are:

• The entity reporting to the UNFCCC (Eg: Environment Ministry, Climate Change Secretariat);

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• The entities overseing the operations within the country ( Eg: National Steering Committee, National Project Director ); and • Stakeholders and other institutions which provide required data and information on GHG inventory, vulnerability, and adaptation, etc.

The Entity reporting to the UNFCCC is the subject-specific ministry of any country (E.g., Ministry of Environment). This usually acts as the implementing and executing agency. Country specific differences were observed with the emergence of the second and the third layers of the institutional arrangements.

Country-wise similarities and gaps in each institutional arrangement were also observed and a summary of each given.

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1 Background Global Support Programme (GSP) is jointly implemented by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) to provide technical guidance and assistance to non-Annex I Parties for the preparation of National Communications (NCs) and Biennial Update Reports (BURs). Under the GSP, countries will be provided with technical backstopping, tools, and targeted guidance, as well as training, to carry out the preparation of these reports. Assistance will be provided to strengthen the national institutional arrangements on MRV to meet the new reporting requirements and also to ensure alignment with national development priorities.

Support will be provided through regional centers and international experts. Parties will also be encouraged to exchange data and information, tools and methodologies, lessons learned, and good practices to enhance the quality and utility of their reports.

The program started in 2015. First phase of the program will be ended in July 2021. Within this period, it has successfully established knowledge-sharing networks in the African, Latin-American, Caribbean and Eastern European regions. Activities were exppanded to Asian region through the establishment of two networks covering South Asia (SA) and South-east Asia (SEA) to enhance the climate transparency of the region (UNDP & UNEP, 2020).

Climate Smart Initiatives (Pvt) Ltd. has been selected as the leading technical expert on this network. UNEP DTU will coordinate and provide technical assistance to the Parties.

Objective of the project

The main objective of establishing the Southeast Asia Network is to facilitate the sustainable development of technical and institutional capacities through the exchange of experiences and adoption of best practices for facilitating the timely development and submission of NCs and BURs.

Geographical boundary

Southeast AsiaError! Bookmark not defined. consists of the following 10 countries:

Brunei (BN), Cambodia (KH), Indonesia (ID), Laos (LA), Malaysia (MY), Myanmar (MM), Philippines (PH), Singapore (SG), Thailand (TH), Vietnam (VN)

2 Introduction

Non-Annex I Parties are required to submit their first National Communication (NC) within three years of entering the Convention, and every four years thereafter. The NCs are to be prepared following the guidelines contained in decision 17/CP.8 (UNFCCC, 2020h).

The first BURs of the non-Annex I Parties were to be submitted by December 2014 and every two years thereafter. Provisions were given to the least developed country Parties and Small Island Developing States to submit BURs at their discretion. The BURs are to be prepared following the guidelines contained in decision 2/CP.17 (UNFCCC, 2020a). The last Biennial Update Report (BUR) is to be submitted at the latest by 31st December 2024. The final biennial update reports which are submitted no later than 31 December 2024 will undergo the last ICA cycle during the period 2024-2026 (UNFCCC, 2020i).

With the introduction of the ETF by the Paris Agreement, BTR becomes the key report, including the NIR, to be submitted every two years starting from the first submission, not later than 31st December 2024. This way, the BTR will supersede the BUR for Parties to the Paris Agreement, at the latest by the end of 2024. (Maso & Canu, 2019).

Figure 1 Key elements of Enhanced Transparency Framework

Source: Maso & Canu -2019, Unfolding the reporting requirements for Developing Countries under the Paris Agreement's: Enhanced Transparency Framework 20

I. National Communications (NC)

National communication is a vital medium for the exchange of information on how each Party is implementing the Convention and also for highlighting the issues, problems, gaps, and constraints thereof, faced by non-Annex I Parties. It also facilitates the presentation of the information which guides the Global Environment Facility (GEF), as an operating entity of the financial mechanism of the Convention, in providing financial resources towards meeting the implementation costs of the Convention. Further, it provides the COP with the information required to assess the overall aggregated effects of the implementation of the Convention.

Each Party to the Convention prepares NC periodically following the guidelines developed and adopted by the Conference of the Parties (COP). 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, to improve them and established a Consultative Group of Experts (CGE) on National Communications from non-Annex I Parties to improve the process of preparation of NCs by non-Annex I Parties. At COP 8 (New Delhi, 2002) Parties adopted the revised guidelines for the preparation of national communications from Parties not included in Annex I to the Convention1 (UNFCCC, 2020e). (Hereinafter referred as UNFCCC guideline for NC)

The national communication serves as a medium for the presentation of information in a consistent, transparent, comparable, and flexible manner. As per Article 4, paragraph 1, of the Convention the following information needs to be provided by the Parties in their NCs (UNFCCC, 2009).

(a) 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;

Under this, non-Annex I Parties are to report on the following GHGs: carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and precursor gases. The extent to which non-Annex I Parties report on halocarbons will depend on the availability of data and financial resources.

1 https://unfccc.int/resource/docs/cop8/07a02.pdf#page=2 21

(b) A general description of steps taken or envisaged by the Party to implement the Convention

Non Annex I parties may report on programs containing measures that facilitate adequate adaptation to climate change and that mitigate climate change.

(c) Any other information that the non-Annex I Party considers relevant to the achievement of the objectives of the Convention and suitable for inclusion in its communication, including if feasible, material relevant for calculations of global emission trends.

Non-Annex I Parties are to provide information on their contribution to and participation in research and systematic observations; their implementation of the framework for the transfer of technology for adaptation and mitigation; actions and issues relating to climate change education, training, and public awareness, capacity-building and information, and networking.

As per the UNFCCC guideline for NC, Non-Annex I Parties:

1. Should use the Revised 1996 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories (hereinafter referred to as Revised 1996 IPCC Guidelines), 2. Are encouraged to apply the IPCC Good Practice Guidance and Uncertainty Management in National Greenhouse Gas Inventories (hereinafter referred to as the IPCC Good Practice Guidance), taking into account the need to improve transparency, consistency, comparability, completeness, and accuracy in inventories,

3. Are wishing to report on aggregated GHG emissions and removals expressed in CO2 equivalents should use the global warming potentials (GWP) provided by the IPCC in its Second Assessment Report (“1995 IPCC GWP Values”) based on the effects of GHGs over a 100-year time horizon (hereinafter referred to as AR2). (UNFCCC, 2002)

II. Biennial Update Report (BUR) The scope of the BURs is to provide an update of the most recently submitted national communication and to provide additional information about mitigation actions taken or envisaged to undertake and their effects as well as support needed and received. COP 17 adopted the “UNFCCC biennial update reporting guidelines for Parties not included in Annex I to the Convention”, which are contained in Annex III to decision 2/CP.172 (UNFCCC, 2020b).

The BURs should be submitted either as a summary part of the national communication in the year in which the national communication is submitted or as a stand-alone update report. This essentially means that, if a non-Annex I Party is due to submit a BUR in the same year as its national communication is due, the Party may summarize the relevant information from the national communication addressing the key BUR elements(UNFCCC, 2020b).

The Consultative Group of Experts (CGE), with the support of the secretariat, assists developing country Parties in preparing their BURs by developing and making available training materials3 for the preparation of BURs and also conducting regional training workshops aimed at enhancing the capacity of national experts to prepare high-quality BURs consistent with the reporting requirements contained in decision 2/CP.17, Annex III (UNFCCC, 2020c).

Key elements of BUR

1. National circumstances and institutional arrangements relevant to the preparation of the national communications continuously 2. National inventory of anthropogenic emissions by sources and removal by sinks of all GHGs not controlled by the Montreal Protocol, including a national inventory report 3. Mitigation actions and their effects including associated methodologies and assumptions

2 https://unfccc.int/resource/docs/2011/cop17/eng/09a01.pdf#page=39 3https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/transparency-and-reporting/support-for-developing-countries/tools-and-training- materials-for-non-Annex-i-reporting#eq-4 23

I. Name and description of the mitigation action, including information on the nature of the action, coverage (i.e sectors and gases), quantitative goals, and progress indicators II. Methodologies and assumptions III. Objectives of the action and steps taken or envisaged to achieve that action IV. Progress of implementation of the mitigation actions and the underlying steps taken or envisaged, and the results achieved, such as estimated outcomes (metrics depending on the type of action) and estimated emission reductions to the extent possible V. International market mechanism VI. Domestic measurement reporting and verification 4. Constraints and gaps, and related financial, technical, and capacity needs, including a description of support needed and received 5. Any other information that the non-Annex I Party considers relevant to the achievement of the objective to the Convention and suitable for inclusion in its BUR 6. Technical Annex (optional)

III. International Consultation and analysis (ICA)

International Consultation and Analysis (ICA) was one of the important decision came out from COP 16. The main task of the ICA was to analyze the Biennial Update Reports (BURs) from developing countries. It intends to increase the transparency of mitigation actions and also to support countries to identify their requirements in capacity building to perform better in the next submission.

International Consultancy Process is comprised of two main steps as follows;

− A technical analyses of BUR by a team of experts (TTE) − A facilitative sharing of views (In the form of a workshop)

The following diagram illustrate the key elements of an international consultation analysis:

Figure 2: Key elements of international consultation analyses

Source: UNFCCC-2020f, international consultation and analysis

Outcomes of the technical analyses and facilitative sharing are reported and documented separately in the ICA Cycle. Specifically, in the technical analyses, details are reported under three main subsections as follows:

− The extent to which the elements of information on greenhouse gases are included in BUR reports. − The extent to which the elements of information on mitigation actions are included in BUR reports. − The extent to which the elements of information on finance, technology, and capacity-building needs and support received are included in the BUR reports.

3 Methodology

All ten countries which represent South-east Asia Network Members (SEANM) have submitted at least one national communication to the UNFCCC. The Latest submitted National Communications and Biennial Update Reports (BURs) were gathered from the UNFCCC databases4.

A checklist was prepared based on the latest UNFCCC guideline for NCs1 and the BURs2. Then the content of the latest submitted NC and BUR were analyzed against the checklist.

A questionnaire to identify the needs of each country to improve the reporting related to the transparency activities was developed and shared among the countries. Further, bilateral and multilateral discussions were carried out to understand the needs of each country and to identify the support required to improve transparency reporting.

4 https://unfccc.int/national-reports-from-non-Annex-i-parties 26

4 Overview of the status of National Communications of South East Asia

4.1 Status of the submission, use of IPCCC guidelines and the GWP

4.1.1 Status of the submissions As indicated in the Table 1, all South East Asia Network Members (SEANM) have at least submitted their INC. Singapore has already submitted its FNC. Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand have submitted their TNC and currently in the process of preparing their fourth NC. As of 2020, Cambodia and Laos are also in the process of preparing the TNC. Myanmar has only submitted its INC and is currently in the process of preparing the SNCs (GEF, 2019a, 2019b, 2020; UNDP, 2014; UNEP, 2006, 2009a, 2013, 2014). Please refer to Annex I for more details.

Table 1: Preparation and submission status of National Communications of SEANM

Country NC1Error! NC2Error! NC3Error! Bookmark NC4 Bookmark Bookmark not defined. not defined. not defined. Brunei 23 Aug 2016 25 Nov 2017 - - Cambodia [LDC] 8 Oct 2002 13 Jan 2016 In progress5 - Indonesia 27 Oct 1999 14 Jan 2011 14 Feb 2018 In progress6 (original submission: 31 Jan 2018) Laos [LDC] 2 Nov 2000 24 Jun 2013 In progress7 - Malaysia 22 Aug 2000 14 Apr 2011 27 Sep 2018 In progress8

5http://addis.unep.org/projectdatabases/00707/fmi_folder/eea/cambodia-enabling-activities-for-preparation-of-the-third- national-communication-under-the-united-nationals-framework-convention-on-climate-change/view. 6https://www.thegef.org/project/fourth-national-communication-and-4th-biennial-update-report-united-nations-framework. 7http://addis.unep.org/projectdatabases/00931/fmi_folder/eea/lao-pdr-enabling-activities-for-preparation-of-the-third-national- communication-under-the-united-nationals-framework-convention-on-climate-change/view. 8https://www.thegef.org/project/fourth-national-communication-and-third-biennial-update-report-climate-change-malaysia

Myanmar [LDC] 26 Dec 2012 In progress9 - - Philippines 19 May 2000 29 Dec 2014 - - Singapore [SIDS] 21 Aug 2000 12 Nov 2010 8 Dec 2014 27 Dec 2018Error! Bookmark not defined. Thailand 13 Nov 2000 24 Mar 2011 29 Aug 2018 In progress10 Vietnam 2 Dec 2003 7 Dec 2010 20 Apr 2019 (Original submission: - 2 Feb 2019) Source: Own work, 2020

4.1.2 Use of the IPCCC guidelines Singapore is the only country that has used the ‘Supplement to the 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories: Wetlands’. Brunei, Cambodia, and Lao-PDR have used the inventory software for the analysis.

Use of different IPCC guidelines by SEANM countries inlatest NCs

8 7 7 6 6 5 5 4 3 3 3 No.of countries 2 1 1 1996 2000 2003 2006 2013 Software

IPCC guidelines

Figure 3: IPCC guidelines used by countries in its latest NC

9http://addis.unep.org/projectdatabases/00993/fmi_folder/eea/myanmar-enabling-activities-for-preparation-of-the-second- national-communication-under-the-united-nationals-framework-convention-on-climate-change/view. http://www.un-gsp.org/sites/default/files/documents/myanmar_prodoc_26.12.2006.pdf 10https://www.thegef.org/project/thailand-s-fourth-national-communication-and-third-biennial-update- report-nc4-bur3-unfccc 28

Source: Own work, 2020

As illustrated in Figure 3, out of eight countries, six countries have used 1996 IPCC guidelines. Four countries namely Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Myanmar have used the 2006 IPCC guideline while two countries (Singapore and Vietnam) have used the 2006 IPCC guideline only for selected sectors. Please refer to Annex I for more details.

Key to Figure 3

• Revised 1996 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories (IPCC 1996) were used by Cambodia, Lao PDR, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam • IPCC Good Practice Guidance and Uncertainty Management in National Greenhouse Gas Inventories (IPCC 2000) were used by Brunei, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam • IPCC Good Practice Guidance for Land Use, Land-use Change and Forestry (LULUCF) (IPCC 2003) were used by Cambodia, Indonesia, Vietnam • 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories (IPCC 2006) were used by Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore • 2013 Supplement to the 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories: Wetlands (IPCC 2013) were used by Singapore • IPCC inventory software (software) were used by Brunei, Cambodia, Lao PDR

4.1.3 Use of the Global Warming Potentials (GWP) The majority of SEANMs have used AR2 for the analyses. However, other SEANMs have used different ARs as shown in Figure 4 below:

Use of different GWP potentials by SEANM countries in its latest NCs 8 7 7 6 5 4 3 2

No.of countries 2 1 1 0 AR2 AR3 AR4 AR5 N/A IPCC Assessment Report used as reference for GWP

Figure 4: GWP used by the SANM in its latest NC

Source: Own work, 2020

Key to Figure 4:

• Assessment Report 2 (AR2) was used by Brunei, Indonesia, Lao-PDR, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand • Assessment Report 3 (AR3) • Assessment Report 4 (AR4) was used by Malaysia, Vietnam • Assessment Report 5 (AR5) • AR details were not indicated by Cambodia

4.2 Analysis of the content of the NCs to identify gaps and needs

4.2.1 Outline of the NCs As indicated in Table 2, all the SEANM except Brunei and Singapore (both countries have not included chapters 5 and 6) have followed the guidelines given by the UNFCCC for the NC. Country specific analysis on the content of the NCs are given in Annex II.

Outline of a National communication as per the UNFCCC guideline

National Circumstances 30

1. National GHG Inventory 2. Programs containing measures to facilitate adequate adaptation to climate change 3. Programs containing measures to mitigate climate change 4. Other Information considered relevant to the achievement of the objectives of the convention 5. Constraints and gaps and related financial, technical, and capacity needs

Table 2: Aligning the outline of NCs submitted by SEANM with UNFCCC requirements

Content BN KH ID LA MY MM PH SG TH VN National Circumstances √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ National GHG Inventory √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ Programs containing measures to facilitate adequate adaptation to √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ climate change Programs containing measures to mitigate climate change √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ Other Information considered relevant to the achievement of the x √ √ √ √ √ √ x √ √ objectives of the convention Constraints and gaps and related financial, technical, and capacity x √ √ √ √ √ √ x √ √ needs (√) - Reported (x) – Not Reported

Source: Own work, 2020

4.2.2 National Circumstances All the countries, to different extents, have reported the data related to the national circumstances. However, as given in Table 3, two most common gaps of the SEANM can be identified.

Four out of the ten countries have not reported on education. The unavailability of systematic institutional arrangement was also identified as a common issue in the region.

Considering the above facts, support can be provided to gather data related to the missing sections. Assistance can also be provided to establish a systematic institutional arrangements with properly defined roles and responsibilities.

Table 3: Status and gaps in the content of the national circumstances chapter of NC submitted by SEANM

Content BN KH ID LA MY MM PH SG TH VN Relevant information provided on the socio-economic and environmental conditions that provide an overall understanding of climate change Geographical characteristics, including climate, forests, land use, and other environmental characteristics √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √

Education, including scientific and technical research institutions √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √

Economy, including energy, transport, industry, mining, tourism, agriculture, √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ fisheries, waste, and health

Education, including scientific and technical research institutions x x x √ √ √ √ x √ √

Development of institutional structure to sustain the national communication process The roaster of institutions involved in the preparation of the national √ √ √ √ √ x √ √ √ √ communication

Terms of reference for the various committees, task groups, and/or x √ √ x √ x x √ x √ expert/thematic working groups involved in the preparation of the national communication. (√) - Reported (x) – Not Reported Source: Own work, 2020

4.2.3 National GHG inventory Brunei and the Philippines are the only SEANMs which have not provided the details on the thematic working group established to prepare the GHG inventory.

Same as for the SA region, the unavailability of procedures for managing uncertainties in inventory data and GHG emission calculations can be identified as the most common gap of the SEA.

Therefore, support can be provided to establish proper data management systems/institutional arrangements for countries where there is a gap to collect data and to establish working groups (Table 4). Assistance can be provided to establish a QA/QC process to validate the inventories and to establish a peer-review process. a) Energy

Apart from Cambodia who has not reported data under the fugitive emissions from fuel, all nine countries have reported emissions attributed to both fuel combustion and fugitive emissions. Knowledge and experience of the nine countries can be shared with Cambodia in order to assess the emissions attributed to the fugitive emissions of the fuel.

However, according to the available data, Myanmar and Singapore have used both Tier 1 and Tier 2 for the calculations. All the other countries have used the Tier 1 approach.

Support can be provided for the region to develop country/region-specific emission factors to improve the analysis with a higher Tier. b) Industrial Process

Table 4 shows the emission sources analyzed by each country to calculate the attributed emissions; and the approach used for the analysis. As indicated in the Table, Cambodia is the only country that has excluded the emissions attributed to the Industrial process. Malaysia has covered all of the categories under the industrial process except for the ‘consumption of halocarbons and sulfur hexafluoride’. None of the other countries has reported the emissions attributed to this source. Further, except Malaysia, none of the other countries has reported the emissions attributed to the ‘production of halocarbons and sulfur hexafluoride’.

According to the available data three out of the six countries have used a combination of Tier 1 and Tier 2 for the calculations.

Therefore, depending on the applicability, support can be provided to assess the emissions attributed to the consumption of halocarbons and sulfur hexafluoride and the production of halocarbons and sulfur hexafluoride. Relevant information and experiences can be shared among the countries to develop country/region-specific emission factors.

c) Solvent and other product use Three out of ten countries namely, Brunei, Myanmar, and Singapore, have reported the emissions attributed to solvent and other product use. Among those, Brunei is the only country to report details on the approach they have used for the assessment (Tier 1).

Support can be provided to overcome the gaps and barriers in analyzing the emissions attributed to this sector. Further, assistance can be provided to develop country/region- specific emission factors to conduct a more accurate analysis.

d) Land- Use Change and Forestry All the SEA countries have reported emissions attributed to the LULUCF to a different

extents. Table 4 shows CO2 emissions and removal from the soil as the most common gap in the inventories. Brunei and Vietnam are the only countries that have not reported emissions attributed to the ‘Changes in a forest and other woody biomass stocks ‘. Further, four out of ten countries have not reported the emissions attributed to the ‘Abandonment of managed lands’. Singapore has not reported emissions separately.

As per the available data, countries have used a mix of Tier1, Tier2, and Tier 3 for the assessment. Depending on the country, support can be provided to assess the emissions attributed to the missing sources with special attention to the CO2 emissions and removals from soil and abandonment of managed lands. By sharing the available data and the knowledge among countries, country/region-specific emission factors can be developed.

e) Waste

All ten countries have reported emissions attributed to the waste sector. However, components considered by countries differ. All countries except Singapore have reported

the emissions attributed to solid waste handling. Brunei is the only country which has excluded emissions attributed to the wastewater handling. Unavailability of emissions attributed to the waste incineration and the other (Biological Treatment of Solid Waste) sector can be identified as the most common gap in the region.

As per the available data, except for Cambodia and Laos, which have only used Tier 1, other countries have used a combination of Tiers for the analysis. Support can be provided to overcome the gaps and barriers to report more details on the waste incineration and the biological treatment (when applicable). Further, assistance can be provided to apply higher Tiers for the through developing country/region-specific emission factors.

Table 4 below summarizes the content of the GHG inventories in the NCs submitted by SEANMs

Table 4: Content of the GHG inventory in the NCs submitted by SEANM

B K I L M M P S T V Content N H D A Y M H G H N Formulation of arrangements to collect and manage data for continuous inventory preparation Establishment of the thematic working group on x √ √ √ √ √ x √* √ √ GHG inventory Key source analysis √ √ √ √ √ √ x √ √ √ Updated, improved, and user-friendly GHG √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ inventory database Formulation of procedures for managing uncertainties in inventory data and GHG emission calculations Validation of inventories through QA/QC measures x x √ √ √ x x √ √ √ Identification of constraints and gaps of the GHG √ √ √ √ √ x inventory x √ x √ Peer review process established x x √ √ √ x x √ √ √

Content BN KH ID LA MY MM PH SG TH VN T1 1. Energy √ T1 √ T1 √ T1 √ T1 √ T1 √ √ - √ - √ T1 √ T1 T2 T1 A. Fuel Combustion (sectoral approach) √ - √ - √ T1 √ - √ - √ - √ - √ √ - √ - T2 T1 1. Energy industries √ - √ - √ T1 √ T1 √ - √ √ - √ - √ - √ T1 T2 2. Manufacturing industries and construction √ - √ - √ T1 √ T1 √ - √ - √ - √ - √ - √ T1 T1 3. Transport √ - √ - √ T1 √ T1 √ - √ √ - √ - √ - √ T1 T2 4. Other sectors √ - √ - √ T1 √ T1 √ - √ - √ - √ - √ - √ T1 B. Fugitive emissions from fuels √ - X - √ - √ - √ - √ - √ - √ - √ - √ T1 1. Solid fuels √ - X - √ T1 √ T1 √ - √ - √ - x - √ - √ T1 2. oil and natural gas √ T1 X - √ T1 √ T1 √ - √ T1 √ - √ - √ - √ T1 T1 2. Industrial processes √ - X - √ - √ - √ - √ - √ - √ √ T1 √ T1 T2 T1 T2 A. Mineral products √ - X - √ √ T1 √ √ - √ - x - √ - √ T1 T2 T1 T1 B. Chemical industry x - X - √ x - √ - √ - √ - √ - √ - √ T1 T2 T1 C. Metal production x - X - √ √ T1 √ - √ - √ - x - √ - √ T1 T2

D. Other product manufacture and use x - X - X - x - √ - √ - x - - - √ - √ T1 E. Production of halocarbons and sulphur x - X - X - x - √ - x - x - - - x - x - hexafluoride F. Consumption of halocarbons and sulphur x - X - X - x - x - x - x - - - x - x - hexafluoride G. Other (please specify) x - X - √ - x - x - √ - x - √ - x x - 3. Solvent and other product use √ T1 X - X - x - x - √ - x - √ - x - x - T1 4. Agriculture √ - √ T1 √ - √ - √ T1 √ - √ - x - √ √ T1 T2 T1 A. Enteric fermentation √ - √ - √ T1 √ T1 √ - √ T1 √ - x - √ √ T1 T2 T1 B. Manure management x - √ - √ T1 √ T1 √ - √ T1 √ - x - √ √ T2 T2 C. Rice cultivation x - √ - √ T1 √ T1 √ - √ T1 √ - x - √ T2 √ T2 D. Agricultural soils x - √ - √ T1 √ T1 √ - √ - √ - x - x - √ T1 E. Prescribed burning of savannahs x - √ - X - √ T1 x - x - √ - x - x - √ T1 T1 F. Field burning of agricultural residues √ - √ - √ T1 √ T1 √ - √ - √ - x - √ √ T1 T2 G. Other (Liming, Urea application) √ T1 X - X - x - √ - x - √ - - x - x - T1 T2 T1 5. Land- Use Change and Forestry √ - √ T1 √ - √ - √ √ T1 √ - √ √ √ - T2 T3 T2

A. Changes in the forest and other woody x - √ - √ T1 √ T1 - - √ - √ - - - √ T2 x - biomass stocks T1 T1,- B. Forest and grassland conversion x - √ - √ T1 √ T1 - - √ - √ - - - √ √ T2 T2 T1 C. Abandonment of managed lands x - √ - X - √ T1 - - √ - x - - - √ √ T1 T2 D. CO2 emissions and removals from soil √ - X - X - x - - - x - x - - - x - x - E. Other (Please specify) √ - X - X - x - - - √ - x - - - x - √ T1 T1 T1 T1 6. Waste √ - √ T1 √ T2 √ - √ √ - √ - √ - √ √ - T2 T2 T3 A. Solid waste disposal on land √ - √ - √ - √ T1 √ - √ - √ - x - √ T2 √ T2 T1 B. Wastewater handling x - √ - √ - √ T1 √ - √ - √ - √ √ T1 √ T1 T2 T1 C. Waste incineration x - x - √ - x - √ - x - x - √ T2 √ √ T1 T2 D. Other (Biological Treatment of Solid Waste) x - x - x - x - √ - x - x - x - x - √ T1 International Bunkers x - √ - x - x - √ - x - x - √ - x - √ - Aviation x - √ - x - x - x - x - x - √ - x - √ - Marine x - x - x - x - x - x - x - √ - x - x - CO2 emissions from biomass x - x - x - x - x - √ - x - √ - x - x -

(√) - Reported (x) – Not Reported (-) - Deatils not available Source: Own work, 2020

4.2.4 Programs containing measures to facilitate adequate adaptation to climate change According to the data shown in Table 5, it can be seen that none of the countries have recorded the meeting proceedings on awareness of vulnerability and adaptation issues.

Another common issue identified in the region is that six countries out of the ten have not analyzed the adaptation measures in terms of costs, practicability, environmental and cultural appropriateness.

The unavailability of institutional arrangements to implement the adaptation measures can also be identified as a notable gap in the region.

Other than the above mentioned common gaps, few countries (3 out of 10) have not recorded the details related to priority adaptation needs and concerns of the country.

Technical support can be provided to countries based on the identified gaps to improve the content of NC.

Table 5: Analysis of the programmes which contain measures to facilitate adequate adaptation to climate change in SEA

Content BN KH ID LA MY MM PH SG TH VN Completion of vulnerability assessments for priority systems, sectors, or regions Description of approaches, methodologies, and tools used, including scenarios for the assessment of impacts √ √ √ √ √ √ x √ √ √ of, and vulnerability and adaptation to, climate change Reports on vulnerability and impacts x √ √ √ √ √ √ x √ √ assessments Summary of meeting proceedings, and improved awareness of vulnerability and x x x x x x x x x x adaptation issues Training on the use and development of sector-appropriate methodologies x x x x x x x x x x relevant for decision-making

Impacts of climate change on key vulnerable sectors/areas, including a √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ description of the uncertainties Identification of adaptation strategies and measures Strategies and measures for adapting to climate change, in priority systems, √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ sectors or regions Evaluation of adaptation measures in terms of costs, practicability, x x x √ √ x x x x √ environmental and cultural appropriateness General policies that have implications √ √ √ x √ √ √ √ √ √ for adaptation General capacity-building and x x √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ institutional strengthening Public awareness, education, and √ x √ √ √ √ √ √ √ x information provision Formulation of policy frameworks for developing and implementing adaptation strategies Priority adaptation needs and concerns x x √ √ √ √ x √ √ √ Barriers to adaptation, including legal arrangements, institutional x √ √ √ x √ √ √ √ √ management, financial and technological constraints Opportunities for adaptation, including √ √ √ √ √ √ x √ √ x policies and measures Description of overall institutional arrangements for the implementation of x x √ x x x x x x x adaptation priorities (√) - Reported (x) – Not Reported

Source: Own work, 20

4.2.5 Programmes containing measures to mitigate climate change

All SEA countries have analyzed the mitigation actions to various extents. However, as indicated in Table 6, most countries (eight out of ten) have not integrated the cost associated with the GHG reduction.

Unavailability of baseline and project scenarios for mitigation actions can be identified as another common gap in the region. Further, most countries have not reported the funds required for the identified projects.

Depending on the needs of the country, support can be provided to develop marginal cost curves for mitigation actions, establish baseline and project scenarios for mitigation actions and to establish institutional arrangements to monitor the identified mitigation priorities.

Table 6: Analysis of the programs which contains measures to mitigate climate change in SEA

B K I L M M P S T V Content N H D A Y M H G H N Completion of climate change mitigation analysis Baseline and mitigation scenarios and projections x √ √ √ √ x √ x x x Identification of mitigation options related to the most √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ important future sources and sinks sectors Assessment of reduction potential and cost of x √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ mitigation Integration of GHG reductions and costs across measures and sectors, through the construction of x √ x x x x √ x x x GHG mitigation marginal cost curves Barriers and opportunities for mitigation x √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ Formulation of policy frameworks for implementing mitigation measures Strategy to integrate mitigation measures into √ √ √ √ √ √ √ x √ √ national development priorities Strengthened capacity for mitigation assessment √ √ √ √ √ √ √ x √ x (human/scientific/technical/ institutional Institutional coordination for monitoring mitigation x x √ x x x x x √ √ priorities identified Preparation of mitigation projects for funding x x √ x √ √ x x x x (√) - Reported (x) – Not Reported

Source: Own work, 2020 42

4.2.6 Other information considered relevant to the achievement of the Convention Apart from the Brunei and Singapore, that have not included a separate section on information considered relevant to the achievement of the Convention, all other countries have recorded almost all data required by the UNFCCC guidelines for the NC.

As shown in Table 7, the most common gaps identified in the region are: steps taken to integrate climate change considerations into national development and policy formulation; and measures taken to promote information exchange and networking.

Therefore, assistance can be provided to integrate climate change consideration in policy formulation as it can be the key step to address the impact of climate change.

Following table summarizes the other information related to the implementation of the Convention as given in the NCs of SEANMs.

Table 7: Other information related to the implementation of the Convention as given in NCs of SEANM

Content BN KH ID LA MY MM PH SG TH VN Steps were taken to integrate climate change considerations into national development x x √ √ √ √ √ x √ x and policy formulation Activities related to the transfer of x √ √ √ √ √ √ x √ √ environmentally sustainable technologies Information on climate change research and x √ √ √ √ x √ x √ √ systematic observation Information on climate change education, x √ √ √ √ √ √ x √ √ training, and public awareness Information on capacity building activities, x √ √ √ √ √ √ x √ √ options, and priorities Measures to promote information exchange x √ √ √ x √ x x √ √ and networking (√) - Reported (x) – Not Reported

Source: Own work, 2020

4.2.7 Constraints and gaps, and related financial, technical, and capacity needs Eight out of ten countries have recorded constraints, gaps, and capacity requirements in a separate chapter. Out of those countries, only four countries have given information on financial and technical resources received for the preparation of national communications. Further, Cambodia, Laos, and the Philippines have not reported the financial support required for the projects.

Table 8 below shows the Identified constraints and gaps; financial, technical, and capacity needs of SEANM.

Table 8: Identified constraints and gaps, financial, technical, and capacity needs of SEANM

B K I L M M P S T V N H D A Y M H G H N Further elaboration on the specific constraints, gaps, and needs that have been identified in the preparation of the national communication Information on financial and technical resources provided for the preparation of national x x √ x x √ x x √ √ communications Proposed projects for financing x x √ x √ √ x x √ √ Information on opportunities to implement x √ x √ √ √ √ x √ √ adaptation measures Information on gaps and needs for technology x √ √ √ √ √ √ x √ √ transfer Additional needs for capacity building activities x √ √ √ √ √ √ x √ √ (√) - Reported (x) – Not Reported

Source: Own work, 2020

4.2.8 Common capacity building needs of the SEANM Capacity building needs of each country were extracted from the latest submitted NCs. These needs were mainly identified under four different areas which are: i) GHG inventory, II) Mitigation Actions, III) Adaptation actions and the IV) Other. Following table indicates common capacity building requirements as per the NCs of the SEANMs.

Table 9 provides a summary of the common capacity building needs of the SEANM as per their latest submitted NCs. More details on the country specific needs on capacity building can be found in the Annex V.

Table 9: Common capacity building needs as per the NCs of the SEANM

No Capacity building needs Countries Capacity building needs with respect to GHG inventory preparation 01 Preparation of the National GHG inventory Laos, Malaysia 02 Data collection for the GHG inventory Indonesia, Vietnam 03 Development of local emission factors Laos, Vietnam Capacity building needs with respect to reporting mitigation actions 04 Tools to analyse mitigation actions Cambodia, Laos 05 Development and implementation of MRV systems Indonesia, Malaysia 06 Application of mitigation technologies Brunei, Indonesia, Laos 07 Integration of mitigation actions into policies and other Laos, Malaysia programmes Capacity building needs with respect to reporting adaptation measures 08 Implementation and integration of the adaptation Laos, Malaysia, Vietnam activities/climate risk into policy and other programmes 09 Conduct vulnerability assessments Cambodia, Laos Other capacity building needs 10 capacity enhancement along with Cambodia, Laos technology transfer 11 Integration of climate change technologies to national Laos, Vietnam policies/programmes 12 Capacity building on meteorological observation Laos, Vietnam network,

13 Awareness on climate change and climate sciences Laos, Myanmar, the Philipines, Thailand, Source: Own work, 2020

4.3 Existing institutional arrangement Institutional arrangements of most of the SEANM were not informatively included in the available documents. However, considering the available information, the following format was identified as a generalized arrangement for national communications in SEANMs.

4.3.1 Existing institutional arrangement

Figure 5: Generalized institutional arrangement of NC for the SEANM Source: Own work,2020 Please refer to Annex III for country specific details of the institutional arrangements.

Similar to the South Asian Region, the Ministry of Environment or the government body which is working on Climate Change was noted as the key entity for the implementation 46

and execution of National Commitments. Right below the ministry, there was the national committee . The name used for this committee was changed according to the country. (Eg: In Singapore, it was known as the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Climate Change). Some countries included an entity called the project steering committee and followed by another called project management group. Several working groups were noticed either under the supervision of the project management group or under the executive body of the inter-ministerial committee of climate and if not under the supervision of the national committee on climate change and environment.

4.3.2 Common gaps identified in the existing institutional arrangements a) Lack of clearly defined roles and responsibilities Unavailability of technical. − Technical Team in Climate Change Evaluation was observed only in countries like Indonesia. However, no clear roles has been identified for those technical teams.

b) Lack of coordination between the relevant stakeholders and the national coordination body

Working groups were overseen by different committees. Eg:

− The executive committee of the interministerial committee on Climate Change (Eg: Singapore) − Project Management Group ( Eg: Vietnam and Malaysia) − National Committee on Climate Change and Environment (Eg: Indonesia)

Sectors addressed by some of the working groups were similar (Eg: GHG Inventory: Energy, Industry, Agriculture, LULUCF, and Waste) while sectors which were addressed by some of the working groups were not given (Eg: Singapore – Institutional arrangement provide evidence on the existence of the working group without giving detail explanations on the sector experts involved)

5 Overview of the status of Biennial Update Reports of South East Asia

5.1 Status of the submission, use of IPCCC guidelines and the GWP

5.1.1 Status of the submissions As indicated in Table 10, seven out of the eleven countries (Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos PDR, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam) in South East Asian region have submitted at least one of their BURs. Out of the seven countries, Singapore has already submitted its third BUR, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia have submitted their second BUR while Cambodia and Lao PDR have submitted their first BUR. Please refer to Annex I for more details.

Table 10: Preparation and sumbmission status of BURs of SEANM

Country BUR1Error! BUR2Error! BUR3 BUR4 Bookmark not Bookmark defined. not defined. Brunei - - - - Cambodia [LDC] 13 Aug 2020 - - -

Indonesia 18 Mar 2016 21 Dec 2018 In progress11

Laos [LDC] 28 July 2020 - - - Malaysia 3 Mar 2016 27 Sep 2018 In progress12 - Myanmar [LDC] - - - -

Philippines In progress13 - - -

Singapore [SIDS] 8 Dec 2014 16 Dec 2016 27 Dec In progress14 2018Error! Bookmark not defined.

11 https://www.thegef.org/sites/default/files/web-documents/10441_EA_PIF.pdf 12https://www.thegef.org/project/fourth-national-communication-and-third-biennial-update-report- climate-change-malaysia. 13 https://climate.gov.ph/files/2016.02.22-BUR-Workshop-Opening-Remarks.pdf 14 https://www.thegef.org/sites/default/files/web-documents/10441_EA_PIF.pdf

Thailand 29 Dec 2015 29 Dec 2017 In progress15 -

Vietnam 8 Dec 2014 20 Nov 2017 - -

Source: own work,2020

5.1.2 Use of the IPCCC guidelines Figure 6 illustrates the various IPCC guidelines used by the South East Asian member countries in their latest BUR submission. Similar to the South Asian Region member countries, SEANM also have applied multiple IPCC guidelines. All countries that submitted a BUR have applied IPPC 2006 guideline in their latest BURs, except Thailand. Singapore was the only country to use IPCC 2012 in their latest BUR. KP Supplement guidance was not applied by any of the countries in their latest BURs.

Use of different IPCC guidelines by SEANM countries in latest BURs 7 6 6 5

4 3 3 3 2 2

No of Countries 1 1

0 1996 2000 2003 2006 2013 IPCC Guidlines

Figure 6: IPCC guidelines used by SEANM in its latest BUR Source: Hattori & Umemiya-2020, IGES Biennial Update Report (BUR) Data Base Key to the Figure 6:

• Revised 1996 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories (IPCC 1996) – Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam • IPCC Good Practice Guidance and Uncertainty Management in National Greenhouse Gas Inventories (IPCC 2000) - Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam

15https://www.thegef.org/project/thailand-s-fourth-national-communication-and-third-biennial-update- report-nc4-bur3-unfccc. 49

• IPCC Good Practice Guidance for Land Use, Land-use Change and Forestry (LULUCF) (IPCC 2003) – Indonesia, Vietnam • 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories (IPCC 2006) – Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao-PDR, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam • 2013 Supplement to the 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories: Wetlands (IPCC 2013) – Singapore

5.1.3 Use of the Global Warming Potentials (GWPs) As per the UNFCCC guidelines, countries have used IPCC AR2 and IPCC AR4 to extract the GWP values. In general, the majority of the SEANM have used IPCC 2006 guideline and IPCC AR 2, IPCC AR 4 for the BUR preparation.

Use of different GWP potentials by SEANM countries in latest BURs 4

3 3 3

No.of countries 1

0 AR2 AR3 AR4 AR5 IPCC Assessment Report used as reference for GWP

Figure 7: GWP used by the SEANM in its latest BUR

Source: Hattori & Umemiya-2020, IGES Biennial Update Report (BUR) Data Base

Key to Figure 7:

Assessment Report 2 (AR2) – Singapore, Thailand, Lao PDR

Assessment Report 3 (AR3)

Assessment Report 4 (AR4) – Cambodia , Malaysia,Vietnam

Assessment Report 4 (AR5) - Indonesia

5.2 Analysis of the content of the BUR to identify gaps and needs

5.2.1 Outline of the BUR As per the UNFCCC guideline for the BUR, the following chapters need to be included in the report. Country specific analysis on the content of the BUR is given in Annex IV.

1. National circumstances and institutional arrangement 2. National GHG inventory 3. Mitigation actions and their effect, including associated methodology and assumptions 4. Other information considered relevant to the achievement of the convention 5. Constraints and gaps, and related financial, technical and capacity needs, including a description of support needed and received.

Cambodia is the only country that has included all the five chapters in the BUR while other countries have missed some chapters as shown in Table 11. The chapter on “Other information considered relevant to the achievement of the convention” was not included in Indonesia, Laos PDR, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam BURs. The Chapter on

“constraints, gaps, related financial, technical and capacity needs, including a description of support needed and received” has not been included in the BURs of Indonesia and

Singapore.

Assistance may be needed in identifying gaps in financial, technical and capacity needs, in order to acquire support to fulfill the requirements of UNFCCC guidelines.

Table 11: Aligning the outline of BUR submitted by SEANM with UNFCCC requirements

Content KH ID LA MY SG TH VN

National circumstances and institutional arrangement √ √ √ √ √ √ √ National GHG Inventory

Mitigation actions and their effect, including √ √ √ √ √ √ √ associated methodology and assumptions. √ √ √ √ √ √ √ Constraints and gaps, and related financial, x x technical and capacity needs, including a description of support needed and received √ √ √ √ √ Other information considered relevant to the x X x x x achievement of the convention √ √ (√) - Reported (x) – Not Reported

Source: Own work, 2020

5.2.2 National circumstances and institutional arrangement All countries have reported, to various extents, the data related to the national circumstances and institutional arrangement into different extents. However, as shown in Table 12, a gaps can be seen in “Education, including scientific and technical research institutions” as it was only addressed by Cambodia and Malaysia.

The roster of institutions involved in preparation of the BUR were not included in the BUR of Singapore and Terms of reference (ToR) for the various committees, task groups and/or expert/thematic working groups involved in the preparation of the BUR was not included in the BUR of Vietnam.

Considering above facts, support can be provided to find out more data regarding the education sector and also in developing TORs for the various committees, task groups and/or expert/thematic working groups involved in the preparation of the BURs.

Table 12: Gaps in the content of the national circumstances chapter of BUR submitted by SEANM

Content KH ID LA MY SG TH VN Relevant information provided on the socio-economic and environmental conditions that provide an overall understanding of climate change concerns in the context of national development priorities. Geographical characteristics, including climate, forests, land √ √ √ √ √ √ √ use and other environmental characteristics

Population, including growth rate, distribution, density and √ √ √ √ √ √ √ other key statistics

Economy, including energy, transport, industry, mining, √ √ √ √ √ √ √ tourism, agriculture, fisheries, waste and health

Education, including scientific and technical research √ x X √ x x x institutions

Development of institutional arrangement Roster of institutions involved in the preparation of the BUR √ √ √ √ x √ √

Terms of reference (ToR) for the various committees, task √ √ √ √ √ √ x groups and/or expert/thematic working groups involved in the preparation of the BUR.

(√) - Reported (x) – Not Reported

Source: Own work, 2020

5.2.3 National GHG Inventory

All countries in the South East Asian region have already established arrangements to collect and manage data for the continuous preparation of the GHG inventory, as summarized in the Table 13. Based on the needs of the country, technical support can be provided to further improve the already established system.

Constraints and gaps of the GHG inventory were not included in the BUR of Laos PDR and Singapore. Therefore further assistance might be needed in identification and reporting of the gaps.

Sector wise gaps were observed as describe below:

a) Energy

All the sub sectors which come under the fuel combustion were addressed by all countries. However some gaps were observed for Cambodia, Indonesia and Singapore. In preparing its GHG inventory, Cambodia has not considered neither solid fuels nor oil and natural gases whereas Singapore has not considered solid fuels, which come under

fugitive emissions from fuels. Therefore assistance may be needed in collecting the data related to fugitive emissions and to do a comprehensive inventory.

b) Industrial processes

Countries have reported emissions related to industries to a varying degree as shown in the Table 13. In general, no country has covered all industries. Some of the observed gaps are as follows:

− Cambodia and Laos PDR the chemical industry. − Singapore have not considered the mineral industry.

Therefore assistance may be needed in collecting data incorporating all the sectors and including them in a comprehensive GHG inventory.

c) Solvent and other product use

Emissions attributed to the solvent and other product use were considered only by Indonesia and Cambodia while other countries have not considered emissions attributed to this sector. Therefore, conducting capacity building on collecting and reporting data and emissions related to solvents and other product use can be considered as a need.

d) Agriculture

Emissions attributed to the agriculture sector were addressed comparatively well by all countries except Singapore. Singapore is a country with a small land size and highly urbanised landscape and therefore GHG emissions from the Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use (AFOLU) sector are negligible in comparison with other economic sectors and the size of carbon stocks. Therefore it was not identified as a gap.

e) Land- Use Change and Forestry

Even though all countries have addressed land use change and forestry in the GHG inventory, only Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam have given detailed information of the emissions attributed to that sector. Therefore it is highly recommended to provide required assistance to collect data on land use change and forestry to complete the GHG inventory.

f) Waste

All countries have reported emissions attributed to the waste sector. However, Singapore has not reported emissions attributed to the solid waste disposal, which is insignificant as only non-incinerable waste and ash from the incineration process are disposed at the off-shore Semakau Landfill.

Table 13: Content of the GHG inventory in the BURs submitted by SEANM

Content KH ID LA MY SG TH VN Formulation of arrangements to collect and manage data for continuous inventory preparation Establishment of thematic working group on GHG √ √ √ √ √ √ inventory Key source analysis √ √ √ √ √ √ √

Updated, improved, and user-friendly GHG inventory √ √ √ √ √ √ √ database Update the inventory on most recently submitted NC √ √ √ √ √ √ √

Formulation of procedures for managing uncertainties in inventory data and GHG emission calculation

Validation of inventories through QA/QC measures √ √ √ √ √ √ √

Identification of constraints and gaps of the GHG √ √ X √ x √ √ inventory

Content KH ID LA MY SG TH VN

T1 √ √ T1 √ T 1 √ T1 √ √ T1 √ T1 1. Energy T1 T2

T1 √ T1 √ T1 √ T 1 √ - √ √ - √ - A. Fuel Combustion (sectoral approach) T2

1. Energy industries √ T1 √ T1 √ T 1 √ - √ - √ - √ - 2. Manufacturing industries and √ T1 √ T1 √ T 1 √ - √ - √ - √ - construction 3. Transport √ T1 √ T1 √ T1 √ - √ - √ - √ -

4. Other sectors √ T1 √ T1 √ T 1 √ - √ - √ - √ T1

B. Fugitive emissions from fuels X - √ T1 √ T 1 √ - √ - √ - √ - 1. Solid fuels X - √ T1 √ T 1 √ - x - √ - √ - 2. oil and natural gas X - √ T1 X - √ - √ - √ - √ - T1 T2 T1 √ √ √ T1 √ √ √ T1 √ T1 2. Industrial processes T2 T2 T1 T2 T1 √ √ √ T1 √ - x - √ - √ - A. Mineral products T2 T2 T1 X √ X - √ - - - √ - - - B. Chemical industry - T2 T1 X √ √ T 1 √ - - - √ - √ - C. Metal production - T2

D. Other product manufacture and use √ T1 x - X - √ - - - √ - - - E. Production of halocarbons and sulphur X - x - X - x - - - x - - - hexafluoride F. Consumption of halocarbons and sulphur √ x - X - x - - - x - - - hexafluoride T1 G. Other (please specify) X - √ T1 X - - √ - x - - - Electronics Industry ------√ - - - - -

Product Uses as Substitutes for Ozone Depleting Substances ------√ - - - - -

3. Solvent and other product use - - √ T1 - - x - √ - x - x - T1 T1 √ √ T1 √ T 1 √ T1 x - √ √ 4. Agriculture T1 T2 T2

T1 √ T1 √ T1 √ T 1 √ - - - √ √ - A. Enteric fermentation T2 T1 √ T1 √ T1 √ T 1 √ - - - √ √ - B. Manure management T2

C. Rice cultivation √ T1 √ T1 √ T 1 √ - - - √ T2 √ -

D. Agricultural soils √ T1 √ T1 √ T 1 √ - - - x √ - E. Prescribed burning of savannahs √ T1 x √ T1 x - - - x √ - T1 √ T1 √ T1 √ T 1 √ - - - √ √ - F. Field burning of agricultural residues T2

G. Other (Liming, Urea application) - T1 x - √ T 1 - - - x - √ - T2 T1 √ √ T1 √ T1 - - √ √ √ - 5. Land- Use Change and Forestry T2 T3 T2

A. Changes in forest and other woody - √ T1 ------√ T2 - - biomass stocks - T1 T1 - √ T1 ------√ √ B. Forest and grassland conversion - T2 T2 T1 - x ------√ √ - C. Abandonment of managed lands - T2

D. CO2 emissions and removals from soil - - x ------x √ - E. Other (Please specify) - - x ------x √ - T1 T1 T1 T1 T1 6. Waste √ T1 √ √ T1 √ √ √ √ T2 T2 T2 T2 T2 A. Solid waste disposal on land √ T1 √ - √ T1 √ - - - √ T2 √ - T1 √ T1 √ - √ T1 √ - √ √ T1 √ B. Waste- water handling T2 - T1 √ T1 √ - √ T1 √ - √ T2 √ √ C. Waste incineration T2 -

D. Other (Biological Treatment of Solid - √ - X - √ - - - Waste) - x - - - International Bunkers √ T1 - - - - √ - √ - x - x - Aviation √ T1 ------Marine - - x - - - √ - √ - x ------√ - x Bio mass - - - - (√) - Reported (x) – Not Reported (-) - Deatils not available Source: Own work, 202 57

5.2.4 Mitigation actions and their effect, including associated methodology and assumptions Content of the mitigation actions in the BURs submitted by SANM are summarized in Table 14. Even though countries have reported details on the mitigation actions, it was observed that those data need further improvements as given in the ICA reports and also as per the capacity building requirements of the countries. Further, capacity building requirements of the region are summarized in the Table 17 of this report. According to the information given in Table 17, Indonesia, Thailand & Vietnam have requested capacity building on assessing the GHG impacts of the mitigation actions. More details on the country specific requirements can be found in Annex VI.

Table 14: Content of the Mitigation actions in the BURs submitted by SEANM

Content KH ID LA MY SG TH VN Name and description of the mitigation action, including √ √ √ √ √ √ √ information on the nature of the action, coverage (i.e. sectors and gases), quantitative goals and progress indicator

Methodologies and assumptions √ √ X √ √ √ √

Objectives of the action and steps taken or envisaged to √ √ √ √ √ √ √ achieve that action

Progress of implementation of the mitigation actions and the √ √ √ √ √ √ √ underlying steps taken or envisaged, and the results achieved, such as estimated outcomes (metrics depending on type of action) and estimated emission reductions, to the extent possible

International market mechanisms √ √ X √ x x √

Domestic measurement reporting and verification √ √ √ √ √ √ √

(√) - Reported (x) – Not Reported Source: Own work, 2020

5.2.5 Other information considered relevant to the achievement of the convention Information reported by the countries on the achievement of the convention are summarized in Table 15. As per Table 15, only Cambodia and Indonesia have inserted some of the data related to the achievement of the convention. Laos PDR, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam have not reported any data regarding the achievement. Therefore, some assistance may be needed in incorporating those infromation.

Table 15: Information relevant to the achievement of the convention in the BURs submitted by SEANM

Content KH ID16 LA MY SG TH VN Steps taken to integrate climate change √ √ x √ x x x considerations into national development and policy formulation

Activities related to transfer of environmentally √ √ x √ x x x sustainable technologies Information on climate change research and x √ x √ x x x systematic observation Information on climate change education, training, x √ x √ x x x and public awareness Information on capacity building activities, options √ √ x √ x x x and priorities Measures to promote information exchange and √ x x √ x x x networking (√) - Reported (x) – Not Reported Source: Own work, 2020

5.2.6 Constraints and gaps, and related financial, technical and capacity needs, including a description of support needed and received Countries have identified constraints, gaps, financial and capacity needs to various extents as shown in Table 16. Singapore has not reported on the extent to which the

16 BUR of Indonesia not consist of a separate chapter on other information considered relevant to the achievement of the convention. But most of the information needed under that chapter are available in the other chapters of the BUR. 59

country has identified constrains, gaps and related financial, technical and capacity needs. Some assistance may require in bridging this gap and identifying constrains in the future.

Table 16: Constrains, gaps and related financial and technical capacity needs identified in BURs submitted by SANM

Content KH ID LA MY SG TH VN Information on financial and technical resources √ √ X x X √ √ provided for the preparation of BURs Proposed projects for financing √ √ √ X √ x Information on opportunities to implement √ x X √ X √ x adaptation measures Information on gaps and needs for technology transfer √ √ √ √ X x √

Additional needs for capacity building activities √ √ √ √ X x √ (√) - Reported (x) – Not Reported Source: Own work,2020

Capacity building needs of the countries were identified under three main categories which are GHG inventory, mitigation actions and cross cutting. Identified capacity building needs of the region are summarized in Table 17. More details on the country specific capacity building needs can be found in Annex VI.

Table 17: Common capacity building needs as per the BURs of the SEANM

Capacity building needs Countries Capacity building needs with respect to GHG inventory Overall GHG inventory preperation Malasiya, Indonesia, Laos and Thailand Collection and disaggregation of activity data Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam,Cambodia, Thailand Strengthening the existing institutional Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia arrangement Application of the 2006 IPCC Guideline Thailand, Cambodia Conduct uncertainity assessment ,QA &QC and Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand establish data verification systems Capacity building needs on reporting Mitigation actions Assessing the GHG impact of mitigation actions Indonesia, Thailand & Vietnam

Other capacity building needs

Conduct technology needs assessment Malaysia, Laos Laos, Vietnam Awareness on climate change related activities Source: Own work,2020 5.3 Existing Instituional Arrangement The institutional arrangements for the BUR is almost similar to those of the NC in South East Asia.

A syntehtic generalized institutional arrangements for the BUR observed in the the countries of the southeast Asian Region is shown below.

Figure 8: Generalized institutional arrangement of BUR for the SEANM Source: Own Work

Institutional arrangements (IR) of most of the countries consist of a steering committee on climate change at the top of the IR and another underlying layer as steering committee on the BUR. Between those steering committees and thematic working groups at the

bottom, there is a project management group which is linked to all thematic working groups.

In some countries, the BUR institutional arrangements were just a set of working groups under the Ministry of Environment (Eg: Indonesia). Similar set-up was observed for the Institutional arrangements of the BUR in Vietnam with minor changes in the working groups (eg: Working groups on GHG Inventory, Mitigation Measures, and technology, finance and capacity building).

The following gaps were identified in the institutional arrangement for the BUR preparation in the South East Asian Region.

− Unavailability of clearly defined roles and responsibilities − Unavailability of a designated body to be responsible for the overall coordination and management of the process of and the preparation of BURs Unavailability of technical groups for all the required technical areas

5.4 Outcomes of the international consultation and analysis (ICA) 5.4.1 Technical Analyses for the South East Asian Region One of the key point identified in the technical analyses undertaken for the South East Asian region was that a majority of the countries have reported information on mitigation actions up to the required level and some common gaps were only observed in the information on greenhouse gases (inventory) as given below

− Not including /partially including the consistent time series back to the years reported in countries previous NCs. − Not including a summary of country’s GHG inventory in BUR. ( Eg : Singapore) − Gap arise with not /partially mentioning the anthropogenic emission sources. − Lack of information about the methodologies which were used to assess the anthropogenic emissions by sources. − Uncertainty levels associated with the assessments − Low level addressing of the aviation emissions associate with international aviation. For Singapore and Vietnam, the following gaps were identified under mitigation actions:

− Lack of description of the mitigation action, nature of the action, coverage and indicators to track the progress of mitigation actions.

Apart from what mentioned above, further country specific gaps are included in Annex VII.

5.4.2 Facilitative sharing for the South East Asian Region EU, Switzerland, Germany, Singapore, Turkey, New Zealand, United States and Canada were the main countries which were involved in the facilitative sharing for the South East Asian Region. The common clarifications that arrised for the the entire region are as follow:

− Lessons learnt at the preparation of BUR and how that helped to improve the coordination of the country’s climate change related information. − Methods and tools used in the extrapolation of data (Eg: Question on the on the extrapolation tools and models used, including any activity-specific considerations and assumptions applied in historical data for some activities under the IPPU in Malaysia) − Application of 2006 IPCC Guidelines (Eg: Singapore and Thailand) − Presence of the development of any modifications in the institutional arrangement to do perform better in the preparation of BUR( Eg: Thailand)

The need to address the above given gaps/clarifications in the next BUR submission was highlighted. Country specific gaps were also observed as shown in Annex VII.

6 Conlusion One of the main objectives of this project is to facilitate the timely development and submission of the NCs and BURs. As such, all the latest summited NCs and BURs of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thaila nd and Vietnam were assessed against the reporting guidelines provided by the UNFCCC. Assessment included 10 NCs and 7 BURs submitted by the network members. Through the analysis it was identified that all the countries have at least submitted one NC but there are countries which have not submitted at least their initial BUR yet. Therefore, more attention need to be paid for supporting the preparation and submission of the BURs in such countries.

As per the analysis, it was observed that meeting the reporting requirements of the UNFCCC by the network members vary from low to very high. Therefore, capacity building requirements for the region also follows the same pattern. Provision of support to develop the GHG inventory ranges from providing support in the preparation of GHG inventory, to providing overall support to develop country specific emission factors. To enrich the reporting of adaptation and mitigation actions, support can be provided on tools to analyze the actions, development and implementation of MRV system, etc. Further, assistance can be provided to integrate adaptation and mitigation actions into the national policies and programmes, to achieve the effective implementation. Special attention is needed in providing support to establish systematic institutional arrangements with clearly defined roles and responsibilities and adequate legal support; to prepare NC, BUR and to implement and monitor the mitigation and adaptation activities.

Apart from providing the technical assistance to overcome the identified gaps of the NCs, support can be provided to strengthen the capacity of using the 2006 IPCC guideline (manually and or using software). Further, overall guidance can be provided to meet all the reporting requirements of the UNFCCC.

Capacity building can be provided as regional workshops and/or webinars if those facilities are commonly available for the whole region. However, assessment has identified that certain gaps are common for only some of the countries. Therefore,

support activities could be provided to specific countries. Country specific gaps should be addressed by bilateral interactions. These two types of supporting activities can be strengthened by sharing the experience of the rest of the network members. Identified gaps and needs of the countries should be further discussed and agreed with the respective countries to make the assistance process more effective and relevant.

7 References

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