Consultative group commits to deliver on mandate amid COVID-19

– The Consultative Group of Experts (CGE), mandated to provide technical support and advice to developing countries on measuring, reporting and verifying (MRV) greenhouse gas emissions, has planned its work for the next six years.  Moreover, the CGE has underlined its commitment to deliver its mandate and work despite the COVID-19 pandemic.

To ensure the successful delivery of its work in 2020, the CGE met virtually to assess the potential effects of COVID-19 and how best to manage them. The group will continue assessing the situation and take necessary measures to ensure the successful implementation of its work in 2020.

This level of commitment is critically important given that the current MRV system is set to transition to the Enhanced Transparency Framework (ETF) under the Paris Agreement, which is designed ensure accountability of all countries in implementing their climate action commitments and will increasingly require more detailed reporting by all Parties.

The CGE is determined to address the needs of developing countries as they move into the ETF system. To this end, it has set out its Vision, Mission statement and Strategic objectives to guide its work up to 2026.

The CGE’s strategic objectives provide a clear timeline for achieving its vision by 2026.  Until 2022, the CGE will continue to promote a detailed understanding of the existing MRV system. In this way, it will pave the way for developing countries to strengthen their reporting under the ETF. Concurrently, the CGE will guide developing countries through the ETF and facilitate the transition to this new framework.

From 2022 to 2024, the CGE will shift its focus to facilitating implementation of the enhanced transparency framework under the Paris Agreement. This includes the preparation and submission of biennial transparency reports under the ETF, as well as reporting under the Convention.

From 2024, the CGE will start gathering lessons learned and good practices, understand areas of improvement and refine the approaches and tools used to provide technical advice and support. It will also continue facilitating the implementation of the ETF, including for the preparation and submission of biennial transparency reports and facilitate improved reporting over time.

To ensure the targeted delivery of its work despite the extraordinary circumstances in 2020, the CGE has formulated three thematic areas to guide its work this year.

The first theme focuses on knowledge products, under which, the CGE will among others, publish capacity needs assessment results and finalise the publication of a technical handbook on the ETF.

The second theme on knowledge delivery will aim to build the capacity of developing countries through regional webinars and hands on training workshops on existing MRV arrangements and the new ETF. So far, the CGE has already organised its first webinar series in 2020, see the details  here .

The third and last thematic area is on cross-cutting issues, where one of the aims of the CGE is to enhance its collaboration with multilateral banks to promote MRV arrangements.