Transparency In The Paris Agreement

Organizations that are not, at this stage, within the scope of the agreement include: private sector obligations, private financing, non-state actors and sub-national authorities. However, some are in favour of their inclusion in the negotiation process and in the text. A WRI discussion paper proposed allowing the private sector and NGOs to submit proposals for “procedural justice” at five-year intervals. Article 13, paragraphs 11 and 12, of the Paris Agreement requires a review of experts. This expert review would represent the “V” (or verification) in THE LVR. The expert review serves as a mechanism for transparency and “the review process includes assistance in identifying capacity-building needs.” In the absence of an effective transparency mechanism, the international community will not be able to achieve the long-term climate and transparency objective of the Paris Agreement. In particular, improving the transparency framework allows countries to report their greenhouse gas emissions, make progress towards their NDCs, impact on climate change and adaptation, assistance and mobilization, and receive the necessary and received assistance. The enhanced transparency framework also includes procedures for technical experts to verify notified information and a multilateral peer review where countries can ask questions. Improving the transparency framework is essential for the design, credibility and functioning of the Paris Agreement. The development of the transparency part of the regulations did not begin from scratch, as countries were able to draw on the experience of the UNFCCC.

However, unlike previous UNFCCC agreements, the Paris Agreement established a common set of rules for all countries, while providing flexibility to developing countries that need it. The backbone of the Paris Agreement will be the transparency mechanism provided for in Article 13. Because of the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities (CBDR), the planned national contributions (INDCs) of the parties have a huge variance, not only in ambition, but also in format. This is a nightmare for transparency and accounting. Finally, the goal is for all states to report in a common format. The new transparency mechanism is expected to be negotiated by 2018 and adopted in 2020 – codified in a timely manner to inform the next round of CNN (in the future, so-called INDC contributions will be designated as national contributions or CNN).