PATPA Retreat 2017

6th Annual Partnership Retreat discusses enhanced transparency framework

From 5 to 11 September 2017, 51 participants from 24 developing and developed countries, and from a number of international organisations, came together in Georgia to discuss ‘The Enhanced Transparency Framework, Ambition and National Implementation’ at the 6th Annual Partnership Retreat of the Partnership on Transparency in the Paris Agreement.

  The Retreat was designed to:

  • Build trust among parties by providing a space for an open exchange of positions and experiences;
  • Provide an analysis of the latest developments in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) negotiations and reach an understanding of the implications of the Paris Agreement for national policy implementation;
  • Provide a space for an open exchange of political positions and domestic experiences regarding national implementation of the Paris Agreement;
  • Facilitate the sharing and dissemination of good practices on the implementation of transparency systems (encompassing mitigation, adaptation and support) and consequently to foster further progress in terms of action and support;
  • Inform UNFCCC negotiations through lessons learned. 

Over six work-intensive days, the input, discussions and group work sessions centred on the following topics:

  • Status of international negotiations, focusing on the Enhanced Transparency Framework (ETF)
  • Climate leadership
  • Ambition and emission pathways 
  • Global stocktake (GST) and facilitative dialogue 
  • Adaptation communications•
  • Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) features; information for clarity, transparency and understanding (CTU) for accounting
  • Flexibility
  • Modalities, procedures and guidelines (MPGs) for mitigation, adaptation, support, and verification
  • Benefits of domestic transparency systems
  • Support options with focus on capacity building for transparency

In the sessions, participants reflected on the content of the Paris Agreement and the subsequent discussions during the latest climate conferences. They also exchanged perspectives on the decisions, discussed topics to be addressed at upcoming negotiations in order to reach agreement on how to implement these decisions, especially on the MPGs.

After the first three intense workshop days, the German Embassy and the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources Protection of Georgia (MoENR) hosted a lunch reception where participants learned about Georgian climate initiatives at different levels. Solomon Pavliashvili, First Deputy Minister of the MoENR, and Monika Lenhard, Deputy Head of Mission in the German Embassy, opened the reception. In his speech, Mr Pavliashvili highlighted the challenges Georgia currently faces regarding climate change and the government’s commitment to climate action. Ms Lenhard emphasised the close cooperation between the German and Georgian governments in a number of areas, especially climate change.

The Annual Partnership Retreat was co-hosted by the MoENR and organised by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB). The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the World Resources Institute (WRI) also contributed to this event.

You can download the agenda and the report on the right.

All the presentations are listed below, including those from the lunch reception.

Presentations:

Day 1

Kirsten Orschulok (BMUB Germany): Introduction of PATPA and the Annual Partnership Retreat 2017

Ruta Bubniene (UNFCCC Secretariat): Status of international negotiations related to NDCs and the enhanced transparency framework

Subhi Barakat (IIED): A new world order: searching for climate leadership

Anne Olhoff (UNEP DTU): The link between transparency and ambition / UNEP Gap Report

Wafa’ Daibes, (Ministry of Environment, Jordan): Key methodological transparency issues in preparing and operationalising the NDC

Day 2

Ruta Bubniene (UNFCCC Secretariat): The inputs and the outcomes of the facilitative dialogue (FD) and the global stocktake (GST): the link to the ETF and to enhanced nationally determined ambition

Gonçalo Cavalheiro (CAOS Sustentabilidade): NDC features and information for clarity, transparency and understanding (CTU)  – presentation of the 2016 APR Knowledge Product

Cynthia Elliott (World Ressources Institute): Accounting under the Paris Agreement

Anke Herold (Öko-Institut, Germany): Accounting under the Paris Agreement

Jae Jung (Greenhous Gas Inventory & Research Center of Korea, Korea): Using accounting for policy planning and decision making

Diana Camila Rodriguez Vargas and Paula Andrea Lopez Arbelaez, (Ministry of Environmental and Sustainable Development, Colombia):  Using accounting for policy planning and decision making

Day 3

Anne Ohlhoff (UNEP DTU): The adaptation communication: link with the ETF and the NDCs

Timo Leiter (GIZ): Is there a difference between M&E and MRV?

Ekaterine Mikadze, (Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources Protection, Georgia): National adaptation action, adaptation in the NDC: approach to reporting

Michael Onwona-Kwakye (Environmental Protection Agency, Ghana): National adaptation action, adaptation in the NDC: approach to reporting

Thapelo Letete (Environmental Resources Management - ERM, South Africa): Providing flexibility to countries taking into account their capacities

Thapelo Letete (Environmental Resources Management (ERM), South Africa): How will domestic MRV systems need to evolve in order to prepare for the ETF?

Azwimpheleli Mac  Makwarela (Department of Environmental Affairs, South Africa): How to use domestic MRV for planning processes and stakeholder engagement

Rafael Martínez Blanco (Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, Mexico) and Yutsil Sanginés Sayavedra (National Institute of Ecology and Climate Change - INECC,Mexico): How to use domestic MRV for planning processes and stakeholder engagement

Day 4

Lunch reception:

Lasha Nakashidze (Project Manager of Green Cities, Georgia): Integrated Sustainable Mobility Plan of Batumi

Vakhtang Berishvili (Project Manager at UNDP): Promotion of biomass production and utilization in Georgia

Day 5:

Ana Danila (EU Commission, DG-CLIMA): MPGs for transparency of emissions and mitigation action – key elements

Nicole Kranz (BMUB Germany): Domestic M&E Systems. Insights from the German Adaptation Strategy

Timo Leiter (GIZ): MPGs for transparency of adaptation – key elements

Tran Thuc and Nguyen Khac Hieu (Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Viet Nam): Transparency for adaption: Domestic M&E systems – processes and indicators

Day 6:

Jane Ellis (OECD): Key methodological issues for transparency of support

Jane Ellis (OECD): MPGs for transparency of support – key elements

Felipe Jose Osses Mclntyre (Ministry of Environment, Chile): Good practices in transparency of support

Erik Adriansson (Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, Sweden): Good practices in transparency of support

Gonçalo Cavalheiro (CAOS Sustentabilidade): MPGs for verification

Day 7:

Gonçalo Cavalheiro (CAOS Sustentabilidade): Main findings of the Annual Partnership Retreat 2017