International Partnership on Mitigation and MRV

About the Partnership

In the framework of the Petersberg Climate Dialogue in May 2010 in Bonn/Germany, South Africa, South Korea and Germany launched the International Partnership on Mitigation and MRV. The overall aim of the Partnership is to support a practical exchange on mitigation-related activities and MRV between developing and developed countries in order to help close the global ambition gap. The Partnership is comprised of approximately 60 members, more than half of which are developing countries. The International Partnership on Mitigation and MRV has no formal character and is open to new members. Any country with an ambitious or upcoming climate agenda is very welcome to join. In case of interest in becoming a member, please contact[email protected].

To this end, the activities of the Partnership contributes to the design and effective implementation of

• ‘Low-Emission Development Strategies’ (LEDS),
• ‘Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions’ (NAMAs) and
• ‘Measuring, Reporting and Verification’ (MRV) systems

Bringing together climate experts from a variety of countries, the Partnership seeks to:

• foster mutual learning between peers
• identify best practices
• establish a shared mitigation-related knowledge base
• disseminate lessons learnt

This in turn contributes to the building of trust, capacity and expertise, allowing countries to find nationally appropriate solutions to address and combat climate change.

Partnership Meetings

The Partnership organises meetings back-to-back with UN negotiations to ensure regular exchange between the partnering countries as well as coordinating national implementation and international negotiations. Meetings to date were held in:

• Bonn/Germany in June 2010,
• Bonn/Germany in August 2010,
• Tianjin/China in October 2010,
• Bangkok/Thailand in April 2011,
• Bonn/Germany in June 2011,
• Panama City/Panama in September 2011,
• COP-17, Durban/South Africa in December 2011,
• Bonn/Germany in May 2012
• Bangkok/Thailand in September 2012 and
• Doha/Qatar in December 2012
• Bonn/Germany June 2013
• COP-19, Warsaw/Poland 2013
• Bonn/Germany March 2014

COP-19 in Warsaw

Parties successfully conclude the MRV package at COP 19 in Warsaw from COP 16 in Cancun. Parties agreed on guidelines for reporting of Biennial Reports (BRs) of AI countries as well as Biennial Update Reports (BURs) of Non-AI countries, guidelines for the International Assessment and Review of BRs from AI countries as well as for the International Consultation and Analysis (ICA) of BURs from Non-AI countries. The IAR and the ICA processes will help Parties to improve their reporting systems over time and, thereby, enhance transparency of the informational basis for planning and implementing mitigation actions and eventually tracking progress towards national objectives.

Other than that the mandate for the Consultative Group of Experts (CGE) has been extended in order to provide support for Non-AI countries to develop their National Communications (Nat Coms). The CGE will not only support countries in compiling their reports under the UNFCCC but will also be involved in the ICA process as part of the Teams of Technical Experts (TTE). At COP 19 Parties agreed on rules for the composition of TTE who will be conducting the ICA.

In order to give Parties guidance on how to collect relevant data and compile them into reports, Parties may use the IPCC guidelines. Additionally, general guidelines for the domestic MRV of nationally supported NAMAs of Non AI countries could be agreed on in Warsaw and shall help Parties to set up their MRV system for emission reduction activities.

Finally, Parties agreed to submit their “intended nationally determined contributions” well in advance of COP21 in Paris (by the first quarter of 2015). In line with this, all Parties should begin or speed up the process of developing meaningful contributions at the national level in the context of a 2015 climate agreement. These contributions should be communicated in a form that facilitates the clarity, transparency and understanding of the intended contributions.

However, it still needs to be worked out how MRV can facilitate the necessary global transformation. To this end, the International Partnership on Mitigation and MRV now aims at supporting countries to develop methodologies and estimate what commitments to emission reductions will be technologically possible and economically feasible for individual countries. Methodologies for MRV can ease the matching of needs with support, and MRV methodologies are needed for establishing international accounting standards for emission reductions.

Partnership Activities 2014

In 2014 it will continue to promote further cooperation between peers, stimulate discussion and exchange in the field of LEDS, NAMAs and MRV. This includes meetings at technical level and capacity building activities to enhance mitigation action at national and sub-national level. For further information on the activities in 2014 clickhere.