The transparency framework: the mainstay of efforts to combat climate change
Climate negotiator Ambinintsoa Heritokilalaina (Lalainà), from Madagascar, is part of IIED’s cohort of supported COP29 negotiators from the Least Developed Countries Group. As she prepares to return from the climate talks in Baku, Azerbaijan, she explains why transparency is crucial to climate action.
A baobab tree in Madagascar, one of the world's most climate-vulnerable countries. Known as the 'tree of life' because it can store up to 32,000 gallons of water in its trunk, baobabs across southern Africa have begun to die off as rainfall patterns have changed due to climate change (Photo: Tom Stahl, via Fickr, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
For the past two weeks I have been at the COP29 summit in Baku, where I have been a climate negotiator for the Least Developed Countries (LDC) Group, focusing on transparency. Coming from Madagascar, an LDC, transparency is one of the issues that particularly concerns me in the climate negotiations – because without it, we cannot build confidence between Parties to the COP.
‘Transparency’ refers to the reporting and review of relevant, reliable climate data and information. In other words, it helps us answer the crucial question of whether countries are living up to their climate promises or falling short of their pledges. Transparency is central to the 2015 Paris Agreement, which established a new 'enhanced transparency framework' (ETF) to track countries’ progress in addressing climate change.
By reporting under the Paris Agreement, countries are held accountable for implementing their commitments. And for countries like mine, reporting provides an opportunity to highlight priorities and needs, as well as gaps in implementation, to help ensure that support is provided to address these.
The transparency framework
But let's take a look at how LDCs have been able to participate fully in the transparency framework. As a COP negotiator, I have seen at first-hand that the LDCs have been expressing their wills, requirements and realities in their biennial update reports (BURs).
BURs contain updates on the actions Parties have taken to implement the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and their progress on reducing emissions. They also contain information on mitigation actions, needs and support received.
Developing countries began submitting the first BURs in 2014. Since then, over the past 10 years, 27 LDCs have submitted a BUR to the UNFCCC. Developed nations, on the other hand, must submit biennial reports (BRs) containing similar information, as well as details on climate finance provided to developing countries.
However, BURs and BRs will soon be replaced by biennial transparency reports (BTRs), which Parties to the Paris Agreement will be required to submit every two years under the ETF. These BTRs aim to provide more detailed and standardised information on areas such as national greenhouse inventories, climate change impacts, adaptation measures and progress towards Nationally Determined Contributions. The first submission round is scheduled for 31 December 2024.
Even though LDCs have flexibility on when to report their first BTRs, at present 20 LDCs are already working on preparing their reports, even before the deadline for submitting the first one approaches. The determination is clearly there, but the gap is still very wide: the lack of technical capacity, but above all the lack of financial capacity, is particularly striking and is blocking progress in this area.
A reed known locally as Rambo is harvested to be crafted into baskets/mats to be sold at markets in Madagascar’s coastal Vatovavy Fitovinany region. Farmers have switched to cultivating he more climate-resilient crop because rice harvests have been hampered by unpredictable rainfall in recent years (Photo: UNEP & Climate Adaptation, via Flickr, CC BY-NC 2.0)
The challenge of climate reporting
At national level in Madagascar, I'm part of the team that develops the BUR in the forestry sector, and I have seen first-hand the difficulties countries like mine face in reporting, including data collection at the grassroots level. Other, richer countries already have well-arranged data collection systems, but most LDCs are far from having these arrangements. Many LDCs lack the reporting experience and capabilities that other nations have.
This situation has prompted me to take up the challenge of stepping forward in the negotiations and demanding more support for the LDCs, as they have not had the same headstart as other nations in terms of reporting.
In spite of this reality, some countries have shown that whatever the challenge and the complexity, the objective is achievable with the right strategies and the right support. Financial and technical support is important; capacity building is essential.
Unique needs and circumstances
At COP29, we have been demanding targeted support for LDCs and Small Island Developing States (SIDS), given our unique needs and circumstances. The reports will play a major role in the next Global Stocktake, and so it is crucial that the countries who bear the brunt of climate impacts – and who are least responsible for global emissions – are resourced to submit them.
The reports are also recognised in the outcome of the first Global Stocktake, which highlighted the importance of providing timely, adequate and predictable support to developing country Parties for the implementation of the enhanced transparency framework. The first Global Stocktake also urged Parties to make the necessary preparations for the timely submission of the first BTRs.
Even if LDCs and SIDS have the freedom to submit their climate reports at their own discretion, I believe they have a responsibility to provide this information. Following the ETF guiding principles of improving reporting over time, and as the deadline for the BTRs approaches, I would encourage LDCs to submit these as best as they possibly can, as soon as they possibly can.
I believe it will be worth the effort: after all, knowledge is power. At country level, more data and higher-quality data can lead to better-informed national policies and plans. At international level, the more data we have, the more transparent we can be about our collective climate progress, and our priorities and needs.
What better way to ensure that all countries – particularly climate-vulnerable ones like Madagascar – are fairly supported and equipped to face the climate crisis.
