Luanda, Angola – April 9 to 12, 2024
The Lusophone Cluster for Transparency held its seventh in-person meeting, between the 9th and 12th of April 2024, in the Angolan capital of Luanda. The workshop was jointly organized by UNDP's Climate Promise, the Paris Agreement Transparency Partnership (PATPA) and by the Global Support Program of the Capacity Building Initiative on Transparency (CBIT-GSP).
The meeting was dedicated to the theme "The role of transparency in increasing the ambition of climate action: connecting BTRs to NDCs," and aimed to encourage exchange of experiences among Portuguese-speaking countries and to increase their respective capacity to respond effectively and efficiently to the results of the Global Stocktake (GST). To this end, the seminar aimed to link, through careful and rigorous planning, the work to prepare the first Biennial Transparency Report (BTR) and the review of the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) - considering the mitigation and adaptation components - as well as, when applicable, the development and approval of the Long-Term Strategy (LTS).
The years 2024 and 2025 will be of great demand for all countries, which will be even more noticeable for least developed countries (LDCs) and small island developing states (SIDS). During these two years, countries should submit (ideally between November 2024 and February 2025) their new NDC for the period up to 2035 and, by December 2024, but with flexibility for LDCs and SIDS, their first BTR.
The Luanda meeting made clear the wide variety of circumstances between the different countries: some are already preparing the first BTR and preparing the new NDC; most have not yet started or are taking the first steps in preparing the NDC. Some countries are still finishing their first Biennial Update Report (BUR), which would be expected to be submitted in December 2014 (with LDCs and SIDS being able to submit when their capabilities allow), others are now in their respective technical analysis process (ICA) and facilitative sharing of views (FSV). Others are still preparing the National Communication (NC).
Of the countries that have already accessed GEF (Global Environment Facility) resources to prepare the BTR, it is clear that different modalities were used, such as financing more than one report and access to resources through an “umbrella” project, together with different countries.
Taking into account this diversity of circumstances, it is natural that the deadlines for submitting reports also vary greatly, and it is expected that the first BTRs from Portuguese-speaking countries will be delivered over the next 2 to 4 years (with exception of one portuguese speaking developing country that is expected to submit its report by December 2024). As for the NDCs, considering their greater political visibility and the fact that the texts under the Paris Agreement do not specifically provide for flexibility in their delivery, it is expected that they will be delivered during the year 2025, in time for COP30 in Brazil .
The sessions were planned around technical presentations, sharing of good practices, small group discussions, assessment exercises, facilitating a dynamic and interactive learning environment. In total, 34 representatives from 7 countries participated, including 19 women and four young people. The objective is to involve young people in transparency issues and, at the same time, bring them closer to the topic. This work must be continued.
Please find on your right the agenda and presentations and other information related to the workshop content. For more information, contact: clusterlusophone@patpa.net and transparencydesk@undp.org