Background
Since 1994, countries have been doing this through preparing national communications and, later, biennial reports (BRs) and biennial update reports (BURs). While the focus of these reports has typically been on climate change mitigation, countries have also reported on their vulnerability to the impacts of climate change and efforts to adapt to these impacts in their national communications (information related to impacts, vulnerability and adaptation are not included in BRs and BURs).
However, with the increasingly disastrous impacts of climate change, the need to supply the UNFCCC with more regular and in-depth information about adaptation needs, priorities, plans, and actions has increased dramatically since the first national communications were prepared in 1994. As a result, under the Paris Agreement, alongside reporting through their national communications, countries can report on adaptation through two new vehicles: adaptation communications and biennial transparency reports (BTRs).
The BTR is a new reporting vehicle that is to replace the current BRs and BURs in 2024. Like BRs and BURs, BTRs are to be submitted every two years and should contain countries’ GHG inventories and information about NDC tracking and support received or provided. However, unlike BRs and BURs, the BTR can also be used to report on adaptation. Reporting on adaptation in the BTR is optional, but all Parties, especially developing countries, are encouraged to do so.
Guidance for reporting on adaptation in the BTR is found in section IV of the modalities, procedures, and guidelines (MPGs). The guidance provides a framework for reporting on adaptation that is more comprehensive than that provided by the guidance for national communications but nonetheless flexible and non-prescriptive. Thus, the BTR should lead to more regular reporting on adaptation that provides a comprehensive overview of a country’s national adaptation process and its adaptation needs. Its use by countries should:
• Improve the extent to which country reporting to the UNFCCC can inform the global stocktake of the collective progress towards the global goal of adaptation,
• Improve the collective understanding of the adaptation support needs of developing countries,
• Enhance the extent to which adaptation by developing countries gets recognized and,
• Better enable countries to share good practices, experiences, and lessons learned related to adaptation.
The A-BTR is also expected to serve as a tool for tracking the implementation and effectiveness of adaptation actions and for informing the global stocktake of the collective progress towards the global goal of adaptation.
The guidance for the A-BTR is based on the modalities, procedures, and guidelines (MPGs) that provide a flexible and non-prescriptive framework for reporting on adaptation, with eight thematic areas that cover various aspects of adaptation planning, implementation, and evaluation. The MPGs also allow parties to use different approaches and methods for reporting on adaptation, depending on their national circumstances and capacities.
Objective
The primary goal of this webinar is to raise awareness and knowledge of participants on the reporting provisions for information related to climate change impacts and adaptation under the Paris Agreement and the Convention, including adaptation-related information that should be included in the BTR and how this information is linked to recent and ongoing adaptation reporting and country's domestic adaptation processes. The webinar will be an opportunity to share good practices and lessons learned, facilitate networking, and share relevant experiences with the national experts in the region. The ultimate objective of this webinar is to prepare countries for the submission of their first BTR in 2024 and the reporting of adaptation therein.
Approach
The virtual workshop will consist of five consequent sessions. The first session will provide an overview of general adaptation reporting under the UNFCCC. In contrast, the subsequent sessions will go into detail regarding the reporting provisions of the adaptation component in the BTR, including examples and guidance on where countries can collect data for the specific provisions. The closing fifth session will allow countries from different regions of the world to share and discuss their experiences related to the adaptation reporting so far.
Session 1 (07-May-2024): This webinar will provide an overview of existing arrangements and instruments for communication and reporting climate change impacts and adaptation under the Convention and the Paris Agreement, with concrete suggestions about:
- What is the system for communicating and reporting on adaptation under the Paris Agreement?
- The extent to which countries need to report on certain elements in their BTRs relative to other adaptation reports and
- What is the purpose of adaptation reporting?
Session 2 (08-May-2024): This webinar will provide an overview of the contents of the first three sections (A, B, & C) of the MPGs for the adaptation component of the BTR. It will provide guidance on how to report on the following areas, with examples from NCs, NAPs and NDCs:
- National circumstances,
- Legal frameworks and institutional arrangements,
- Impacts, risks and vulnerabilities, as appropriate, and
- Adaptation priorities and barriers.
Session 3 (09-May-2024): This webinar will provide an overview of how to report on adaptation actions – covered in sections (D, E & F) of the adaptation component of the BTR. It will provide guidance on how to report on the following areas, with examples from NCs, NAPs and NDCs:
- Adaptation actions (including strategies, policies, plans, goals and actions to integrate adaptation into national policies and strategies),
- Progress on implementation and results of adaptation,
- Systems for monitoring and evaluating adaptation actions and processes and
- How best available science, gender perspectives, and indigenous, traditional and local knowledge are integrated into adaptation.
Session 4 (10-May-2024): This webinar will provide an overview of the remaining areas that are into the subsequent three sections (G, H & I) of the MPGs for the adaptation component of the BTR, with examples from NCs, NAPs and NDCs:
- Information related to averting, minimizing and addressing loss and damage associated with climate change impacts,
- Cooperation related to adaptation,
- Good practices, experience and lessons learned, and
- Any other information related to climate change impacts and adaptation under Article 7 of the Paris Agreement.
Session 5 (28-May-2024): This webinar will include sharing of the country’s experiences on current practices, challenges and lessons learned for preparing information and reporting on climate change impacts and adaptation under the existing reporting arrangements.
Target Audience
The virtual workshop will bring together relevant transparency stakeholders, such as coordinators and experts from national institutions and line ministries tasked with climate reporting, thematic experts and other transparency and adaptation practitioners involved in the preparation of reports and policies under the UNFCCC and the Paris Agreement, including NCs, NAPs, NDCs and BURs/BTRs.
Duration
The sessions will last 2 hours each with exception of the 5th which is planned to last 1.5 hours. For all sessions sufficient timing will be dedicated to discussion and Q&A sessions.