As we approach the end of the year, the upcoming deadline for countries to submit their BTRs under the requirements of the Paris Agreement draws closer. For all Party countries, the transition to BTRs implies a new reporting format that is more demanding in terms of comprehensiveness and level of required detailed. The increase in reporting stringency is therefore resulting in a considerable challenge for developing countries preparing their first BTR. 

The Webinar...

In response to this challenge, on the 2nd October, in the first webinar of its kind for the Climate Transparency Platform, the CBIT-GSP hosted an online webinar 'Ask the Expert: How to Improve your BTR!'. 

Bringing together experts from UNEP-CCC, as well as experts from our Partner organization UNFCCC and US-EPA, this webinar presented countries with the opportunity to ask questions in relation to challenges in producing their BTRs. 

Across each of the CBIT-GSP networks, Network Coordinators gathered questions from country focal points, predominately covering areas such : 

• Reporting in the CRT,
• NDC Tracking, 
• GHG Inventories, 
• Tools and methodologies, etc.

Following this, selected experts conducted reviews of the questions, and developed in-depth responses to be shared during the webinar and subsequently uploaded the questions and answers onto the Climate Transparency Platform's 'Communities of Practice' page. 

The webinar, which was hosted online, was attended by over 50 attendees from across the CBIT-GSP networks, and provided time for experts and attendees to discuss questions and answers, as well as ask additional questions through the online Q&A throughout the duration of the webinar. 

Ask the Expert: Question and Answers

The questions and answers discussed during the webinar, as well as those questions which were not explored during the session, have been uploaded onto the platforms Communities of Practice page, which will allow for further engagement and discussion on all questions posed from across networks, countries and other Platform users. These questions, for the time being, are denoted by 'BTR Hotline'. 

Communities of Practice, where you can Ask the Experts…

During the webinar, it was discussed how in the coming weeks, the CBIT-GSP team will be restructuring the existing Communities of Practice page. 

In this re-design, the team aim to make this space a more collaborative and communitive 'Questions and Answers' page, where users can ask questions which will be answered by experts, and other users of the platform, alike. 

All questions and queries posted to the page will be available to be answered by experts and platform users, and through this, it is hoped that further discussions and knowledge sharing can be achieved. 

Further updates and news in relation to the re-design will be provided soon, but for now, the questions and answers from this webinar can be located on the existing Communities of Practice page. 

The CBIT-GSP team wants to again thank all participants and presenters for their engagement in this webinar, and the team is looking forward to future events of this kind, across all networks and regions.