Moving From Paris Agreement To COP29: Monitoring And Reporting As Key Elements For Success

(MENAFN- Trend News Agency) BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 23. In recent decades, climate change has become one of the most discussed and pressing issues at the global level. Economic growth, industrialization, and population growth have contributed to a significant increase in greenhouse gas emissions, leading to changes in climate conditions on the planet. The international community has recognized the need for joint efforts to combat climate change and to develop mechanisms to monitor the implementation of countries' commitments in this area.

One of the key tools in this fight has become the Paris Agreement, adopted in 2015 under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The Paris Agreement aims to keep global warming below 2°C and possibly limit it to 1.5°C. Within the framework of the agreement, each participating country commits to developing and implementing nationally determined contributions (NDCs) that reflect efforts to reduce emissions and adapt to climate change. However, to achieve the targets, it is necessary not only to formulate ambitious plans but also to effectively monitor their implementation.

The mechanisms for monitoring the implementation of climate commitments include various approaches and tools, such as monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV) systems, financial and technical support, and mechanisms for evaluating and revising commitments. These mechanisms play an important role in ensuring transparency, accountability, and building trust among countries.

The Climate Action Monitor by the Organization of Economic Co-operation and Development provides a summary of climate action centered on 51 countries covered under the International Programme for Action on Climate (IPAC).

The latest OECD report demonstrates that climate change mitigation commitments in nationally determined contributions are not reaching the level needed to meet the objectives of the Paris Agreement.

A global GHG emissions reduction of 43 percent by 2030 (from 2019) is necessary to be on track to achieve the Paris Agreement goal of limiting temperature to 1.5°C by the end of this century. However, OECD countries have committed to an estimated emissions reduction of 28% and OECD partner countries to an emissions reduction of 5 percent compared to their 2020 emissions. OECD and OECD partner countries need to increase their emissions reduction targets by, at least, an additional 30 percent in aggregate to achieve the projected reductions estimated by the IPCC necessary to reach the Paris Agreement goal and fill the 'ambition gap'.

The growth rate of national climate action tracked by the OECD slowed in 2022. The growth rate of national climate actions taken by both the OECD and its partner countries increased by only 1 percent in 2022. Whereas the average growth rate of actions adopted from 2000 through 2021 was 10 percent.

The slowdown in 2022 may pose a risk to countries' policy implementation. Countries still have multiple options to increase the stringency of existing policies or adopt new policies that are currently not widely used (e.g., carbon pricing in the building and transport sector, bans and phase-outs of fossil fuel extraction or fossil-based infrastructure).

A total of 18 countries have increased their net emissions from 2010 to 2020. Emissions in large-emitting countries such as Brazil, the People's Republic of China (hereafter“China”), Indonesia and India are still rising and have not yet reached their expected peak. Emissions increases in 2020 are estimated at 34 percent in China and 37 percent in India compared to the 2010 levels.18 Countries will have to reduce their emissions considerably over the next ten years to achieve the Paris Agreement targets.

The overall slowdown of climate action masks significant differences across countries and instrument types. For example, 22 OECD and 8 OECD partner countries – jointly accounting for 29 percent of global GHG emissions – intensified climate action in 2022. This increase was driven principally by new or enhanced net-zero pledges, strengthened regulatory measures, higher prices in most emissions trading schemes and small advances in international climate co-operation and international climate finance. The energy crisis provided further impetus for countries to adopt more ambitious targets on renewables and energy efficiency and to accelerate implementation.

Conference of the Parties (COP) is the supreme decision-making body of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. All States that are Parties to the Convention are represented at the COP, at which they review the implementation of the Convention and any other legal instruments that the COP adopts and take decisions necessary to promote the effective implementation of the Convention, including institutional and administrative arrangements.

Article 15 of the Paris Agreement establishes a Compliance Committee and sets forth the mechanisms to ensure and facilitate compliance with the agreement.

The control and implementation procedure takes the form of a triptych composed of three articulated parts: (1) the transparency framework, the global stocktake and the compliance mechanism.

One way to address the implementation challenges and enhance environmental protection is to improve the monitoring and response mechanisms for noncompliance. Such monitoring must be tailored to the peculiarities of this specific field of international cooperation. In implementing the Paris Agreement, the parties to the Agreement have chosen not to pursue traditional treaty compliance mechanisms.

The majority of Parties believed it is more important to promote compliance than to punish noncompliance, especially as the use of sanctions would discourage countries' participation in the treaty and thus encourage free riding.

In an exclusive interview with Trend, Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), stated that countries need to make new, nationally determined contributions to combat climate change.

“All paths lead to Baku. Countries need to make new, nationally determined contributions. They need to decide what they are going to do between now and 2035. And those plans need to be ambitious enough to meet the goal of keeping global warming within 1.5 degrees Celsius. The discussions in Baku will play a very important role here. This is why the International Energy Agency has decided to support the COP29 chairmanship so that there will be meaningful discussions between parties to develop ambitious, nationally determined contributions.

If they're not ambitious enough, if they fail to help us achieve the goal of keeping global warming to 1.5°C, that's a bad outcome. Thus, the COP29 chairmanship needs to encourage all parties to have ambitious, nationally determined contributions for the next 10 years. All countries and the IEA will fully support the COP29 chairmanship here,” Birol said.

The IEA Executive Director said that at COP29, he would like to see rich countries, low-income countries, and the North and South come together to address this global challenge.

“This is a challenge not only for rich countries but also for poor countries, not only for the North but also for the South, for all countries. If we can put aside geopolitical divisions and geopolitical differences and focus on the global challenge, take some concrete decisions, and agree on concrete goals, COP29 will be remembered as a successful milestone in achieving this global goal,” he concluded.

Effective mechanisms to monitor the implementation of climate commitments are fundamental to achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement and global climate sustainability. Monitoring, reporting, and verification allow countries and the international community to track progress, identify challenges, and adjust strategies to combat climate change more effectively.

The importance of international cooperation and the exchange of experience in this area can hardly be overemphasized. The development of technical and financial capacities, as well as support for developing countries, are key to the successful implementation of climate commitments. Moreover, evaluation and review mechanisms allow countries to improve their plans and ambitions based on lessons learned and new scientific evidence.

In the future, control mechanisms must continue to be strengthened and improved to adequately respond to the challenges of a changing climate. The international community must actively work to create a fairer and more resilient system that will contribute to achieving climate goals and protecting our common future.

X: @Lyaman_Zeyn

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