Enhancing the transparency and accountability of climate reporting under the Paris Agreement

This policy brief examines the Enhanced Transparency Framework (ETF) established under the Paris Agreement, focusing on the reporting requirements for Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and the challenges faced by developing countries, particularly in Africa, in meeting these standards by the 2024 deadline.

• The Enhanced Transparency Framework (ETF) mandates that all countries submit biennial transparency reports by December 31, 2024, to provide standardized reporting on NDC implementation and progress toward the global goal of limiting temperature rise to 1.5°C.
• Biennial transparency reports undergo a two-stage review: first, a non-punitive Technical Expert Review to assess adherence to reporting requirements, followed by the Facilitative Multilateral Consideration of Progress, a public process where countries respond to questions from other parties.
• Developing countries face significant barriers to ETF compliance due to a lack of institutional, financial, and technical capacity, specifically regarding greenhouse gas accounting and measurement, reporting, and verification (MRV).
• Integrating climate tracking into national budget processes, such as through 'climate budget tagging', allows governments to identify spending gaps and track the impact of climate finance. For example, Kenya used such a system to report that national climate spending rose from $776 million in 2019/2020 to $957 million in 2020/2021.
• Broad stakeholder engagement, including local communities and youth, is recommended to increase accountability and ownership of NDC implementation. South Africa's 2021 NDC revision included representation from nine provinces, NGOs, industry, and community-based organisations.
• To improve reporting efficiency, NDCs and climate strategies should be aligned with national development plans. Ethiopia is implementing this by including indicators from its 10-year Development Plan within its climate reporting mechanisms.
• The Paris Agreement Implementation and Compliance Committee, consisting of 12 members with equitable regional representation, provides non-punitive oversight to help countries identify compliance challenges and share best practices.

APA

South African Institute of International Affairs (2022). Enhancing the transparency and accountability of climate reporting under the Paris Agreement. https://saiia.org.za/research/enhancing-the-transparency-and-accountability-of-climate-reporting-under-the-paris-agreement/

Chicago

South African Institute of International Affairs. Enhancing the transparency and accountability of climate reporting under the Paris Agreement. 2022. https://saiia.org.za/research/enhancing-the-transparency-and-accountability-of-climate-reporting-under-the-paris-agreement/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=South African Institute of International Affairs |title=Enhancing the transparency and accountability of climate reporting under the Paris Agreement |date=29 June 2022 |url=https://saiia.org.za/research/enhancing-the-transparency-and-accountability-of-climate-reporting-under-the-paris-agreement/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{southafricaninstituteofinternationalaffairs2022enhancing, author = {{South African Institute of International Affairs}}, title = {{Enhancing the transparency and accountability of climate reporting under the Paris Agreement}}, institution = {South African Institute of International Affairs}, year = {2022}, month = jun, url = {https://saiia.org.za/research/enhancing-the-transparency-and-accountability-of-climate-reporting-under-the-paris-agreement/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }