UN Climate Change News, 24 May 2024 - A new milestone in the enhanced transparency framework for reporting on national climate actions and support was reached when a team of technical experts coordinated by UN Climate Change travelled to Andorra from 13 to 17 May 2024 to conduct their review of the country's Biennial Transparency Report (BTR).
Andorra is the first country to submit a BTR, and did so a full year before the deadline of 31 December 2024.
The technical team met with Andorra's national experts to review the country's national greenhouse gas inventory and progress made towards its commitments under the Paris Agreement, including in implementing its national climate action plan (or nationally determined contribution - NDC), as well as support needed.
The review team learned about Andorra's experience in preparing the BTR and identified key knowledge gaps and capacity-building needs. This, combined with the targeted technical advice provided by the review team, will help Andorra improve its national reporting in subsequent BTR submissions.
Andorra's Secretary of State for Energy Transition, Transport and Mobility, Mr. David Forné Massoni, said: "It is important to recognize that this process is not only a technical review, but also a mutual learning opportunity for all parties involved. This review provides an invaluable opportunity to deepen our knowledge, strengthen implementation of the methodologies and stay actively engaged in a process of continuous improvement of our reports, with transparency as the cornerstone."
Xuehong Wang, Manager in the Transparency Division at UN Climate Change, praised Andorra's commitment, highlighting this as a landmark moment for the Paris Agreement's Enhanced Transparency Framework (ETF): "This review marked the formal launch of the ETF's review process. It is a significant and positive step towards building a solid and rigorous transparency and accountability framework under the Paris Agreement."
To empower countries for successful BTR reporting, UN Climate Change has redoubled existing efforts to provide capacity-building and training activities in 2024, paving the way for a robust launch of the ETF and the use of its new reporting tools.
At the June UN Climate Meetings in Bonn from 3 to 13 June 2024, several events organized under the banner of the #Together4Transparency initiative will provide progress updates on ETF implementation, hands-on training sessions, and other thematic events covering a wide range of transparency-related topics.
Experiences and lessons learned from Andorra's in-country BTR review will be presented at an official side event during the June UN Climate Meetings on Wednesday 6 June (13:15-14:30). This event will be open to all registered delegates.
