Editing IPCC:AR6/WGIII/Chapter-14 (section)

==== 14.3.2.4 Transparency and Accountability ====

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Although NDCs reflect a ‘bottom-up’, self-differentiated approach to climate mitigation actions, the Paris Agreement couples this to an international transparency framework designed, among other things, to track progress in implementing and achieving mitigation contributions ( [[#UNFCCC--2015a|UNFCCC 2015a]] , Art. 13). This transparency framework builds on the processes that already exist under the UNFCCC. The transparency framework under the Paris Agreement is applicable to all Parties, although with flexibilities for developing country Parties that need it in light of their capacities ( [[#Mayer--2019|Mayer 2019]] ). Each Party is required to submit a national inventory report, as well as ‘the information necessary to track progress in implementing and achieving’ its NDC ( [[#UNFCCC--2015a|UNFCCC 2015a]] , Art. 13.7) biennially ( [[#UNFCCC--2016a|UNFCCC 2016a]] , para. 90). The Paris Rulebook requires all Parties to submit their national inventory reports using the 2006 IPCC Guidelines ( [[#UNFCCC--2019b|UNFCCC 2019b]] , Annex, para. 20).

In relation to the provision of information necessary to track progress towards implementation and achievement of NDCs, the Paris Rulebook allows each Party to choose its own qualitative or quantitative indicators ( [[#UNFCCC--2019k|UNFCCC 2019k]] , Annex, para. 65), a significant concession to national sovereignty ( [[#Rajamani--2019|Rajamani and Bodansky 2019]] ). The Rulebook phases in common reporting requirements for developed and developing countries (except LDCs and SIDS) at the latest by 2024 ( [[#UNFCCC--2019k|UNFCCC 2019k]] , para. 3), but offers flexibilities in ‘scope, frequency, and level of detail of reporting, and in the scope of the review’ for those developing countries that need it in light of their capacities ( [[#UNFCCC--2019k|UNFCCC 2019k]] , Annex, para. 5). Some differentiation also remains for information on support provided to developing countries ( [[#Winkler--2017|Winkler et al. 2017]] ), with developed country Parties required to report such information biennially, while others are only ‘encouraged’ to do so ( [[#UNFCCC--2015a|UNFCCC 2015a]] , Art. 9.7).

The information provided by Parties in biennial transparency reports and GHG inventories will undergo technical expert review, which must include assistance in identifying capacity-building needs for developing country Parties that need it in light of their capacities. Each Party is also required to participate in a ‘facilitative, multilateral consideration of progress’ of implementation and achievement of its NDC. Although the aim of these processes is to expose each Party’s actions on mitigation to international review, thus establishing a weak form of accountability for NDCs at the international level, the Rulebook circumscribes the reach of these processes ( [[#Rajamani--2019|Rajamani and Bodansky 2019]] ). The technical expert review teams are prohibited in mandatory terms from making ‘political judgments’ or reviewing the ‘adequacy or appropriateness’ of a Party’s NDC, domestic actions, or support provided ( [[#UNFCCC--2019k|UNFCCC 2019k]] , Annex, para. 149). This, among other such provisions, has led some to argue that the scope and practice of existing transparency arrangements reflect rather than mediate ongoing disputes around responsibility, differentiation and burden sharing, and thus there is limited answerability through transparency ( [[#Gupta--2019|Gupta and van Asselt 2019]] ). There are also limits to the extent that the enhanced transparency framework will reduce ambiguities and associated uncertainties, for instance, in how land use, land-use change and forestry (LULUCF) are incorporated into the NDCs ( [[#Fyson--2019|Fyson and Jeffery 2019]] ), and lead to increased ambition ( [[#Weikmans--2020|Weikmans et al. 2020]] ). More broadly, there has been ‘weak’ translation of transparency norms into accountability ( [[#Ciplet--2018|Ciplet et al. 2018]] ). Hence, the Paris Agreement’s effectiveness in ensuring NDCs are achieved will depend on additional accountability pathways at the domestic level involving political processes and civil society engagement ( [[#Jacquet--2016|Jacquet and Jamieson 2016]] ; [[#van%20Asselt--2016|van Asselt 2016]] ; [[#Campbell-Duruflé--2018a|Campbell-Duruflé 2018a]] ; [[#Karlsson-Vinkhuyzen--2018|Karlsson-Vinkhuyzen et al. 2018]] ).

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