Capacity Building for Paris Agreement Reporting

Paris Agreement Transparency Accelerator

The Paris Agreement Transparency Accelerator is a capacity building initiative established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of State to help developing countries produce high-quality reports to the United Nation under the Paris Agreement Enhanced Transparency Framework (ETF), which will include:

• A greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory report based on the 2006 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Guidelines for National GHG Inventories, 

• Transparent information on progress towards Paris Agreement mitigation goals,  

• An explanation of the implementation of policies and measures to achieve their nationally determined contributions (NDCs), and  

• Robust projections of GHG emissions and sinks.

Through the Paris Agreement Transparency Accelerator, EPA is partnering with other U.S. Government Agencies, countries, and international organizations to develop and share inventory tools and to provide technical assistance to developing countries as they transition under the Paris Agreement to the 2006 IPCC Guidelines. EPA's previous capacity building efforts have helped specific countries throughout Southeast Asia, South and Central America, and Eastern and Southern Africa to prepare high quality national GHG inventories.

Beginning in 2024, countries will be required to submit Biennial Transparency Reports (BTRs) at least every two years (every year for developed countries) to help build trust and confidence that countries are taking action to meet their national climate targets under the Paris Agreement. EPA’s capacity building efforts will support countries as they work to establish, maintain, and improve sustainable BTRs at the rigor and frequency required by the Paris Agreement.

The Transparency Accelerator team employs a learning-by-doing approach to improve the technical and institutional capacity of partner countries, developed through the experience of preparing the Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks and lessons learned from working alongside developing country experts.

To help developing countries build institutional and technical capacity, EPA is currently expanding and developing GHG inventory and BTR reporting tools and supporting bilateral technical assistance through the Transparency Accelerator initiative.

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National GHG Inventories

Developing a national greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions inventory is a key first step toward understanding and managing national emissions. EPA works internationally to build capacity for GHG inventories by implementing projects that support countries working to establish, maintain, and improve sustainable national inventory systems and prepare high-quality GHG reports on a regular basis. A complete and transparent national GHG inventory is an essential tool for understanding current emissions and past trends, projecting future emissions, and identifying sectors for cost-effective mitigation opportunities. A national inventory is also a required element in national reports to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

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NDC Tracking

The Transparency Accelerator team provides technical assistance to:

• Improve capacity to estimate GHG emissions and sinks, including quantification of GHG emission reductions and enhancement of sinks, to support tracking progress in meeting NDC targets.
• Support identification of indicators for assessing progress in meeting NDC targets, and development of data, methods, and systems for tracking these indicators.
• Support tracking of the implementation of policies and measures used to achieve NDC targets, and quantify the GHG emission reduction impacts of these mitigation actions.

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Projections of GHG Emissions and Sinks

The EPA is partnering with the Joint Global Change Research Institute (JGCRI) at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) to support developing countries in developing and reporting projections of national GHG emissions and sinks. In the context of BTRs, EPA and PNNL can offer collaborative support to developing countries through:

Regional community building – PNNL and EPA can leverage international expert networks to help facilitate conversations between researchers and policymakers across countries. This collaboration can promote the sharing of modeling capabilities and lessons learned while strengthening research communities and the capacity of government experts through virtual or in-person workshops.   

Technical assistance for projections of GHG emissions and sinks – EPA experts and PNNL researchers can offer technical assistance in reporting GHG projections in BTRs, which can include assistance in developing representations of mitigation actions, collaborating on model and scenario development, and offering training.  

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Other Inventory Initiatives and Resources

U.S. GHG Emissions and Removals

• Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks

Other U.S. Government Inventory Initiatives

• Global Methane Initiative
• SilvaCarbon
• USAID’s Global Climate Change Program

Capacity Building Networks

• Climate Transparency Platform
• FAO and the Enhanced Transparency Framework
• Partnership on Transparency in the Paris Agreement
• UN-REDD Programme

Training and Support for Inventory Compilers

• IPCC National Greenhouse Gas Inventory Program
• UNFCCC GHG Support for Developing Countries
• UNFCCC Inventory Training Program
• Workshop on Greenhouse Gas Inventories in Asia

Funding Support

• GEF Capacity Building Initiative for Transparency (CBIT)

Questions

For questions or comments regarding EPA's capacity building initiative for national GHG inventories, email us.