The Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Paris Agreement,
Recalling Article 13 of the Paris Agreement and decision 18/CMA.1 and its annex,
Also recalling decision 20/CMA.1 and its annex,
Further recalling the annexes to decisions 17/CP.8, 2/CP.17, 24/CP.19, 13/CP.20, 9/CP.21 and 6/CP.25, and decision 1/CP.24, paragraphs 39–46,
Recalling Article 13, paragraph 2, of the Paris Agreement and decision 1/CP.21, paragraph 89,
Also recalling the guiding principles referred to in decision 18/CMA.1, annex, paragraph 3,
Further recalling Article 13, paragraphs 14–15, of the Paris Agreement, according to which support shall be provided to developing country Parties for the implementation of Article 13 of the Paris Agreement and for the building of transparency-related capacity of developing country Parties on a continuous basis,
Recalling decision 1/CP.24, paragraph 43(a), according to which Parties may submit their national communication and biennial transparency report as a single report in accordance with the modalities, procedures and guidelines included in the annex to decision 18/CMA.1 for information also covered by the national communication reporting guidelines contained in, as applicable, decisions 4/CP.5 and 17/CP.8,
1. Adopts:
(a) The common reporting tables referred to in chapter II of the annex to decision 18/CMA.1 for the electronic reporting of the information in the national inventory reports of anthropogenic emissions by sources and removals by sinks of greenhouse gases, as contained in annex I;
(b) The common tabular formats referred to in chapter III of the annex to decision 18/CMA.1 for the electronic reporting of the information necessary to track progress made in implementing and achieving nationally determined contributions under Article 4 of the Paris Agreement, as contained in annex II;
(c) The common tabular formats referred to in chapters V–VI of the annex to decision 18/CMA.1 for the electronic reporting of the information on financial, technology development and transfer and capacity-building support provided and mobilized, as well as support needed and received, under Articles 9–11 of the Paris Agreement, as contained in annex III;
(d) The outlines for the biennial transparency report, national inventory document and technical expert review report pursuant to the annex to decision 18/CMA.1, as contained in annexes IV, V and VI, respectively;
(e) The training programme for technical experts participating in the technical expert review of biennial transparency reports, as contained in annex VII;
2. Encourages Parties to prepare their biennial transparency report and national inventory document in accordance with the outlines contained in annexes IV and V, respectively;
3. Decides that technical expert review teams will follow the technical expert review report outline contained in annex VI;
4. Reaffirms decision 18/CMA.1, annex, paragraph 79, which states that each Party shall report the information referred to in paragraphs 65–78 of that annex in a narrative and common tabular format, as applicable, noting that the information provided in the common tabular format may be further complemented by other formats in a Party’s biennial transparency report, as applicable;
5. Decides that those developing country Parties that need flexibility in the light of their capacities may, when reporting on a provision for which they have a capacity constraint, choose one or more of the following options, as applicable, to reflect the application of the specific flexibility provisions included in the annex to decision 18/CMA.1 in the common reporting tables and common tabular formats, as contained in annexes I and II, respectively:
(a) Use the new notation key “FX” (flexibility) in the relevant common reporting tables or common tabular formats, providing an explanation of how the specific flexibility provision has been applied in the corresponding documentation box;
(b) Collapse relevant row(s) or column(s) where “FX” is reported in each cell in the row or column and expand them again for display purposes, providing an explanation of how the specific flexibility provision has been applied in the corresponding documentation box;
(c) Collapse tables related to the four additional gases included in decision 18/CMA1, annex, paragraph 48, where “FX” is reported in each cell in the row or column and expand it again for display purposes, providing an explanation of how the specific flexibility provision has been applied in the corresponding documentation box; indicate the first year and last year of the inventory time series, consistent with decision 18/CMA.1, annex, paragraphs 57–58, and generate columns and tables consistent with this selection, providing an explanation of how the specific flexibility provision has been applied in the corresponding documentation boxes; and indicate the thresholds selected, consistent with decision 18/CMA.1, annex, paragraphs 25 and 32, providing an explanation of how the specific flexibility provision has been applied in the corresponding documentation box;
6. Requests the secretariat to incorporate the formats and approaches referred to in paragraph 5 above into the reporting tools referred to in paragraph 8 below;
7. Also requests the secretariat to incorporate the confidentiality approach referred to in paragraph 26 below into the reporting tools referred to in paragraph 8 below;
8. Further requests the secretariat to develop reporting tools for the electronic reporting of the common reporting tables and common tabular formats (hereinafter referred to as the reporting tools), taking into account the operationalization of the flexibility provisions referred to in paragraph 5 above, and make available a test version of the reporting tools by June 2023 with a view to the final version of the tools being completed by June 2024, subject to the timely availability of sufficient financial resources;
9. Requests the secretariat to inform the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice on progress in the development of the reporting tools at its fiftyseventh session (November 2022) and at each subsequent session until the tools have been finalized;
10. Invites Parties to submit their views on their experience with the test version of the reporting tools, including experience with integrating the tools into their national inventory arrangements, and inputs on improving the tools at the latest six months after the release of the test version via the submission portal by December 2023;
11. Requests the secretariat to produce a technical paper on these submissions, including an assessment of the experience of Parties with using the test version of the reporting tools and challenges faced by developing country Parties in integrating the tools into their national inventory arrangements for consideration by the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice at its sixtieth session (June 2024);
12. Also requests the secretariat, once the test version of the reporting tools becomes available, to organize regular technical training workshops (online and/or in person) to facilitate an interactive exercise with experts from Parties that demonstrates the functions of the reporting tools;
13. Further requests the secretariat to prepare a report on how the inputs of Parties on the test version of the reporting tools have been considered in the final version of the tools to present this to the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice at the next session following finalization of the reporting tools;
14. Requests the secretariat, once the final version of the reporting tools is released, to organize regular technical training workshops (online and/or in person) to facilitate an interactive exercise with experts from Parties that demonstrates the functions of the reporting tools and to facilitate peer learning and the sharing of experience among Party experts in using the reporting tools and integrating them into their national inventory arrangements;
15. Also requests the secretariat to develop user manuals for the reporting tools; 16. Further requests the secretariat to provide training and advice to developing country Parties on the use of the reporting tools and to provide technical support to these countries, including those that use the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change inventory software, to the extent possible, on integrating the reporting tools into their national greenhouse gas inventory arrangements;
17. Decides that, if the final version of the reporting tool for common reporting tables for inventory information is not available within the time frame referred to in paragraph 8 above, Parties can submit the national inventory report after 31 December 2024, with a delay not exceeding the delay in the availability of the reporting tool;
18. Also decides that, if the reporting tools for common tabular formats for the information reported pursuant to decision 18/CMA.1, annex, chapters III, V and VI, are not available within the time frame referred to in paragraph 8 above, Parties shall submit the information in the biennial transparency report (excluding common tabular formats) in line with the agreed deadlines but can submit the common tabular formats after 31 December 2024, with a delay not exceeding the delay in the availability of the reporting tools;
19. Requests the secretariat to facilitate interoperability between the reporting tools and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change inventory software;
20. Invites the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change to engage in the work referred to in paragraph 19 above;
21. Also invites the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change to organize a technical training workshop in the second half of 2024 on its inventory software and the linkages of the software with the reporting tool for the electronic reporting of common reporting tables referred to in paragraph 8 above;
22. Requests the secretariat to establish an interactive web portal to facilitate the availability of information, by parameter and by year, reported by Parties in their biennial transparency reports in accordance with decision 18/CMA.1, annex, paragraphs 118–145;
23. Also requests the secretariat to make the web portal referred to in paragraph 22 above available from December 2025;
24. Emphasizes that each interested Party may provide, as appropriate, information related to enhancing understanding, action and support, on a cooperative and facilitative basis, to avert, minimize and address loss and damage associated with climate change impacts in chapter IV of its biennial transparency report, pursuant to decision 18/CMA.1, annex, paragraph 115;
25. Clarifies that the 100-year time-horizon global warming potential values referred to in decision 18/CMA.1, annex, paragraph 37, shall be those listed in table 8.A.1 of the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, excluding the value for fossil methane;
26. Recalls that, in accordance with decision 18/CMA.1, annex, paragraph 47, a minimum level of aggregation is needed to protect confidential business and military information and that in such cases a Party shall provide to the technical expert review team information on methods used to estimate emissions and removals for relevant subcategories in accordance with good practice elaborated in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories, as well as the descriptions, assumptions, references and sources of information used;
27. Also recalls decision 18/CMA.1, annex, paragraph 31, and notes that when information on emission factors, activity data and/or emissions by sources and removals by sinks of greenhouse gases are not available at the most disaggregated level, the notation key “IE” may be used to indicate the data are included elsewhere in the inventory instead of under the expected source or sink category;
28. Notes that Parties may use on a voluntary basis the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 2019 Refinement to the 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories;
29. Requests the secretariat to undertake a mapping exercise of the categories in the 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories and those in the common reporting tables to identify differences in category names and to make the findings of this mapping exercise available to national greenhouse gas inventory compilers;
30. Also requests the secretariat, incorporating, as appropriate, technical advice from the Consultative Group of Experts and lead reviewers, to develop the training programme for technical experts participating in the technical expert review of biennial transparency reports, as outlined in annex VII, taking into account experience and lessons learned from developing existing training programmes under the Convention;
31. Further requests the secretariat to implement the training programme for technical experts participating in the technical expert review of biennial transparency reports, as outlined in annex VII, taking into account technical advice from the Consultative Group of Experts and the lead reviewers to the secretariat on the implementation of training for technical experts participating in the technical expert review of biennial transparency reports;
32. Requests the secretariat to report to the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice on progress in the development of the training programme at its fiftyseventh session and at each subsequent session until the development of the training programme has been completed;
33. Also requests the secretariat to make the courses comprising the training programme, as outlined in paragraph 10 of annex VII, available beginning 1 March 2023, prioritizing the development of training courses aimed at providing a general overview of the enhanced transparency framework under the Paris Agreement and making the other courses, relating to information to be reviewed in accordance with decision 18/CMA.1, annex, paragraph 150, available by September 2023, and subject to the timely availability of sufficient financial resources;
34. Further requests the secretariat to promote geographical and gender balance among the technical review experts participating in the training programme referred to in paragraph 30 above, to the extent possible, giving special consideration, including in terms of support for participating in the training programme, to experts from developing countries, particularly the least developed countries and small island developing States;
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