Mutual Learning Programme fosters collaboration and confidence among Eurasia, Central Asia and Caucasus networks

At the end of 2024 all parties to the Paris Agreement were required to submit their first Biennial Transparency Report (BTR), detailing their progress towards the mitigation ambitions outlined in their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).

As technically complex documents requiring accurate and consistent data reporting many developing countries face human and technical capacity constraints and no previous experience in compiling and submitting their first BTRs.

Recognising the need for detailed capacity building support to help countries meet the 2024 deadline for their BTRs, in 2023, the Capacity Building Initiative for Transparency – Global Support Project (CBIT-GSP) collaborated with the Mutual Learning Programme (MLP) implemented by the Institute for Global Environmental Studies (IGES) and Mitsubishi UFJ Research and Consulting (MURC), and funded by the Ministry of the Environment, Japan to support countries in the Central Asia and Caucasus, and Eurasia networks in completing their BTRs.

The first round of MLP implementation in CBIT-GSP’s transparency networks began in 2023 with groupings between Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, and Japan; and Moldova, Georgia, and Japan. The Mutual Learning Programme uses a peer-peer learning format to a pair two or more countries in practical exercises on how to complete the common tabular formats and other tools required for submitting climate transparency data to the UNFCCC.  Japan’s participation provided a valuable reference point for other countries, as Japan is recognized for its advanced institutional arrangements for transparency and climate reporting, and has significant experience in mitigation action and NDC tracking. In 2024 CBIT-GSP MLP activities expanded to include Armenia, Kazakhstan, Serbia, and Türkiye.

MLP participants are largely technical staff from the ministries with the mandate for climate change action. Using real data, these national technical experts can practice and review each other’s work with expert technical assistance prior to submitting a formal BTR. Countries which are more advanced in their BTR process or have greater capacities can provide insights and inspiration for other countries and share insights from common sectoral challenges.

The MLP format also allows participating technical experts to engage with reporting materials in their common languages, and establish ongoing dialogue between neighboring countries. The use of Russian as well as English was an important element for countries participating in the Central Asia and Caucasus network.

“The use of Russian in addition to English enabled our team of experts to be more engaged into the learning process and ask clarifying questions. Exchange with the peers in Russian helped us to share our lessons too and explain our approach in assessing the mitigation actions methodologies,” said Ms. Gulchehra Khasankhanova, from Uzbekistan’s Uzhydromet, presenting on Uzbekistan’s MLP experience at COP28.

The MLP also focused on reporting on priority sectors, namely agriculture and energy. Energy was chosen as it is the largest emitting sector for all network countries, while agriculture was selected as a sector with multiple challenges in data collection and policy impact assessments which limit the possibilities for mitigation reporting in agriculture. The MLP helped the participating countries to generalize agriculture policies and measures where data was not available, and was particularly important where lessons from other geographic and development contexts were not applicable.

“In collaboration with Azerbaijan … The Mutual Learning Programme gave us a possibility to explore on our national strategies and programmes on Renewable Energy Sources (RES) and expand on Energy Efficient (EE) technologies. One of the lessons showed us that the assessment of mitigation actions on RES is quite different from the assessment on EE measures as they include a high variety of different technologies across multiple sectors,” said Khasankhanova.

Focusing on energy and agriculture mitigation, Moldova’s 2024 MLP participation helped them finalise their mitigation action reporting for both sectors. “We gained practical experience in mitigation reporting using real national data, … and had opportunity to review exercises from other countries, provide and receive feedback from other participating countries, and engage in mutual learning. The MLP definitely enhanced our understanding of reporting requirements and improved our capacity to track and report on NDCs,” said Mihai Tirsu, Coordinator of Moldova’s Working Group on Climate Change Mitigation, Monitoring, Reporting and Verification of Mitigation Actions.

Data availability is the main challenge developing countries face in completing their BTRs, with several driving factors. In addition to lower automation and digitalization, many countries still lack legislation and institutional arrangements obligating climate data collection both in the public and private sectors. In most countries, the national office for statistics is the main source of data, however as local capacity and/or funding for climate reporting in developing countries is insufficient, much data collection has been done on an ad-hoc basis when funding is available.

The CTF tables require specific data consistent across time periods, and the lack of it saw countries use the ETFs flexibility protocols where data was absent, mostly in the area of emissions projections. In the second round of BTRs however, the use of flexibility will be further limited, meaning countries will need to further increase their capacity for data collection and reporting above current levels. Ensuring countries had the most accurate BTRs possible is also important in enabling countries to use the results of their BTRs to inform the production of their next NDCs.

“The Mutual Learning Programme gave us a better understanding on how to fill-in the Common Tabular Formats (CTF) for the Energy Sector and what information and how much of details they should contain. It became clearer, whether cumulative or annual numbers of the reduced emissions should be used. During the Programme we developed the indicators to better track progress under the National Determined Contribution (NDC) and properly record them,” said Khasankhanova.

During the MLP, countries were also able to present and compare their institutional frameworks and workflows related to data collection and benefitted from sharing projection estimates of specific projects. As a result some countries are looking to improve data collection issues by seeking official decrees for making stakeholders legally obliged to make data available.

Following its successful first round of work with the MLP in 2023, The Ministry of Environment of the Republic of Moldova expressed its gratitude and appreciation for the programme to the Ministry of Environment of Japan, the Mutual Learning Program, the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies, and the CBIT-GSP. We would like to continue our cooperation by extending the MLP in 2024, which will include all the other economic sectors, NDC tracking, and BTR development,” said the Minister of Environment for the Republic of Moldova, Iordanca Rodica Iordanov.

This sentiment was shared by all participating countries, which highlighted working on other sectors such as forestry, land use and waste, exploring methodologies and practices on climate finance tracking, adaptation, refining methodologies for estimating emission reductions, among other areas.

Click here to learn more about the MLP.