Next week, COP17 of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Durban will mark an essential milestone in the design of an effective system to “measure, report, and verify" countries' emissions, commitments, and actions. Known as “MRV," this is one of the fundamental issues to watch in the negotiations.
Why is MRV important? What is the current state of play in the negotiations? What can we expect in Durban? These questions are answered below. In a separate post we also discuss how, in designing this reporting and review framework, negotiators can draw on the lessons learned in other international regimes.
MRV: A fundamental pillar of the climate regime
In a broad sense, MRV can help assess the world's progress toward limiting the increase in global temperature to below 2 degrees Celsius (the goal agreed to at COP16 Cancun) compared to pre-industrial levels. It can also promote trust that all countries are doing what they said they would do. In addition, such a system to report and review actions can facilitate learning and implementation by identifying which policies work, which don't, and what type of support developing countries need in order to develop and implement climate programs.
Bigger political questions, such as legal form or finance, may make the media headlines, but it is also of prime importance that COP17 deliver tangible progress on the technical issue of MRV. Last year's Cancun Agreements marked an important step in the right direction by offering the broad frame for this improved system. Durban should now fill in the fine but essential details that will make this framework operational. Read the full report here.
Source: by Remi Moncel WRI Insights.
