Firstname Lastname, Job Title

CGE SURVEY RESULTS ON DIFFICULTIES, CHALLENGES AND PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED BY NON-ANNEX I PARTIES IN USING THE GUIDELINES IN THE PREPARATION OF THEIR MOST RECENT NATIONAL COMMUNICATIONS

CGE Workshop to exchange views on possible elements to be considered in a future

revision of the UNFCCC Guidelines

St Mary’s, Antigua and Barbuda, 21. March 2011

Uazamo Kaura, Programme Officer

UNFCCC secretariat, Financial and Technical Support Programme

Presentation Outline

PRESENTATION OUTLINE

Introduction

• Survey Design

• Analysis of the Results

a) Respondents

• Responses to survey

• Background information of the respondents

b) Clarity of UNFCCC Guidelines

• National Circumstances

• GHG Inventory

• Vulnerability and Adaptation Assessments

• Mitigation

• Other relevant information

c) User Manual

• Conclusion

Introduction

INTRODUCTION

•In response to decision 5/CP.15, paragraphs (a-c) of the its terms of reference, the CGE agreed at its first meeting on 29 to 31 March 2010, to collect information on:

•Difficulties, challenges, technical problems, and constraints faced by non-Annex Parties in preparing their national communications, in using the UNFCCC guidelines for the preparation of national communications from non-Annex Parties (Paragraph 2(a) and 2(b));

•Sustaining the national communication process and maintaining national technical teams (Paragraph 2(c)).

•Presentation on the results of Survey 1: Identification of Technical Problems and constraints affecting non-Annex I Parties in the Process of Preparation of their National Communications and Assessment of Capacity-Building Needs – Part 3: Usability and Clarity of UNFCCC Guidelines (Responding to Paragraph 2(b) - challenges encountered in using the Guidelines)

Survey Design

SURVEY

SURVEY DESIGN The survey contained three parts:

Part 1: Background Information;

Part 2: Technical Concerns and Solutions divided into separate sets of questions for each of the sections of the national communication;

In terms of questions, the respondent was requested to assess the level of technical difficulty/ease experienced in completing each section of, or task related to, the national communication (i.e. whether it was “not at all difficult”, “slightly difficult”, “moderately difficult”, “very difficult”, or “extremely difficult”)

Part 3: Usability and Clarity of the UNFCCC guidelines: asks the respondent his/her opinion on the difficulties, challenges and encountered in using the UNFCCC guidelines when preparing the national communication.

Analysis of the Results - Respondents

RESPONDENTS

RESPONSES TO THE SURVEY

    Number of States Given:  

Regiontotal # of

NAI Parties

Over 50% Response

Rate

Over80% Response

Rate# of Parties Responded

Percentage Responded

within Region

African States 53 27 42 18 34%

Asian States 56 28 45 20 36%

Eastern European States 9 5 7 6 67%

Latin American and Caribbean States 33 17 26 14 42%

Western European States 2 1 2 0 0%

Total 153 77 122 58 38%

Feedback given from national experts, national focal points and NC project coordinators.

58 countries have responded to Survey 1 (as of 22 December 2010)

Analysis of the Results - Respondents

RESPONDENTS

BACKGROUND INFORMATION OF THE RESPONDENTS

Fig. 1 Involvement in the preparation of national communication

Fig. 2 Current process of preparing national communication

Analysis of the Results – Clarity of UNFCCC Guidelines

CLARITY OF THE UNFCCC GUIDELINES

OVERALL RESULTS Results for usability and clarity of using and understanding each section of the Guidelines

Section of Guidelines Not at all difficult

Slightly difficult

Moderately difficult

Very difficult

Extremely difficult

Response Count

Introduction 37 14 3 1 0 55

National circumstances 35 13 6 1 0 55

GHG Inventory 21 17 12 5 0 55

Adaptation 25 11 15 5 0 56

Mitigation 23 10 15 6 1 55

Other information 23 13 16 2 0 54

Constraints and gaps, and related financial, technical, and capacity needs

18 20 10 3 1 52

Submission 27 15 3 3 0 48

Analysis of the Results – Clarity of UNFCCC Guidelines

The biggest challenge for the “moderately difficult” category for usability and clarity in

understanding each section of the Guideline was other relevant information to the objectives of

the Convention at 29.0%, followed by mitigation (27%), V&A(26%), and national GHG inventory

(22%).

CLARITY OF THE UNFCCC GUIDELINES

OVERALL RESULTS Fig. 1: Usability and clarity of using and understanding each section of the Guidelines

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

Introduction

National circumstances

GHG Inventory

Adaptation

Mitigation

Other information

Constraints and gaps, and related financial, technical, and capacityneeds

Submission

Not at all difficult Slightly difficult Moderately difficult Very difficult Extremely difficult

Analysis of the Results – National Circumstances

RECOMMENDATIONS

• Format should use more graphics (flow charts/matrix in providing information on steps and what to

include;

• A greater level of detail would be useful as countries needed to seek clarification with the NCSP on

certain issues and in some instances refer to other material for guidance.

CLARITY OF THE UNFCCC GUIDELINES

NATIONAL CIRCUMSTANCES KEY CHALLENGES

•Guidelines were not clear from the onset as there is variation between countries;

•Guidelines not helpful with suggested length or level of detail of the content countries should report on;

•Guidelines lack recommendations for formatting, organizing and/or presenting the information.

.

Analysis of the Results – Greenhouse (GHG) Inventory

RECOMMENDATIONS

• Recommended formats to include summary tables for all the key features and more graphics

CLARITY OF THE UNFCCC GUIDELINES

GREENHOUSE GAS (GHG) INVENTORY KEY CHALLENGES

•Guidelines are not specific and the length and level of detail of content is not clear;•Differences in national sector categorization and the Guidelines, as not all information is available at national level;•Complicated for small emitters, who do not cover all the sectors provided in the Guidelines;•For the Portuguese speaking countries it is not easy to understand all the Guidelines chapters and sections and the software for the GHG Inventory.

.

Analysis of the Results – Vulnerability and Adaptation Assessments

RECOMMENDATIONS

• Instructions must be made more specific on what information to present in this section;

• Methodologies/approaches need to be modified to suit national circumstances;

• Need to update the list of reference material on methodological approaches, tools, and methods, as well as for baseline climate

change and socio-economic scenarios;

• Provide practical information regarding methodologies and models for analyzing vulnerability i.e more of the information needed

then footnotes;

• Guidelines should include how to structure the communication and suggest “minimum”, “standard” and “advanced”

categories of information that countries could/should be presenting to allow for more comparability between the communications.

CLARITY OF THE UNFCCC GUIDELINES

VULNERABILITY AND ADAPTATION ASSESSMENTSKEY CHALLENGES

•Guidelines are clear on "what" to report and the options available to the party, not adequate on "how" to prepare reports especially for the technical aspects of V&A assessments.

Analysis of the Results – Mitigation

RECOMMENDATIONS

• Updating list of reference materials on methodological approaches, tools models and methods for

baseline and mitigation scenarios development.

CLARITY OF THE UNFCCC GUIDELINES

MITIGATIONKEY CHALLENGES •Vague without much direction for analysis regarding methodological approaches for prioritizing mitigation options; •The guidelines are clear on "what" to report and the options available to the party, however it is not adequate on the "how" to actually prepare reports especially for the technical aspects of mitigation assessments. .

Analysis of the Results – Other relevant information

RECOMMENDATIONS

• Format will be easier to use if there were more details about the extent and organization of

information in this section;

• Financing and gaps an overarching, extensive topic that it would be helpful if the guidelines were

more specific as to how to present information

CLARITY OF THE UNFCCC GUIDELINES

OTHER RELEVANT INFORMATION KEY CHALLENGES

•The guidelines are clear on "what" to report and the options available to the party, however it is not adequate on the "how" to actually prepare reports especially for the technical aspects of actually conducting the needs assessment for technology..

Analysis of the Results –User Manual

CLARITY OF THE UNFCCC GUIDELINES

USER MANUAL Fig. 4: Use if the UNFCCC user manual

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

The format of the User Manual is easy to use.

It is easy to find the information I am looking for inthe User Manual.

The User Manual presents a sufficient number ofexamples and illustrations on how to develop the

The User Manual provides best practices toillustrate how to respond to requirements.

Disagree Disagree somewhat Agree somewhat Agree Don’t know

Analysis of the Results – User Manual

CHALLENGES

• There are too many user manuals and the technical levels requires too much training;

• Very incomplete and not user friendly;

• Need to have more best practices developed and tested;

• The manual provide broad guidelines and content but specific level information is lacking.

RECOMMENDATIONS

• Further guidance on modelling and assessing socio-economic impacts needed;

• Provide illustrations and best practices;

• Should be modified as countries prepare their 3NC due to many new developments that needs to

be incorporated;

• Include sections that contain information that "must be included" in the different components of the

report so as to capture critical information and give clearer instructions to the parties;

• Words such as "should or could include" leaves room for the discretion of the Parties which may

lead to the omission of vital information;

• Provide more suggestions for how to present information.

CLARITY OF THE UNFCCC GUIDELINES

USER MANUAL

Conclusion

CONCLUSION •Parties have experienced a number of challenges in the use of the Guidelines

•Recommendations from Parties may be considered as an input on the possible elements that may be considered in the future revision of the Guidelines for preparation of national communications from non-Annex Parties.