RECATH: regional workshops on climate action transparency in Central Asia

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Ashgabat – Turkmenistan – On October 9-12, 2023, a practical regional training brought together experts from Central Asian countries dealing with the issues of measurement, reporting and verification (IOI), measures taken to reduce environmental impact, monitoring and evaluation of adaptation measures, tracking of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) in Central Asian countries.

The training is conducted under the ReCATH (Regional Hub for Climate Action Transparency in Central Asia) project implemented by the Regional Environmental Centre for Central Asia (CAREC) with funding from the Initiative for Climate Action Transparency (ICAT).

According to the ReCATH Project Specialist Oksana Kravtsova, this training is part of a series of practical regional workshops. Their main goal is to strengthen the technical capacity of national experts from Central Asian countries on data collection and processing for reporting elements related to climate change mitigation, tracking, adaptation and transparency within the Enhanced Transparency Framework (ETF).

To better enable countries to meet their commitments under the Paris Agreement, ICAT has developed transparency modelling methodologies and tools. They can be tailored to the needs of countries and contribute to the establishment and management of a robust transparent framework that facilitates countries’ transition to the new Enhanced Transparency Framework (ETF) reporting. The ReCATH project unites all five Central Asian states to create sustainable and integrated measurement, reporting, and verification (IW) / transparency systems.

During a practical regional training in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, the technical national experts from Central Asian countries enriched their experience in climate change reporting requirements, data collection methods, formats and timelines provided for by the Paris Agreement. They also learnt the ICAT methodology and tools for estimating greenhouse gas emissions in the transport sector.

Before the training, the participants – the technical experts – received questions relating to the provision of data on the mitigation of climate change, relevant institutional mechanisms and tools for tracking NDCs, and pricing policies in the transport sector. At the training, experts answered these questions and provided individual feedback from countries. They also provided an update on the preliminary analysis of adaptation.

The experts from Central Asian countries shared their knowledge and analyzed the results of the tasks carried out to understand how the monitoring of adaptation and climate change mitigation is consistent with existing institutional arrangements. They worked to identify strengths and weaknesses, including the use of tools, and to address data gaps by mapping sources. This hands-on training contributed to a thorough understanding of data collection methods, the adaptation of MOEs (monitoring, reporting and evaluation), and the use of tools and templates for data collection and reporting.

The regional practical training was conducted by Ludivine Cozette and Dr. Olia Glade.

As Oksana Kravtsova notes, this training gives rise to reflections on the creation of a working expert group of Central Asian countries on rules and measures, actions and plans for mitigation (PMP) to improve the exchange of experience and best practices in the Central Asian region.

The training will be followed by a webinar to discuss guidance on information that promotes clarity, transparency and understanding of NDCs. A webinar on adaptation issues will be organized to discuss the results of homework exercises performed using the tools and techniques presented at the training.