Understanding the Transparency Guidance

At the climate change conference in Glasgow in November 2021, the ‘guidance for operationalizing the modalities, procedures and guidelines for the enhanced transparency framework’ was adopted. This guidance, together with other decisions adopted in Glasgow, completes the so-called ‘Paris Agreement Work Programme’ and lays out the details needed for reporting and reviewing climate-change related information under the Paris Agreement. 

The guidance agreed in Glasgow has to be read together with the modalities, procedures and guidelines (MPGs) adopted in 2018, and it covers a wide range of technical elements, from reporting tables for greenhouse gas inventories to a training programme for review experts.

This paper provides an overview of the contents of the guidance and its links to the MPGs. It is intended for readers interested in the reporting provisions of the transparency framework who did not follow the negotiations on these topics but would like to gain an understanding of the guidance and its implications for reporting and review under the Paris Agreement.