Scenes of flooding and storms can show us just how much weather and climate affects our lives. Climate change threatens our ability to ensure global food security, eradicate poverty and achieve sustainable development. The global response to climate change today will determine how we feed future generations tomorrow.

To combat climate change and its impacts, the Paris Agreement was signed by 195 countries representing their commitment to limit the rise of the global average temperature to well below 2 degrees Celsius. To reach this goal, each country has developed individual climate commitments, known as Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). NDCs typically contain important information, such as benchmarks of past emissions, timeframes for action and technical details. Countries are required to regularly update their NDCs and provide reports on their emissions and their implementation efforts with regards to both mitigation and adaptation.  But how can countries ensure everyone is contributing to the common cause in a fair and transparent way?

In order to build confidence in the process, the Paris Agreement includes a key element referred to as the Enhanced Transparency Framework (ETF) for action and support. Designed to promote transparency and mutual trust, the framework is based on existing transparency arrangements set up under the United Nations Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), commonly known as Measurement, Reporting and Verification (MRV) framework.