Supporting the Philippines in preparing its first biennial transparency report

Background
As part of the Paris Agreement commitments, the Philippines has been preparing to submit its first biennial transparency report (BTR) by 31 December 2024. FAO and the Capacity Building Initiative for Transparency Global Support Program (CBIT-GSP) have been supporting the country with the various activities and processes leading up to the submission of its first BTR. 

In line with the FAO’s capacity building approach, this includes both  strengthening  individuals’  technical skills, though training and one on one mentoring,  but also creating  a more enabling environment. In concrete terms, this includes identifying bottlenecks and finding ways to improve collaboration among institutions; and raising policy makers’ awareness of the importance of meeting the Paris Agreement commitments.

Specialised support from the CBIT-AFOLU+ project 

In the Philippines, the  FAO Global capacity building towards enhanced transparency (CBIT-AFOLU+) project has focused on building capacity primarily in developing the greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory for the agriculture and Land Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF) sectors. It has also fostered consultations to increase collaboration among the main stakeholders and institutions involved in preparing the BTR.

It also been working with the Philippine government to increase funding by formulating a Global Environment Facility (GEF) project called “Enabling the Philippines to prepare its Second Biennial Transparency Report with a combined Third NationalCommunication (BTR2/NC3) and Second Biennial Transparency Report (BTR3)”. 

Preparing the GHG inventory in the LULUCF and agriculture sectors

From April to June 2024, the CBIT-AFOLU+ project organised several webinars and two in-person workshops to build capacity in developing the national GHG inventory for the LULUCF and agriculture sectors. Topics covered included:

• An overview of the UNFCCC reporting systems and the Paris Agreement's Enhanced Transparency Framework (ETF).
• Preparing the GHGinventory according to the 2006 IPPC guidelines.
• Ways to improve the national GHG inventory system based on the IPCC principles.
• The basic principles of GHG estimation and data collection methods – including a deeper look at estimating emissions from livestock, rice cultivation and burning crop residues.
• Institutional arrangements in the Philippines.
  

Participants learned about useful tools such as:

• the IPCC  inventory software
• FAO LoGIc and Collect Earth for developing their LULUCF GHG inventory
• FAO NEXT for preparing their BTR
  

Over 100 experts participated in the capacity building activities and consultations.

More information

Countries interested in technical assistance from the CBIT-AFOLU+ should write to  [email protected]

Do you want to learn more about FAO tools to support countries in enhancing the transparency system?

Visit: https://www.fao.org/in-action/climate-change-transparency/resources/data-and-tools/en