7.1. Technical Details

For a deeper exploration of the details included in the Paris Agreement Rulebook, the following content seeks to probe the decisions reached by the CMA on the global stocktake. To structure this exploration and provide some guidance for implementation, the discussion is focused on the key questions of who, what, when, and where; for more on this approach, please see the associated methodology.

WHAT? (FURTHER EXPLANATION OF “WHAT”)

Mandates of the global stocktake are defined in the Paris Agreement and captured in the following graphic.

Unpacking the Mandates of the Global Stocktake.
Source: Based on data from Northrop et al. (2018).

The global stocktake will take place in three phases. These phases are detailed in the information above under “Key Rulebook decisions from COP24” and in the below diagram.

Figure showing three phases of global stocktake.

WHO? (FURTHER EXPLANATION OF “WHO”)

Decision 19/CMA.1 notes that the global stocktake “will be a Party-driven process conducted in a transparent manner and with the participation of non-Party stakeholders” (para. 10). The same paragraph notes that all inputs will be “ . . . fully accessible by Parties, including online . . . ” but does not clarify whether the inputs will also be fully accessible to non-Party stakeholders. Among the sources of input for the global stocktake are “submissions from non-Party stakeholders and UNFCCC observer organizations” (19/CMA.1, para. 37i).

Non-Party stakeholders participated in the 2018 Talanoa Dialogue as it took stock of progress toward the Paris Agreement’s temperature long-term goal in Article 4.1. The Talanoa Dialogue was mandated by the COP in decision 1/CP.21, para. 20. The Talanoa Call for Action further recognized the importance of non-Party stakeholders in enhancing global ambition. These experiences set a precedent for further engagement, but Parties will have to decide how and whether to further engage non-Party stakeholders in the global stocktake process.

Decision 19/CMA.1 describes the role that the UNFCCC Secretariat and other bodies under the Convention will play in the global stocktake. The following table outlines these responsibilities.

Chair of Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA) Chair of Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI) Secretariat Co-facilitators of the Technical Dialogue

Establish a joint contact group to conduct the global stocktake (19/CMA.1, para. 4).

 

 

Requested to “develop guiding questions for all components of the global stocktake, including specific thematic and cross-cutting questions, one session of the subsidiary bodies prior to the relevant activities under the global stocktake being carried out” (19/CMA.1, para. 7).

 

 

Requested “to organize the global stocktake in a flexible and appropriate manner, to work on identifying opportunities for learning-by-doing, including for assessing collective progress, and to take the necessary steps for the consideration of inputs as they become available” (19/CMA.1, para. 16).

 

 
Information collection and preparation

Requested to issue a call for inputs (19/CMA.1, para. 19).

Requested to “facilitate online availability of all inputs to the global stocktake from Parties, by thematic area, and to organize a webinar to clarify the methodologies and assumptions used to aggregate the inputs” (19/CMA.1, para. 21).

 

Requested to “identify potential information gaps in relation to the global stocktake and, where necessary and feasible, to make requests for additional input…” (19/CMA.1, para. 25)

Invited to “start compiling for the technical assessment the most up-to-date inputs” from the identified sources “two sessions of the subsidiary bodies prior to the assessment” (19/CMA.1, para. 22)

 

Invited to “complement the non-exhaustive list of [sources of input] at its session held prior to the information collection and preparation component…” (19/CMA.1, para. 38).

 

Requested, under the guidance of global stocktake co-facilitators to prepare for the technical assessment four synthesis reports, one each on

  • the state of greenhouse gas emissions
  • the state of adaptation efforts, experiences, and priorities
  • the overall effect of NDCs
  • finance flows
  • (19/CMA.1, para. 23)the overall effect of NDCs
  • finance flows

(19/CMA.1, para. 23)

 
Technical Assessment

 

 

 

“will summarize [technical dialogue] outputs in summary reports, taking into account equity and the best available science, for each thematic area…and an overarching factual synthesis of these reports in a cross-cutting manner” (19/CMA.1, para. 31)
Consideration of Outputs

Sit on a high-level committee with the CMA president to present and discuss the implications of the findings of the technical assessment (19/CMA.1, para. 33).

 

 

 

WHEN? (FURTHER EXPLANATION OF “WHEN”)

Decision 19/CMA.1, para. 8 notes that the length of the technical assessment is related to the timing of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports. The decision, though, does not provide additional clarity about when the timing of the IPCC reports would necessitate the technical assessment over three sessions of the Subsidiary Bodies. Nor does the decision provide guidance as to how the decision to hold the technical assessment over three sessions will be made. The information collection and preparation component of the global stocktake will always begin one session ahead of the technical assessment.

7.2. Linkages with Other Elements of the Paris Agreement

Various elements of the Paris Agreement Rulebook are linked together, both implicitly and explicitly. These linkages build the Agreement’s plan-implement-review cycle and will support the implementation of the Agreement. This discussion details some of the linkages of the global stocktake with other elements of the Paris Agreement Rulebook, building on the efforts first elaborated in Dagnet et al. (2017) and Dagnet et al. (2018), and including updated information from the final decisions reached by the CMA.

Common Time Frames. As noted in Dagnet and Cogswell (2019), “all Parties use the same time frame, they will all be at the same point in NDC implementation during the global stocktake. This may facilitate collective understanding on progress made in implementing and achieving NDCs.” The global stocktake will consider the “overall effect of Parties’ [NDCs] and overall progress made by Parties towards the implementation of the [NDCs]” (19/CMA.1, para. 36b). These outcomes are to inform Parties as they update and enhance their NDCs (Paris Agreement, Article 14.3).

NDC Mitigation Elements. The information for clarity, transparency, and understanding in NDCs is critical as the global stocktake seeks to consider the “overall effect of Parties’ [NDCs] and overall progress made by Parties towards the implementation of the [NDCs]” (19/CMA.1, para. 36b). The global stocktake will not assess individual country efforts or NDCs, but being able to assess the aggregate effect of the NDCs depends on adequate CTU.

Adaptation Communications. The global stocktake is to consider the “state of adaptation efforts, support, experience and priorities,” specifically including the information from the adaptation communication (19/CMA.1, para. 36c). Further, Party reports and communications under the Paris Agreement are a key source of inputs to the global stocktake (19/CMA.1, para. 37a).

Ex-ante Finance Information. While the communications under Article 9.5 are not explicitly listed as a source of input to the global stocktake, the Secretariat is to publish a compilation and synthesis of the communications which is to “inform the global stocktake” (12/CMA.1, para. 7). The global stocktake will consider finance flows, of which Article 9.5 communications could be an important information source (19/CMA.1, para 36c).

Cooperative Implementation (Article 6). Information on efforts under Article 6 will support the global stocktake’s consideration of the “state of greenhouse gas emissions” and the “overall effect of Parties’ [NDCs] and overall progress made by Parties towards the implementation of the [NDCs]” (19/CMA.1, para. 36b).

Enhanced Transparency Framework. The Paris Rulebook established several linkages between the enhanced transparency framework and the global stocktake, with the transparency framework informing the work and assessments of the global stocktake. The global stocktake is to consider the state of greenhouse gas emissions, the progress made in implementing NDCs, the state of adaptation efforts, and finance flows based on information provided under Article 13 (19/CMA.1, para. 36). Party reports under the enhanced transparency framework are an important source of input to the global stocktake (19/CMA.1, para. 37).

Facilitating Implementation and Promoting Compliance. These elements are linked because, though not explicitly noted in the global stocktake decision, information from the Article 15 expert committee could potentially serve as a source of input to the global stocktake. In conducting its work and considering its sources of inputs, the global stocktake is to consider information at a collective level on “barriers and challenges, including finance, technology and capacity-building gaps, faced by developing countries” (19/CMA.1, para. 36f).

 

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