Supporting climate action in developing countries

 

Australia is delivering capacity building programs to enhance developing countries’ contribution to global climate action. This includes contributing to regional and international efforts to enhance measurement, reporting and verification (MRV) of greenhouse gas emissions.

Building capability in emissions measurement, reporting and verification

Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and Paris Agreement are required to regularly submit greenhouse gas inventories. These national inventories must be transparent, accurate, complete, consistent and comparable (TACCC).

Australia has prepared and submitted national inventories for many years. We use this experience and expertise to assist developing countries in the Asia-Pacific region to enhance their MRV capacity. Establishing robust systems for MRV is fundamental to effective domestic climate action. These systems also underpin implementation of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement.

Global Forest Observations Initiative

The Global Forest Observations Initiative (GFOI) is an international partnership helping developing countries build robust MRV systems. It assists countries to accurately calculate changes to their forests and the contribution of greenhouse gas emissions from forest destruction and degradation.

The GFOI supports the integration of satellite data and ground-based measurements to assist countries to generate a full account of forest resources and emissions from land use changes.

Australia leads the development of the GFOI Methods and Guidance Documentation. This resource provides practical advice to help developing country partners establish forest monitoring systems that comply with international requirements.

GFOI lead partners are:

Thai MRV collaboration

Since 2011, Australia has supported the Government of the Kingdom of Thailand to strengthen its ability to meet UNFCCC reporting obligations and to deliver its Paris Agreement NDC. This collaboration has supported the development of Thailand’s national greenhouse gas emissions inventory system, known as ‘TGEIS’. TGEIS is modelled on the Australian Greenhouse Emissions Information System (AGEIS). See the Thai Government’s video about TGEIS on YouTube.

TGEIS is a critical asset to climate action in Thailand. It supports robust and clear national inventory system governance and institutional arrangements.  It is designed to produce timely, high quality and transparent greenhouse gas emissions data. TGEIS also advances Thailand’s economic modernisation agenda, Thailand 4.0.

Malaysian MRV collaboration

Australia is supporting Malaysia to develop a national greenhouse gas information management system, known as ‘MyGEIS’. The MyGEIS will help Malaysia prepare its greenhouse gas inventory to meet UNFCCC and Paris Agreement reporting obligations, including the Biennial Transparency Report (BTR), and support its NDC implementation.

The project was officially launched in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt at the 27the Conference of the Parties to the UN climate treaties (COP27). The project is a key activity under the Australia-Malaysia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. MyGEIS is modelled on the Australian Greenhouse Emissions Information System (AGEIS) and customised to suit Malaysia’s national inventory requirements.

Supporting international blue carbon programs

Blue carbon refers to the carbon that is captured by the world’s coastal ecosystems (mangroves, tidal marshes, and seagrasses).

The Australian Government in collaboration with CSIRO is supporting countries in the region to build capacity to protect and manage coastal blue carbon ecosystems. The department is implementing a $2 million blue carbon program with Indonesia and a $4 million blue carbon program with the Pacific, focusing on PNG and Fiji. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) is also administering a $2 million innovative finance component for the Pacific program.

Activities focus on working with Pacific countries and Indonesia to:

  • advance protection and restoration of coastal blue carbon ecosystems for climate action
  • address barriers to blue carbon management
  • strengthen blue carbon expertise and data
  • support integration of blue carbon into national greenhouse gas accounting and climate policy
  • encourage public and private sector investment

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