Uncertainty [MGD Sections]

UNFCCC decisions and requirements
IPCC good practice guidance
Significance and key category analysis
Design decisions relevant to national forest monitoring systems
Quality assurance and quality control
Practical considerations in choosing an integration tool
Estimating uncertainty of area and change in area
Estimating total emissions/removals and its uncertainty
Guiding principles – Estimation and uncertainty
Reporting and verification of emissions and removals
Financial considerations
Sampling
Relative efficiencies
Developing and using allometric models to estimate biomass

Remote Sensing Observations [MGD Sections]

UNFCCC decisions and requirements
IPCC good practice guidance
Relationship to UNFCCC
GHGI coverage, approaches, methods and tiers
Design decisions relevant to national forest monitoring systems
Land cover, land use and stratification
Forest reference emission levels and forest reference levels
Quality assurance and quality control
Guiding principles – Requirements and design decisions
Estimation methods for REDD+ activities
Integration frameworks for estimating emission and removals
Selecting an integration framework
Activity data x emission/removal factor tools
Fully integrated tools
Practical considerations in choosing an integration tool
Guiding principles – Methods and approaches
Remote sensing observations
Coarse resolution optical data
Medium resolution optical data
High resolution optical data
L-band Synthetic aperture radar
C-band and X-band SAR
LIDAR
Global forest cover change datasets
Ground-based observations
National forest inventories
Auxiliary data
Guiding principles – Remote sensing and ground-based observations
Activity data
Methods for estimating activity data
Maps of forest/non-forest, land use, or forest stratification
Detecting areas of change
Additional map products from remote sensing
Estimating uncertainty of area and change in area
Estimating total emissions/removals and its uncertainty
REDD+ requirements and procedures
Reporting forest reference emission levels and forest reference levels
Technical assessment of forest reference emission levels and forest reference levels
Reporting results of REDD+ activities
Technical analysis of the REDD+ annex to the BUR
Additional advice on REDD+ reporting and verification
Guiding Principles – Reporting and verification of emissions and removals
Financial considerations
Country examples – Tier 3 integration
Use of global forest change map data
Relative efficiencies
Developing and using allometric models to estimate biomass

Record Keeping [MGD Sections]

Measurement, reporting and verification processes
Operational requirements
Guiding principles – Institutional arrangements
GHGI coverage, approaches, methods and tiers
Significance and key category analysis
Design decisions relevant to national forest monitoring systems
Quality assurance and quality control
Reporting and verification of emissions and removals
REDD+ requirements and procedures
Reporting forest reference emission levels and forest reference levels
Technical assessment of forest reference emission levels and forest reference levels
Reporting results of REDD+ activities
Technical analysis of the REDD+ annex to the BUR
Additional advice on REDD+ reporting and verification
Guiding Principles – Reporting and verification of emissions and removals

Integration + Estimation [MGD Sections]

GHGI coverage, approaches, methods and tiers
Design decisions relevant to national forest monitoring systems
Guiding principles – Requirements and design decisions
Estimation methods for REDD+ activities
Integration frameworks for estimating emission and removals
Selecting an integration framework
Activity data x emission/removal factor tools
Fully integrated tools
Practical considerations in choosing an integration tool
Guiding principles – Methods and approaches
Reporting forest reference emission levels and forest reference levels
Technical assessment of forest reference emission levels and forest reference levels
Reporting results of REDD+ activities
Guiding Principles – Reporting and verification of emissions and removals
Financial considerations
Country examples – Tier 3 integration

Ground Based Observations [MGD Sections]

UNFCCC decisions and requirements
IPCC good practice guidance
GHGI coverage, approaches, methods and tiers
Significance and key category analysis
Design decisions relevant to national forest monitoring systems
Land cover, land use and stratification
Forest reference emission levels and forest reference levels
Quality assurance and quality control
Guiding principles – Requirements and design decisions
Estimation methods for REDD+ activities
Integration frameworks for estimating emission and removals
Selecting an integration framework
Activity data x emission/removal factor tools
Fully integrated tools
Practical considerations in choosing an integration tool
Guiding principles – Methods and approaches
Ground-based observations
National forest inventories
Intensive monitoring sites
Auxiliary data
Guiding principles – Remote sensing and ground-based observations
Emissions/removals factors
Above- and belowground biomass
Dead wood and litter pools
Soil organic carbon
Emissions from prescribed fires and wildfires
National choices in emissions and removals factor estimation
Emission and removal factor uncertainties
Estimating total emissions/removals and its uncertainty
Guiding principles – Estimation and uncertainty
Reporting and verification of emissions and removals
Financial considerations
Sampling
Country examples – Tier 3 integration
Brief review of the potential for estimation of biomass by remote sensing
mgd_Appendix_H
First page Previous page Chapter 6, Section 6.4   Reporting results of REDD+ activities Chapter 6, Section 6.5   Technical analysis of the REDD+ annex to the BUR (98 / 109) Chapter 6, Section 6.6   Additional advice on REDD+ reporting and verification Next page Last page

6.5   Technical analysis of the REDD+ annex to the BUR Previous topic Parent topic Child topic Next topic

The technical analysis of the REDD+ technical annex to the BUR is conducted as part of the UNFCCC International Consultation and Analysis (ICA) process(1) (Box 30).
Decision 14/CP.19 Opens in new window says that a technical annex to a BUR voluntarily submitted by a developing country in the context of REDD+ results-based payments is subject to the technical analysis of the ICA process as referred to in decision 2/CP.17, annex IV, paragraph 4 Opens in new window. By this decision, upon the request of the developing country Party seeking to obtain and receive payments for REDD+ results-based actions, two experts, one each from a developing and a developed country Party, in land use, land-use change and forestry (LULUCF) from the UNFCCC roster of experts are to be included among the members selected for the Team of Technical Experts (TTE), which conducts a technical analysis of the BUR, for the technical REDD+ annex.
The material submitted in the REDD+ technical annex to the BUR, will be subject to technical analysis to analyse the extent to which:
  • there is consistency in methodologies, definitions, comprehensiveness and the information provided between the assessed reference level and the results of the implementation of REDD+ activities(2);
  • the data and information provided in the technical annex is transparent, consistent, complete (in the sense of allowing reconstruction) and accurate;
  • the data and information consistent with the guidelines for preparing the technical annex contained in the annex to decision 14/CP.19 Opens in new window;
  • the results are accurate, to the extent possible.
As outlined in decision 9/CP.19 Opens in new window, completion of the technical analysis of the technical annex by the LULUCF experts of the TTE is one of the requirements for a developing country Party to obtain and receive results-based finance.
In accordance with decision 14/CP.19 Opens in new window, paragraph 14, the LULUCF experts, under their collective responsibility in conducting the technical analysis of the REDD+ technical annex, will develop a technical report separate to the BUR ICA report. This technical report will contain:
  • the technical annex submitted by the Party;
  • analysis of the technical annex by the LULUCF experts;
  • areas for technical improvement such as improvements to data and methodologies;
  • any comments or responses by the Party concerned, including areas for further improvement and capacity-building needs.
This report, containing all the elements listed above, will be published by the secretariat on the UNFCCC REDD web platform Opens in new window.
Technical analysis is a facilitative process. The LULUCF experts can seek clarifications on the technical annex and the developing country Party should provide clarifications to the extent possible, in accordance with national circumstances and taking into account national capabilities.
Whilst the scope of the technical analysis does not include the Party’s national REDD+ strategy and action plan(3), or the safeguards summary, these elements need to be provided in order to access results-based payments(4).

Box 30:UNFCCC international consultation and analysis (ICA) process

The modalities and guidelines for conducting ICA were adopted in Durban (annex IV to decision 2/CP.17 Opens in new window) and outline the requirements of the ICA process of the BURs (and any annexes). These requirements state that the ICA process:
  • Is non-intrusive, non-punitive, and respectful of national sovereignty;
  • Aims to facilitate the universal participation of developing country Parties in the ICA process;
  • Aims to increase the transparencya of mitigation actions and their effects;
  • Is a consultative approach through a facilitative sharing of views between the team of technical experts and the Party;
  • Does not include discussion on the appropriateness of domestic policies and measures;
  • Will result in a summary report.
Notes: a. the purpose of transparency of action is to provide UNFCCC with c clear understanding of actions being taken by Parties including clarity and tracking of progress towards achieving Parties’ individual nationally determined contributions. See Article 13 of the Paris Agreement.
 (1)
The COP, by decision 1/CP.16 Opens in new window, decided that developing countries would submit biennial update reports (BURs) (paragraph 60) and conduct international consultation and analysis (ICA) of the BURs (paragraph 63), through technical analysis by a team of technical experts (TTE) and facilitative sharing of views. The BUR reporting guidelines for Parties not included in Annex I to the Convention (non-Annex I Parties) as well as the modalities and guidelines for ICA were adopted at the seventeenth session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 17), by decision 2/CP.17 in annexes III and IV Opens in new window respectively.
 (2)
Applied methods and approaches need to be methodologically sound and follow scientific principles.
 (3)
In the context of results-based payments, countries need to provide a link to their national strategy and/or action plan on the UNFCCC REDD web platform Opens in new window, as appropriate
 (4)
National strategies and action plans and the reporting on safeguards are excluded from the technical analysis, but the most recent summary information on how all REDD safeguards have been addressed and respected must be provided before Parties can receive REDD results-based payments, in accordance with decision 9/CP.19, paragraph 4 Opens in new window.
First page Previous page Chapter 6, Section 6.4   Reporting results of REDD+ activities Chapter 6, Section 6.5   Technical analysis of the REDD+ annex to the BUR (98 / 109) Chapter 6, Section 6.6   Additional advice on REDD+ reporting and verification Next page Last page