The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)¹ describes institutional arrangements as being policies, systems, and processes that organizations (including governments) use to legislate, plan and manage their activities efficiently and coordinate with others in order to fulfil respective mandates.

Institutional arrangements encompass the responsible organisations, their human resources, funding, equipment and supplies, leadership, effectiveness, and the communication links within and among organisations. Institutional arrangements support countries in translating complex technical findings into methodologically information that can be used for policy relevant purposes.

The UNFCCC has published a Toolkit ² for non-Annex I countries on establishing and maintaining institutional arrangements for preparing national communications and biennial update reports. Though not specific to REDD+, the overall advice is relevant and important. These include that national institutional arrangements should help individual Parties ensure that nationally appropriate procedures for collecting, processing, reporting and archiving required data and information are established, and that relevant stakeholders from the public and private sectors are involved in meeting the reporting requirements of the Convention, as well as addressing the broader issue of climate change at the national level.

In particular, institutional arrangements can assist Parties to:

a) Meet reporting requirements under the Convention;

b) Develop and build national capacities and ensure sustainability and consistency of reporting processes

c) Inform national and international policymakers, at different levels

d) Assist in institutionalizing activities relating to reporting on climate change

Building effective sustainable institutional arrangements encompasses three key elements:

1. Institutions: Defining which institutions are involved in domestic MRV activities and what their respective roles and responsibilities are and how they should interact, how to intervene in case of challenges and who bears overall responsibility.

2. Processes: Defining the overall process of collecting, processing, reporting and verifying data. This includes determining which role individual institutions play within this process.

3. Methodologies and tools: Identifying which methodologies and tools are required to collect, process and store data.

Sources:

2. UNFCCC Toolkit for non-Annex I countries - establishing and maintaining institutional arrangements for a preparing national communications and biennial update reports

Institutional arrangements can strengthen the national policymaking process by enhancing coordination of all relevant stakeholders and by facilitating consultations and establishing relationships among technical and policy officials.

Prior to developing the MRV function for REDD+ activities, a country should identify national and regional development priorities and objectives that would serve as the basis for addressing REDD+ and climate change. This could involve strengthening forest governance (including law enforcement);developing measures to counter deforestation and forest degradation; and enhancing sustainable forest management through consideration of the multiple functions of forests (for example by considering both climate change mitigation and adaptation benefits). This process can lead to increased understanding of existing national challenges and available options for addressing GHG emissions and removals from REDD+ within the broader context of sustainable management of forests.