The 2024 ICAT Community Meetings brought together transparency experts and practitioners from across the ICAT community for several days of knowledge sharing and discussions on key climate action transparency topics. Over 80 participants from 30 countries and various organizations attended workshops on building NDC tracking frameworks, climate finance transparency, greenhouse gas emission projections, and more.

This year’s community meetings underscored the critical role of transparency in driving climate action forward. With the first biennial transparency reports due by the end of 2024, developing countries have an opportunity to leverage transparency to gain a thorough understanding of the status of implementation of their climate action, and course-correct if needed. Assessing progress in implementing the NDCs is central in this regard and will also be an important basis for updating NDCs, which is the key milestone for 2025.

The event also highlighted the importance of peer-to-peer learning and knowledge exchange. Countries shared valuable experiences and lessons learned, while also gaining access and information on relevant tools and methodologies. This fruitful exchange of knowledge contributed to strengthening the global community of practice working on climate action transparency.

The event also revealed shared needs and challenges faced by countries. These included monitoring the implementation of mitigation actions outlined in NDCs, accessing data from the private sector, tailoring solutions to local conditions, and tracking financial flows dedicated to climate action. 

Regarding climate finance in particular, the feedback from the community meetings will be used when finalizing ICAT’s upcoming guide on climate finance tracking. The finalized methodological guide will become available in the second half of 2024 and is aimed at supporting developing countries in establishing robust climate finance transparency frameworks.

Read the full report of the 2024 ICAT Community Meetings here.