As part of its project in Argentina, the Initiative for Climate Action Transparency (ICAT) is working with the country’s Climate Change National Directorate to enhance the greenhouse gas (GHG) estimation process in the Land use, land-use change, and forestry (LULUCF) sector as well as the reporting of GHG emissions.

To do this, ICAT’s Implementing Partner, the Institute for the Protection and Research of Environment (ISPRA) organized a technical meeting (16th to 17th July 2020) with a range of prominent LULUCF experts to discuss the most pressing questions regarding the estimation of forest-related data for Argentina and how they could be improved. The two-day meeting explored the different estimation methods used to assess carbon stock changes in the two main forest land subcategories (natural and managed forests). Based on insights into the situation in Argentina, it offered participants the opportunity to share a variety of learnings and experiences.

As the invited experts were LULUCF reviewers for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the GHG Inventory Review, the technical assessment of the Forest Reference Level under REDD+, as well representing the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), their knowledge was particularly valuable in the meeting. It highlighted how the review process can be an important capacity building activity for all experts involved.

With active participation by representatives from other capacity building initiatives, such as the Global Capacity-building Towards Enhanced Transparency in the AFOLU Sector (CBIT-AFOLU) project, the meeting also demonstrated how different institutions and agencies can cooperate in the provision of capacity building towards climate action transparency. According to Marina Vitullo, Researcher at ISPRA, “key to this was to focus on the technical aspects and to streamline efforts and capacities to have effective and concrete outcomes from the capacity building actions”.

Key questions when assessing changes in native forests

Looking ahead, ICAT will continue to provide customized support to Argentina with their GHG inventory, the tracking of progress of Nationally Determined Contributions, and their mid- and long-term climate strategies.

For more information on the ICAT Project in Argentina, please visit the Argentina Country Page on the ICAT website or contact Marina Vitullo, Researcher at ISPRA. To support ICAT in helping countries achieve their climate targets while contributing to their national sustainable development objectives, please contact the ICAT Secretariat.