The Mesoamerican Workshop on National Emissions Inventories and Mitigation Plans in Agriculture, Land Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF) assisted 15 countries in identifying resources and methods in order to improve their reporting under the UNFCCC, according to the workshop's final report, released by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO).
The report also relays the major challenges these countries face in both implementing and reporting on measures to address climate change.
16 December 2014: The Mesoamerican Workshop on National Emissions Inventories and Mitigation Plans in Agriculture, Land Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF) assisted 15 countries in identifying resources and methods in order to improve their reporting under the UNFCCC, according to the workshop’s final report, released by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO). The report also relays the major challenges these countries face in both implementing and reporting on measures to address climate change.
The workshop, which was held in San Jose, Costa Rica, from 21-23 July 2014, was attended by experts from the relevant government agencies of Argentina, Belize, Costa Rica, Colombia, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay and Uruguay. The report outlines the insights gathered at the workshop, including concrete steps that can improve biennial update reports (BURs) in terms of institutions, data and integration, as well as in the specific sectors of agriculture and forestry.
The conclusions reveal that significant strengthening of institutions and national statistical systems will be required for countries to efficiently and effectively submit greenhouse (GHG) inventories and BURs. Other needs identified were centralized interagency coordination and a framework for facilitating that coordination, in addition to better interaction and linking of land, agriculture and forestry statistics.
The key findings, as reported in the document, have spurred planning for a number of follow-up activities, including an FAO pilot programme with Mexico and Uruguay to support them in completing the LULUCF and agriculture components of their BURs. In addition, ongoing coordination among the different initiatives in the region will facilitate capacity and institution building for GHG inventory and BUR preparation.
The workshop was organized by FAO’s Monitoring and Assessment of GHG Emissions and Mitigation Potential in Agriculture (MAGHG) project, the UN Collaborative Programme on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries (UN-REDD) and the REDD+ Project for Strengthening South-South Cooperation. [Publication: Final Report of the Mesoamerican Workshop on National Emissions Inventories and Mitigation Plans in Agriculture, Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry] [FAO Press Release] [Workshop Presentations] [MAGHG Website] [UN-REDD Website] [REDD+ Project for Strengthening South-South Cooperation]