The ClimateScanner – a global initiative led by the Federal Court of Accounts of Brazil (TCU) – was launched during a “Global Call” event in New York, US. The ClimateScanner is a web-based tool that supports independent assessments of national responses to climate change on three dimensions: governance; financing; and public policies. This methodology also helps consolidate climate change data at the global level and communicates relevant information to stakeholders interested in the topic.

The initiative seeks to support Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs), which are public oversight institutions that audit a government’s use of public funds and provide a critical link in a country’s accountability chain. The ClimateScanner tool produces information to assist a SAI’s planning for its audit work on climate change. It also supports knowledge sharing among SAIs and will strengthen the role of the International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI) in its work on climate change issues.

The “Global Call” launch event took place from 25-26 March 2024 at UN Headquarters. It was organized by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) and the Federal Court of Accounts of Brazil (TCU). Approximately 200 participants from SAIs and stakeholders attended the event.

The Global Call introduced SAIs from around the world to the ClimateScanner framework and how to assess national climate governance and climate change mitigation actions. Participants also discussed climate adaptation actions and climate finance, and the importance of information and data to assess national climate action.

During an opening session, participants were reminded that, under the transparency framework of the Paris Agreement on climate change, a variety of formats for reporting have been agreed upon, with all relying on national reports. They were encouraged to consider how the ClimateScanner initiative could build on existing policy cycles of the Paris Agreement and ongoing initiatives.

Speakers informed SAIs that the ClimateScanner framework is built like a matrix, with three pillars (governance, policies, and finance) and 19 components organized along those pillars. The framework identifies the required evidence needed to assess each component to ensure the quality of the information provided by SAIs.

Among other sessions, participants discussed the availability of data and highlighted that the UN Statistical Commission (UNSC) has requested countries to increase the collaboration between national statistical offices (NSOs) and national authorities responsible for reporting climate change-related information to the UNFCCC. TCU’s technical team noted that the ClimateScanner would allow SAIs to build on existing data and bring in and make available new data on climate.

Regional training workshops and other capacity-building activities will follow the Global Call, with the objective of presenting the initial results of the assessments in November 2024 at the UN Climate Change Conference in Baku, Azerbaijan. [ClimateScanner Global Call Webpage] [SDG Knowledge Hub Sources]