7 October 2011: The UNFCCC Secretariat has published the report of the in-depth review of the France’s fifth national communication (NC5) (FCCC/IDR.5/FRA). The report covers the in-country in-depth review of the NC5 coordinated by the UNFCCC Secretariat, in accordance with the guidelines for review under Article 8 of the Kyoto Protocol (decision 22/CMP.1).

The expert review team (ERT) noted that France’s NC5 complies mostly with the Guidelines for the preparation of Annex I national communications, Part II: UNFCCC reporting guidelines on national communications, and contains supplementary information required under Protocol Article 7.2 (submission of information to demonstrate compliance with Protocol commitments). The ERT concluded that the NC5 provides a good overview of the national climate policy of France and that the information provided in the NC5 includes most mandatory information required by the UNFCCC reporting guidelines and most elements of the supplementary information under Protocol Article 7, with the exception of some elements. During the in-country review, France provided additional information on the missing elements.

In the course of the review, the ERT formulated several recommendations relating to the completeness and transparency of France’s reporting, including that France should improve completeness and transparency of reporting by including in the next national communication some specific information. [Publication: Report of the In-depth Review of the Fifth National Communication of France]