13 November 2014: The UNFCCC Secretariat has published an annual report on the technical review of information reported under the Convention related to biennial reports (BRs) and national communications (NCs) by Annex I Parties to the Convention (FCCC/SBSTA/2014/INF.20). The report describes activities relating to the review of information reported in the first biennial reports and sixth national communications submitted by Annex I Parties in 2014. It also provides information on the composition of expert review teams (ERTs) and on the training of reviewers.

The technical review, which constitutes the first step of the international assessment and review (IAR) process, is being undertaken by ERTs and is expected to take place from early 2014 to mid-2015, with the output being the review reports of the NCs and BRs. This will provide input to the multilateral assessment process, which will be conducted at the 41st session of the Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI 41) in December 2014, in Lima, Peru, and will involve assessing the performance of 17 developed countries. The assessment will focus on how developed countries are progressing towards their economy-wide emission reduction targets, with all 44 developed countries expected to be assessed by SBI 43.

The technical review includes a preparatory desk review, an in-country visit (or centralized review) and the preparation of the review report. The report describes how ERT members should have competence in the area being reviewed and not be nationals of the Party under review nor be nominated or funded by that Party. ERTs can vary in size and composition, taking into account the national circumstances of the specific Party being reviewed.

A first meeting of lead reviewers was held in March 2014, in Bonn, Germany, with the participation of 59 experts, 39 from non-Annex I Parties and 20 from Annex I Parties. The lead reviewers noted that a lack of well-prepared experts might lead to a delay in organizing reviews, and encouraged: nominating experienced experts to the roster of experts; updating the list of experts as appropriate; facilitating expert participation in the reviews; and formalizing current training materials.

The report indicates that further to the training activities, experts have: improved and updated their professional knowledge and technical skills to ensure more consistency across reviews; and gained a better understanding of review tasks, leading to improved efficiency of the review process. It notes, however, that the lack of formal training requirements for experts involved in the national communications review process has sometimes led to a more cumbersome and time-consuming process, which has, in some cases, undermined report quality. The report adds that in response, the Secretariat has prepared a draft training programme to be implemented in the period 2014–2016. The programme includes the following: general and crosscutting aspects of the review of NCs and BRs; review of targets and policies and measures, their effects and their contribution to achieving those targets; review of emissions, emission trends, projections and impacts of policies and measures; and review of the provision of financial support, technology transfer and capacity building. [Annual Report on the Technical Review of Information Reported by Annex I Parties]