Transparency and Accountability are Vital to the Cancun Agreement

Published December 14, 2010

As the sun sets on the United Nations climate change conference in Cancun, how far forward have the negotiations come?

The agreement reached has been described as 'modest' and there is significant work to be done to close the gap between the emissions cuts pledged and the reductions needed to keep temperature rise to no more than 2 degrees Celsius.

However, with forward movement of any kind looking challenging just a week ago, this agreement has breathed life back into the process. It has given the world a firmer foundation on which to build a framework for reducing emissions. Strong action is now needed by all stakeholders over the next year.

Transparency and accountability were always set to be hot topics at COP16 and represented a key area of agreement that looked uncertain just days before. Robust measurement, reporting and verification (MRV) is fundamental to tracking progress on emissions reduction efforts, finance, forestry and other commitments, as well as for building trust. How can emissions be managed if they are not measured; or indeed how can progress on reductions be tracked if it is not reported?

With measurement and transparency so vital to effective management, the agreement to create systems for MRV amongst both the developed and the developing world is an important step forward. Talking after Cancun, UNFCCC executive secretary, Christiana Figueres said, "Governments have given a clear signal that they are headed towards a low-emissions future together... they have agreed to be accountable to each other for the actions they take to get there."

With business generating 70 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, it is essential for companies across the world to disclose their carbon emissions, so governments can feed this into their wider monitoring of their emissions reduction efforts in order to help prevent dangerous anthropogenic climate change. The business world has for some time begun to recognize the importance of measuring and reporting carbon and climate change related data. Thousands of organizations already disclose this information voluntarily through the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP).

As the issue of measurement, reporting and verification grows in importance, it is vital that new initiatives are aligned and coordinated to avoid serious challenges for businesses that operate across national borders. Greater consistency and standardization globally, through a universal set of standards on climate change disclosure, will enable business to deal with the increased reporting requirements that are essential to managing greenhouse gas emissions. The Climate Disclosure Standards Board (CDSB), which advocates an international reporting framework for climate change information in mainstream financial reports, advocates the need for the same boundaries for carbon reporting as we have for financial reporting.

Getting this right will be a critical step in helping business and governments to deliver the reductions that science dictates.

Image licensed by COP16/CMP6.

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