1.
WEBINAR: What Does The Paris
Agreement’s Transparency Framework
Mean for the Least Developed Countries?
Charles Asumana Sr., PhD.
LIBERIA
August 4, 2020

2.
Outline
1) National Reporting Experience under the UNFCCC
2) Current Status of NC/BUR
3) National Motivations for Preparing NC/BUR
4) Challenges and Outcomes
5) Lessons Learned

3.
National Reporting Experience
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of Liberia, established by an
Act of the National Legislature, is designated as the national entity for,
among other things, the preparation and submission of international
reporting documents, such as the NCs and BURs.
As the “single national entity”, the EPA collaborates with the inventory
stakeholders to enable the country meets its reporting obligations.

4.
Structure for Climate Change Governance

5.
KEY EMISSION SECTORS CONCERNED INSTITUTIONS
ENERGY
Ministry of Mines & Energy, Ministry of Transport, Liberia Electricity
Corporation, Rural Renewable Energy Agency, Liberia Petroleum Refining
Company, Liberia Civil Aviation Authority
IPPU
Ministry of Commerce, Firestone Rubber Plantation Company, International
Aluminum Factory, NICOM Distillery, LIPFOCO Foam Mattress, National Paint
Industry, Mining Industries, etc.
WASTE City Corporations, Liberia Water & Sewer Corporation, Ministry of Health
AGRICULTURE Ministry of Agriculture, Central Agriculture Training Institute , Liberia Agro
International Corporation
FORESTRY & OTHER LAND USE
(FOLU)
Forestry Development Authority, Liberia Land Authority
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (EPA) OF LIBERIA

6.
Current Status of NC/BUR
In Liberia, the preparation of the SNC and BUR–1 is ongoing and the final
documents are expected to be published before the end of this year - 2020.
The inventory is taking into account four main gases, namely: Carbon dioxide
(CO2), Methane (CH4), Nitrous oxide (N2O), and hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs).
The methodology is based on the 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National GHG
Inventories, without country-specific emission factors (Tier 1).

7.
National Motivations for Preparing NC/BUR
Liberia is highly vulnerable owing to its low economic base, dependence on rain-fed agriculture, increasing
coastal erosion, exposure to epidemics and huge reliance on biomass energy, plus low capacity to adapt at
the community and national levels. In the first NC, Liberia’s contributions to global GHG emissions stand at
1.89 mt CO2 eq., representing 0% of the global total.

8.
Flood Damage

9.
Issues of trust and use of information hinder the gathering of relevant data from
Inventory stakeholders
Difficulty in obtaining activity data due to its unavailability. In some cases,
available data vary in formats, not in the format required for GHG Inventory
 Difficulty in accessing information due to less robust institutional arrangement
and/or the absence of legal, formal and procedural mandate
The rate of staff turnover is high, as is the number of fresh members with no
previous knowledge for effective coordination
Challenges and Outcomes

10.
Lessons Learned
Stakeholders’ engagement and consultation is important to foster
confidence and assurance that data and information will not be used
against them, but rather for scientific purposes, national policy and
international reporting.
Strengthen institutional and human resource capacity through capacity
building approaches, training programs and refreshers. Gap analysis can
be conducted to identify capacity and training needs.
In the absence of a legal, formal, and procedural mandate, inventory
stakeholders do not feel obligated to supply data and information. An
MOU is necessary, along with a robust institutional arrangement for
effective coordination.

11.
Conclusion
At the moment, Liberia is not adequately prepared for the Enhanced
Transparency Framework (ETF) of the Paris Agreement.
With the necessary support to enhance capacities at the systemic,
institutional and individual levels, Liberia will be in a better position
to implement the transparency elements in the Agreement.

12.
Thanks for your attention