Sopatel Silmandé Hotel, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, July 21 and 22, 2020 – The GGGI Burkina Faso Country Office organized the National Consultation Workshop of the MRV Project in Burkina Faso.
The workshop has been launched by the General Secretary of the Ministry of Environment, Green Economy and Climate Change, Dr. Sina Sibidou. Also, Mr. Göran Björkdahl, the representative of the Sweden Embassy financing this project, delivered an online speech remotely from Sweden and stressed out the importance of having such mechanism in Burkina Faso. Mr. Björkdahl reiterated Sweden Embassy’s support to Burkina Faso in this transition. Dr. Malle Fofana, Country Representative of GGGI Burkina Faso gave a welcome speech in which he thanked the different participants and presented GGGI’s vision and strategy. He also raised the necessity for all countries, especially developing countries, to have a robust national MRV system in place for more transparency and accountability.
The main objective of this workshop was to bring together the main stakeholders working on MRV and related services in Burkina Faso, to present the MRV Project activities, and call for more national buy-in. It was also an opportunity to further develop the MRV system and components for national institutions to better understand the overall MRV implementation process as well as the requirements. The project is being implemented in collaboration with 3 National Institutions: (i) the Green Economy Directorate (DGEVCC), which is the Institutional anchorage of the project in Burkina Faso, (ii) the National Institute of Statistics and Demography (INSD) accountable for the Project’s result 1 (Establish National MRV system enabling the country to meet its obligations under the enhanced transparency framework of the Paris Agreement), and (iii) the Permanent Secretary of the National Council Of Sustainable Development (SP/CNDD) accountable for the Project’s result 2 (Enhanced country capacity to prepare accurate GHG inventories). More than forty participants from about thirty Governmental institutions attended the MRV National Consultation Workshop, which will allow Burkina Faso to develop a strong, systematic, integrated, and robust GHG inventories and management system to meet Paris agreement requirements.
On the first day of the workshop, on July 21, Under the leadership of Mr. Pamoussa Ouedraogo, the General Director of Green Economy of Burkina Faso, more than forty participants from Government institutions attended the sessions on this first day. The discussions were mainly around the Presentation of MRV system and different components, architecture, and advantage for Burkina Faso, delivered by Dr. Neya Tiga.
The MRV project was presented by Dr. Galine Yanon, project coordinator to give an overview of the project activities, present the partners involved in the implementation, and seek support from institutions.
The international consultant, who was not able to travel to Burkina Faso due to the COVID-19 pandemic situation, Mr. Babacar Sarr, joined the meeting online.
The presentation was followed by a series of discussions. Questions were mainly around how to better contribute to the MRV project activities, how to take into account the needs of the different institutions, and how to ensure the sustainability of the project after the 3 years of implementation. It is clear that participants were very interested in this new thematic MRV and are looking forward to its effectiveness in Burkina Faso.
On the second day of the workshop, on July 22, Mr. Placide SOME from the National Institute of Statistics and Demography (INSD) was the chair. After the first day summary by Dr. Yanon, the Project coordinator, Mr. Babacar Sarr, the International Consultant, presented the results of the two first deliverables of the Project. These results were developed under the Rapid Assessment activity, which began on April 1, 2020. Mr. Sarr mentioned that the methodology used for the work was developed in collaboration with the project team members and recommendations from Project keys partners (Green economy, INSD, SP/CNDD). This ensures that the results presented are robust and representative of the national context. The presentation was focused on the MRV components, looking at the institutional framework part of the two first deliverables (1) The status of MRVs in Burkina Faso, initiatives and projects, and (2) the mapping of institutions, actors involved in MRV. The presentation was followed by discussions and a group working session:
- Emission factors
- Support data
- Activity data
- MRV system governance
These groups were developed based on the rapid Assessment work; to complete the missing information and ensure that all components of the MRV system are covered. After the discussions, participants made recommendations to support the project implementation and effectiveness of MRV in Burkina Faso. These recommendations are mainly around the establishment of a formalized National MRV Coordination framework, the capacity building of national actors on MRV and related services (data, emission factors, etc.), existing initiatives, and experiences from other countries.
