Capacity development for the monitoring, reporting and verification of greenhouse gas emissions

Project description

Title: Capacity development for the implementation of a monitoring, reporting and verification system (MRV) for greenhouse gas emissions in Turkey
Commissioned by: German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU)
Country: Turkey
Lead executing agencies: Ministry of Environment and Urbanization of the Republic of Turkey (MoEU)
Overall term: 2013 to 2021

Context

Turkey is an Annex I Party to the United Nations Convention on Climate Control (UNFCCC) and therefore classified as an industrialised country in transition. However, as such, the country does not have a binding quantified emission reduction target. The country signed the Paris Agreement in 2016, but has yet to ratify it. Turkey’s intended nationally determined contribution (INDC) highlights that “Turkey experiences financial and technical constraints in combating climate change”. As other countries, Turkey articulates the importance of technology transfer, capacity building and financial support as a prerequisite for implementing large-scale mitigation measures. At the national level, Turkey aims to control carbon emissions in certain economic sectors. With this scope, political objectives and tools related with large-scale stimulus packages and various emission areas have been determined in the 2011-2023 National Climate Change Strategies and the corresponding National Climate Change Action Plan (NCCAP). 

Monitoring greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is key to mitigation processes. Previously, there existed no efficient and robust data management system (DMS) to monitor industrial GHG emissions in Turkey. Within the frame of the project and as part of the whole monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) infrastructure, a functional DMS was established. It provides various important statistical queries to the competent authority from the source stream level up to the country level.

Objective

Turkey has introduced a MRV system that provides a reliable and robust source of data for identifying greenhouse gas emissions, thereby establishing a solid foundation for future mitigation measures.

Approach

The project is part of the International Climate Initiative (IKI) of the German Federal Environment Ministry (BMU). It advises the Turkish Ministry of Environment and Urbanization (MoEU) and supports the creation of the necessary infrastructure for monitoring, reporting and verification of GHG emissions in Turkish industry. This MRV system fits the existing regulatory framework, based largely on EU guidelines. The data obtained through the system will feed into future mitigation activities, such as an emissions trading system (ETS).

The project runs training seminars as well as awareness-raising events for staff working in public institutions and in various industrial sectors. It is also developing guidelines for the operators of industrial installations.

A tailor-made web-based MRV data management system has been developed from scratch to fulfil the specific requirements of all involved stakeholders. The core features of this state-of-the-art system allow flexibility in the design and have been adapted to actors’ needs and learning experiences.

By sharing knowledge with experts in the MoEU, the project is enhancing the Ministry’s capacities for the management and continued development of the overall MRV system. The Turkish MRV system serves as a good example in the region and dissemination activities have taken place in Ukraine and Tunisia.

With the extension of the project, three new components have been added (2018-2021): As a new sector, aviation will be included into the existing MRV system and technical requirements and capacities of relevant actors will be established. Data quality of the existing emission data will be improved. Furthermore, the MoEU will be supported in developing suggestions for benchmarks for selected potential ETS sectors.

The project concentrates on eight specific components:

1. The MoEU collects information on and manages GHG emissions using a data management system.
2. Sector-specific MRV guidelines for emission-producing branches of industry and additional legal frameworks for MRV are implemented.
3. Relevant actors take responsibility for the sectoral MRV system processes.
4. Contributions are made to policies on GHG mitigation measures, such as emissions trading systems.
5. Dissemination of experience on developing an MRV system to other countries.
6. MRV prerequisites are established for one additional sector (aviation) in a technical sense as well as with regard to the capacities of involved actors
7. Turkish MRV actors fulfil EU ETS requirements
8. Development of benchmarks for potential ETS sectors

Results

Since the start of the project, training seminars have been conducted each year for companies required to submit monitoring plans and annual emissions reports. Around 1,000 participants have so far acquired the necessary skills to complete and hand in these plans and reports. An innovative, tailor-made data management system (DMS) has been developed. With its key characteristics of transparency, precision and comparability, the DMS allows for steering mitigation actions and for monitoring progress towards climate change-related targets. MRV actors can communicate with each other within the system and installations submit their Monitoring Plans and Annual Emission Reports. 

More than 700 Turkish industrial installations have submitted their emissions data to the DMS. Those installations are responsible for approximately 50 per cent of CO₂ emissions in Turkey; roughly 250 Mt CO₂ equivalent, which are now being monitored and covered by the Turkish MRV System.
A number of Turkey-specific guidelines have been produced for stakeholders to guide them in regard to MRV and DMS. Contributing to the impact of the project, a website has been set up that provides easy access to the guidelines and information on project activities, alongside news and announcements.

Several awareness raising events have been held aimed at stakeholders, public institutions and sector representatives. Following the Paris Agreement, a high-level international panel discussion was organised in Ankara in May 2016, under the heading ‘From Paris to Antalya – New Climate Change Regime’. This provided a platform for raising awareness among public-sector actors, civil society and NGOs, regarding the Paris Agreement and nationally determined contributions. At the end of September 2016, an international summer school was held in İzmir, addressing the implementation and enhancement of MRV systems, with experts joining from many countries in the region. 

A booklet “MRV in Practice - Experience in Turkey with designing and implementing a system for monitoring, reporting and verification of GHG emissions” has been prepared to present the experiences and lessons learned during the establishment of a tailor-made MRV system for energy and industry.