Department of Climate Change Hosts National Workshop to Validate Tonga’s CBIT Project

Nuku’alofa, Tonga – August 9, 2024 – The Department of Climate Change, in partnership with the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), successfully conducted a Validation Workshop for the Tonga Capacity Building Initiative for Transparency (CBIT) project. The workshop, held at Davina House, Vuna Rd, Tongatapu, brought together key stakeholders from both government and non-government sectors.

The CBIT project, a crucial initiative under the Enhanced Transparency Framework (ETF) of the Paris Agreement, focuses on overcoming barriers in data management, institutional arrangements, and capacity-building among stakeholders. The workshop featured in-depth discussions on three primary objectives: strengthening institutional arrangements, enhancing GHG database management and NDC tracking systems, and developing sustainable capacity-building initiatives.

Mr. Sudhir Sharma of UNEP emphasized the importance of Transparency, Accuracy, Completeness, and Comparability (TACC) in climate data, essential for informed decision-making and effective climate action.

Ms. Mihwa Wi, Project Manager for CBIT at the Global Green Growth Institute, acknowledged the existing efforts and current progress under the Enhanced Transparency Framework (ETF). She highlighted that the CBIT project is designed to build on these established systems by strengthening them and addressing the existing gaps. Additionally, she emphasized that the project offers significant capacity-building opportunities for all stakeholders involved in climate actions, ensuring that they are better equipped to contribute to Tonga’s climate resilience and transparency goals.

Ms. Lu’isa Tu’i’afitu Malolo, Director of Climate Change (MEIDECC), highlighted the significance of the CBIT project in contributing to Tonga’s national climate goals and the broader regional objective of building a resilient Pacific. The Department of Climate Change expressed gratitude to all participants for their valuable contributions, which will play a key role in refining the CBIT project to align with Tonga’s climate goals.

This proposal is expected to be submitted in October 2024, with the aim on the project in 2025