Category: National governments

Capacity building in Uganda for Paris Agreement Reporting

Aether, in partnership with Petromall and NEXUS International University (NIU), provided capacity building training in GHG inventory compilation in Uganda. We engaged with over 80 participants to provide interactive training courses in all inventory sectors.

The challenge

Uganda is a non-Annex I Party to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).  Uganda therefore has legal reporting requirements concerning climate change actions. On 22nd May 2018, the Global Environment Facility (GEF) Secretariat approved a mid-sized project “Strengthening the Capacity of Institutions in Uganda to Comply with the Transparency Requirements of the Paris Agreement”.  Aether collaborated with Petromall and the NEXUS International University (NIU) in this project. 

To support institutions in Uganda, the project objectives were: 

  • To build the capacity of key stakeholders to collect, process and input data into the GHG emissions inventory and the Monitoring, Reporting and Verification (MRV) system.
  • To test and pilot the GHG emission inventory and MRV system. 

The worldwide COVID-19 health crisis resulting in lockdowns in both Uganda and Europe created an additional challenge. Participants and trainers were all working at home. As such the training plan needed to be modified to be delivered entirely remotely, instead of across two in-country visits.

The solution

Aether worked in collaboration with Petromall and the NEXUS International University (NIU) to provide capacity building training in GHG inventory compilation. A bespoke, remotely delivered training program was developed from Aether’s inventory training resources, including drawing on wide expertise across our specialist team. We engaged with over 80 participants to provide interactive training courses in all inventory sectors. 55 staff from across Uganda's sector teams received in-depth training whilst a further 26 stakeholders received broader training related to GHG inventories, MRV and the IPCC Guidelines. 

Aether sector experts supported the Uganda sector teams to produce their sector GHG inventories to practice their inventory compilation skills. This included data collection, compilation and documenting assumptions and methodologies. Estimates produced were in line with the 2006 IPCC Guidelines. This training approach focussed on building the capacity of the Uganda experts. 

Transparent documentation of data and methodologies was enabled through use of an online secure file sharing system - the MRV portal developed by Aether. This provides a focal point for all compilation spreadsheets, underlying data sets and information on methodology. It will continue to be available to the national experts after the project has finished. The central storage of this information will significantly improve the efficiency of the compilation of future national GHG inventories. 

The result

The training courses were accredited by the University and classified as a Continuous Development Programme. Participants in the training course were highly engaged and are now working to fully update Uganda's national greenhouse gas inventory. 

The remote training course received very good feedback from participants. Aether can now confidently offer this format for future training provision. It ensures that trainees get access to multiple experts across the whole inventory team at Aether, it is more inclusive and effective and saves carbon emissions by reducing the need to travel.

This project was funded by the Global Environment Facility through Conservation International. To find out more follow this link: CBIT Uganda

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Testimonial

Don't just take our word for it...

“We have been collaborating with Aether for several years, and our projects have greatly benefited from it. Aether staff are very knowledgeable, professional and flexible - and last but not least, very friendly and a pleasure to work with.”

Umhverfisstofnun, Environment Agency of Iceland

“The professional service provided by your company was of very high quality and completed within agreed timelines.”

Matthew Dudley, UNFCCC Secretariat

“Both the face-to-face training and the online version have been of high quality, with dynamic methods and a practical orientation that have allowed students to reach a solid knowledge base. The products have been delivered within the stipulated deadlines with an excellent quality and the team has always shown willingness to make adjustments according to the requirements of CONAF. We are very satisfied with the work. ”

Javier Cano Martín, Professional Unit for Climate Change and Environmental Services, CONAF (National Forestry Corporation), Chile

“Professional team and very collaborative communication. Effective result in terms of suggestions for improvement in the quality of the inventory and proposals on how to streamline specific topics.”

Italian Institute for Environmental Protection and Research

“Engaging Aether to support us to develop the first GHG Inventory System and first Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) for the United Republic of Tanzania has been a rewarding experience due to their high level of professionalism, creativity, timeliness and value for money. We will definitely consider Aether in our future initiatives.”

Abbas Kitogo, Programme Specialist Energy and Climate Change, UNDP Tanzania

“A heartfelt thank you to all the Aether team for this very comprehensive review – this is certainly turning out to be one of the most beneficial capacity building projects I have ever been involved in.”

Saviour Vassallo, Senior Environment Protection Officer, Malta Resources Authority

“If we have a need for any more reports in the future Aether will be first on my list.”

Alan Hardy, Kyson Design

“Aether is a great partner for work in the area of European Air Emissions. The team was committed, reliable, well organised and had a deep technical understanding and motivated other partners with their good spirit.”

Umweltbundesamt: Environment Agency Austria

“The support provided by Aether for this project was especially remarkable considering the situation of the COVID-19 pandemic. The tools and methods used in order to engage local stakeholders really added value to the capacity building of the national team.”

Shanna Emmanuel, Saint Lucia BUR Project Coordinator

“The Aether team were a joy to work with and I would recommend the consultancy - the service provided throughout the process was exceptional. Where there were problems, they provided solutions. The team were working to very short time scales but were able to deliver a high quality piece of work within the specified time frame.”

Sefton Council - for the Merseyside Atmospheric Emissions Inventory

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