The Consultative Group of Experts (CGE), tasked with providing technical support and advice to developing country Parties in meeting their reporting requirements under the Convention and the Paris Agreement, has agreed to conduct its key work virtually in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.  

Noting the practical challenges and safety concerns in holding the in-person training sessions due to COVID-19 crisis, the CGE decided, as an interim measure, to hold all its regional hands-on training workshops planned for this year in virtual settings.  This decision was made fully conscious of the fact that the virtual training sessions cannot effectively replace the in-person training session.

The CGE also noted that the postponement of the Conference of Parties (COP 26) to 2021, would create nearly a two-year gap before it can present its progress report to the Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI). Therefore, to fill this gap and keep Parties informed of its 2020 work progress, the CGE agreed to prepare and made available its 2020 progress report by February 2021.

The CGE has regularly held virtual meetings to assess the impact of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and readjust its workplan as necessary.  The latest meeting was held on 22 July 2020,  where the CGE took these major decisions in response to challenges posed by the pandemic on its 2020 work  plan. This is testimony to the on-going commitment the group of experts is showing towards its important work.

Learn more about the 3rd CGE ad-hoc virtual meeting agreed decisions from the following link here

What is the CGE?

The CGE is one of the constituted bodies, which is mandated to support capacity building of developing country Parties in meeting their reporting requirements under the Convention and the Paris Agreement. Learn more about the CGE work from the following link here.