New Global Greenhouse Gas Watch (GGGW) Approved by WMO
Oru Leonard
A landmark decision was made today, by the approval of establishment of the WMO Global Greenhouse Gas Watch (GGGW).
According to a statement made available to News Dot Africa, “This represents a vital step towards supporting the Paris Agreement and enhancing the monitoring of CO2 and other gases responsible for driving climate change.”
Sustained and routine global monitoring of greenhouse gas concentrations and fluxes is crucial for understanding the dynamics of climate change and providing essential support to the mitigation actions undertaken by the Parties to the UNFCCC and the Paris Agreement.
Presently, global greenhouse gas monitoring heavily relies on research capabilities and funding. However, the intermittent nature of research funding and competitive allocation processes pose challenges to achieving sustained global monitoring.
Considering the growing recognition of greenhouse gasses as a significant driver of climate change and the necessity to strengthen the information foundation for climate mitigation decisions, the WMO is collaborating with the broader greenhouse gas monitoring community to establish a framework for sustained and internationally coordinated global greenhouse gas monitoring.
The newly approved system will ensure the consistent delivery of consolidated, top-down, monthly global estimates of net greenhouse gas fluxes in and out of the atmosphere at a 100 by 100 km resolution. These estimates will play a critical role in providing timely input to various vital initiatives, including:
The Global Stocktake,
The work program for urgently scaling up mitigation ambition and implementation,
IPCC Assessment Reports,
The Enhanced Transparency Framework,
National Inventories.
International coordination will be essential to ensure transparency, a crucial requirement of the Paris Agreement. This coordination will encompass the development of methodologies, protocols for data processing, data exchange and intercomparison, as well as agreements for unrestricted access to both input and output data.
The establishment of the Global Greenhouse Gas Watch (GGGW) marks a crucial advancement in our commitment to the Paris Agreement and reinforces our dedication to monitoring and mitigating greenhouse gas emissions.
