1. UNFCCC secretariat, programme Firstname Lastname, Job Title Information on problems related to the sustainability of the national communication process and maintenance of national technical teams for the preparation of national communications including GHG inventories, on a continuous basis 2 nd Meeting of the Consultative Group of Experts 27-29 September, Manila, Philippines

2. Parts of Survey 2 and survey respondents Parts of survey 2: Background information Institutional concerns and solutions Financial constraints and solutions Greenhouse gas inventory software Survey respondents Most are project Coordinators (72%) Most are from Parties (88%) and the rest are from UN agencies (11%) Most have completed the initial NC (97%), 2 nd NC (23%), 5% are not working on any NC

3. Functions of project coordinators Administrative matters Oversee substantive and technical Manage consultants Coordination with other agencies Thematic experts, e.g. GHG inventories, mitigation, V&A assessments

4. Key observations: Multilateral organization Jointly worked with 5 Parties in preparation of their NCs The agencies involved are working with and for the governments: Project coordinators Technical staff Project staff Provides technical support to all sections of NC particularly in the sections on national circumstances and other information.

5. Key observations: Institutional concerns and solutions Most of the respondents indicated continuity of experience from previous NCs although a good no. indicated that only in some cases. Sections of NC respondents had difficulty in building on past procedures and organizational experience: GHG inventories, V&A assessments and mitigation assessments. Activities in GHG inventories that respondents encountered challenges: Data management systems, interaction with other stakeholders and building expert staff.

6. Key observations: Institutional concerns and solutions Key issues relating to sustainable NC process: Coordination among ministries/stakeholder engagement and preparation/approval of project proposals Summary of institutional concerns (open-ended): Financial and human capacity System for data collection/generation and management Engaging/coordinating different agencies and stakeholders Contractual arrangements with staff/experts Changes in government set-up Difficulties in building and maintaining national teams: Lack of available national experts If available, lack of incentives (project-based) and fast turn-over of staff

7. Institutional constraints affecting the ability to build and maintain national communications team: delays in recruitment and hiring; availability of time to complete NC; spending limits. Institutional constraints relating to building and maintaining NC teams (open ended) Financial constraints (currency exchanges) Delays in hiring of consultants (TOR, bureaucracy) Constraints in delivery of NCs (competing schedules, lack of understanding of TOR) Translation into English (skills and time) Types of technical assistance that are useful: training, information exchange, other support (S/N-S cooperation) Key observations: Institutional concerns and solutions

8. Financial difficulties affecting the ability to sustain NC process and build/maintain NC teams: Currency fluctuations (payments to foreign consultants, increase in costs) Sufficiency/consistency of funding Co-financing Technical assistance to address financial and funding constraints: training in financial management is useful but will not solve all problems. South-south cooperation and info. exchange Training in financial risk management Efficient disbursement of funds Financial concerns

9. Greenhouse gas inventory software Most are using the current inventory software (45%) and are interested in testing the prototype (84%). Most don’t see any major problems in using the current software (70%). Reasons for not using the software: software is not working; prefer to use IPCC guidelines and spreadsheets. Most national experts are involved in energy and less involvement in waste sector. - - - - -