There is the old adage that “If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it”, which applies to all management activities, whether you are trying to lose weight, improve your running time or cut greenhouse gas emissions.
When it comes to climate action, effective measurement, reporting and verification (MRV) of emissions and emissions reductions is critical to help countries understand GHG sources and trends, design mitigation strategies, enhance credibility and take other policy actions.
The challenge is that MRV can mean different things to different people and, accordingly, has been used in many different ways.
The World Resource Institute (WRI) has published a useful resource to help decision-makers identify the types of MRV that are appropriate for their needs. The paper entitled “MRV 101: Understanding Measurement, Reporting and Verification of Climate Change mitigation” breaks the subject down into examine the three types of mitigation-related MRV:
- MRV of GHG emissions:
This MRV is conducted at national, organizational and/or facility level to understand an entity’s emissions profile and report it in the form of an emissions inventory. - MRV of mitigation actions:
Linked to policies or projects, this MRV is used to assess GHG effects and sustainable development (non-GHG) effects, as well as to monitor implementation. In this case, the focus is on estimating the change in GHG emissions or other non-GHG variables. - MRV of support:
Support can come in many forms, including climate finance, technology transfer and capacity building. This MRV helps track provision and receipt of climate support, monitor results achieved and assess impact.
If you want to understand more about the strategic and tactical issues of Measurement, Reporting and Verification (MRV), please download the WRI paper here