The reports on monitoring and progress are a crucial pillar of the GCoM initiative. Local governments must report their progress to the Covenant in order to receive their ‘recognition medals’ and have their profiles updated on our regional and global websites. It is possible to choose to report as progress is made in the development of inventories, establishment of greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction goals, analysis of climate risks and vulnerabilities, setting climate adaptation goals, and planning climate actions in mitigation and adaptation in any order. For example, a city that has already defined adaptation actions can initiate its reporting process regarding this topic.
Once a local government has joined the GCoM and completed stages related to assessment, definition, and goal/target planning, the city must regularly monitor progress in implementing action plans and achieving established goals and targets. From the outset, a robust monitoring system and schedule must be implemented and be an integral part of the climate action plans adopted by the city. This also involves a clear mechanism for reviewing and updating plans as necessary.
Monitoring the implementation of the climate action plan is carried out by each city and individual local entity in accordance with locally applicable rules and provisions identified in the plans. The submission of progress reports is done through one of the two officially recognized reporting platforms:
For more information, please refer to Chapter 8 of the Explanatory Guide of the Common Reporting Framework.
BASE DOCUMENTS OF THE GLOBAL COVENANT OF MAYORS FOR CLIMATE AND ENERGY (GCOM)
Common Reporting Framework (CRF)
Description: Regardless of the methodology used to prepare inventories, risk and vulnerability analyses, or action plans, the CRF explains how the city should report its progress to the Covenant to receive “recognition medals.”
Topic: Reporting; Mitigation; Adaptation; Climate Action Plan; CRF
Type: Publication
Author: Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy (GCoM)
Year: 2019
Download: Portuguese, Spanish, English
COMMON RESEARCH CENTRE (JRC) METHODOLOGY
Guía para el Plan de Acción para el Clima y la Energía Sostenible (SECAP)
Description: Based on the experience of European cities, this document provides signatories with a set of methodological principles, procedures, and best practices for developing their SECAP. The document is divided into 3 parts:
Part 1: The SECAP process, step-by-step towards low-carbon and climate-resilient cities by 2030.
Part 2: Baseline Emission Inventory (BEI) and Risk and Vulnerability Analysis (RVA).
Part 3: Policies, key actions, good practices for climate change mitigation and adaptation, and financing of SECAPs.
Topic: Mitigation; Adaptation; Climate Action Plan; SECAP; Others
Type: Publication
Author: JRC
Year: 2018
Download: Part 1 – English; Part 2 – English; Part 3 – English
More information: EU SCIENCE HUB
MITIGATION
Global Protocol For Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories At The Community Level (GPC) – Accounting And Reporting Standard For Cities
Description: The methods used by cities in preparing greenhouse gas emission inventories have varied considerably until now. This inconsistency hinders comparisons between cities, raises questions about data quality, and limits the ability to aggregate greenhouse gas emission data at the local, subnational, and national levels. To enable more reliable and meaningful reporting, greater consistency in greenhouse gas accounting is required. The Global Protocol for Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories at the Community Level (GPC) addresses this challenge and provides a robust and clear framework, based on existing methodologies, for calculating and reporting greenhouse gas emissions across the entire city.
Topic: Mitigation, GHG, inventory, emissions, greenhouse gases.
Type: Publication
Author: WRI, C40, ICLEI
Year: 2014
Mitigation Objectives Standard
Description: Mitigation goals are commitments to limit greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to a specific level by a certain date. The GHG Protocol Mitigation Objectives Standard guides planning mitigation goals at the national and regional levels, along with a standardized approach for assessing and reporting progress towards these goals.
Topic: Mitigation, Definition of Goals/Objectives
Type: Publication
Author: WRI
Year: 2014
URBAN CLIMATE ACTION SCENARIOS PLANNING TOOL (CURB)
Description: This toolkit was developed to guide and assist cities in planning and implementing activities aimed at reducing energy usage, saving money/resources, and decreasing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
Topic: Mitigation, Definition of Goals/Objectives
Type: Publication
Author: World Bank, C40, GCoM
Year: 2014
Download: CURB – English; CURB User Guide – English, Español
EXPLORING THE BENEFITS OF CONSISTENCY AND COMPARABILITY OF GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSION INVENTORIES ACROSS THE CITY
Description: A global standard allows for comparison, benchmarking, and aggregation, fostering improvements in data quality and greater transparency. Robust GHG emission inventories help cities make more informed decisions about chosen actions to reduce emissions and enable monitoring over time.
Topic: Mitigation; Reporting
Type: Publication
Author: C40
Year: 2018
GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS INVENTORY DEVELOPMENT – PARTICIPANT BROCHURE
Description: An Excel-based tool, accessible, user-friendly, and flexible for managing and reporting city GHG inventory data. Based on the Global Protocol for Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories (GPC) at the community level, CIRIS facilitates the calculation and transparent presentation of emissions for all sectors: Stationary energy; Transportation; Waste; Industrial processes and product use (IPPU); Agriculture, forestry, and other land uses (AFOLU).
Topic: Mitigation; GHG Inventories
Type: Tool
Author: C40
Download: English; Spanish; Portuguese
CITY INVENTORY REPORTING AND INFORMATION SYSTEM (CIRIS)
Description: An Excel-based tool, accessible, user-friendly, and flexible for managing and reporting city GHG inventory data. Based on the Global Protocol for Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories (GPC) at the community level, CIRIS facilitates the calculation and transparent presentation of emissions for all sectors: Stationary energy; Transportation; Waste; Industrial processes and product use (IPPU); Agriculture, forestry, and other land uses (AFOLU); Topic: Mitigation; GHG Inventories
Type: Tool
Author: C40
Year: 2019
Download: CIRIS Standard – English, Spanish; CIRIS Light – English; CIRIS User Guide – English
Tutorial Videos: Series of tutorial videos on how to use the tool – English
CLIMATE ACTION PLAN
GUIDING PRINCIPLES FOR URBAN CLIMATE ACTION PLANNING
Description: These guidelines summarize the typical stages of the urban climate planning process, taking into account a set of globally applied principles. These principles, described below, are developed through a rigorous and open process involving multiple stakeholders: local supporting institutions, planners, and stakeholders in the climate action plan.
Topic: Climate Action Plan
Type: Publication
Author: UN-Habitat
Year: 2015