Establishing relevant and high quality domestic MRV systems to support effective climate action

The adoption of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC or Convention) at the 1992 Rio Earth Summit marked a decisive global turning point in the fight against anthropogenic climate change. The ultimate objective of the Convention is to stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system within a time frame that allows ecosystems to adapt naturally to climate change. Transparency, through ‘Measurement, Reporting and Verification' (MRV), is one of the key elements of the Convention, required to build mutual trust and confidence and to promote effective implementation. The wording of the Framework Convention itself contains various provisions for MRV, with the information requirements and the frequency for MRV differentiated substantially between developed and developing country Parties. Termed 'the UNFCCC MRV Framework', these MRV requirements together with the related MRV activities within the Convention have been evolving, almost continuously over the years, with the adoption of every major decision by the COP and as calls for more transparency by Parties increase. The Paris Agreement, which is the latest agreement under the Convention, contains the most demanding MRV requirements to date. To enable themselves to adequately respond to these MRV requirements, Parties to the UNFCCC have been establishing domestic MRV systems. However, the constant evolution of the UNFCCC MRV framework as well as the countries' domestic policies, strategies and laws which keep coming with their own MRV requirements have made ensuring full relevance of these systems to all their reporting requirements as well as maintaining high quality of their outputs a challenge, thereby jeopardizing the ability of those MRV systems to effectively support climate action. This thesis set out to investigate the factors that affect the success and failure of establishing domestic MRV systems that are fully relevant to the countries' information requirements and of high quality, and to determine a framework which countries can use to establish such systems. The thesis investigated the hypothesis that ‘results-based planning through logical modelling ensures maximum relevance of domestic MRV systems and improves their quality.' In terms of relevance of domestic MRV systems, it was found that relevance can be fully achieved at the planning phase by ensuring that the system's objectives and envisaged outcomes are fully aligned with the country's MRV needs. Furthermore, it was concluded that results-based planning through logical modelling, if undertaken properly, comprehensively, and by an adequately skilled and experienced team, and ideally coupled with monitoring and evaluation, can lead to maximum relevance of the domestic MRV systems. In terms of quality, it was found that transparency, accuracy, completeness, comparability, consistency and timeliness (TACCCT) adequately capture the quality of domestic MRV systems, and that availability of resources, frequent reporting, third party expert reviews assist in the improvement of the quality for domestic MRV systems. Furthermore, it was determined that only following the steps of results-based planning on their own does not improve the quality of domestic MRV systems, rather it is inclusion of the second part of the planning phase, focusing on monitoring and evaluation, that leads to improved quality of domestic MRV systems. This combination of results-based planning with monitoring and evaluation is also known as results-based management. The main contribution of this thesis is then the development of a framework that countries can use to establish relevant and high quality domestic MRV systems to support effective climate action

Meeting Basic Survival Needs of the World\u27s Least Healthy People: Toward a Framework Convention on Global Health

This article searches for solutions to the most perplexing problems in global health - problems so important that they affect the fate of millions of people, with economic, political, and security ramifications for the world\u27s population. There are a variety of solutions scholars propose to improve global health and close the yawning health gap between rich and poor: global health is in the national interests of the major State powers; States owe an ethical duty to act; or international legal norms require effective action. However, arguments based on national interest, ethics, or international law have logical weaknesses. The coincidence of national and global interests is much narrower than scholars claim. Ethical arguments unravel when searching questions are asked about who exactly has the duty to act and at what level of commitment. And international law has serious structural problems of application, definition, and enforcement. What is truly needed, and which richer countries instinctively do for their own citizens, is to meet what I call basic survival needs. By focusing on the major determinants of health, the international community could dramatically improve prospects for good health. Basic survival needs include sanitation and sewage, pest control, clean air and water, tobacco reduction, diet and nutrition, essential medicines and vaccines, and functioning health systems. Meeting everyday survival needs may lack the glamour of high-technology medicine or dramatic rescue, but what they lack in excitement they gain in their potential impact on health, precisely because they deal with the major causes of common disease and disabilities across the globe. If meeting basic survival needs can truly make a difference for the world\u27s population then how can international law play a constructive role? What is required is an innovative way of structuring international obligations. A vehicle such as a Framework Convention on Global Health (FCGH) could powerfully improve global health governance. Such a Framework Convention would commit States to a set of targets, both economic and logistic, and dismantle barriers to constructive engagement by the private and charitable sectors. It would stimulate creative public/private partnerships and actively engage civil society stakeholders. A FCGH could set achievable goals for global health spending as a proportion of GNP; define areas of cost effective investment to meet basic survival needs; build sustainable health systems; and create incentives for scientific innovation for affordable vaccines and essential medicines. This article first examines the compelling issue of global health equity, and inquires whether it is fair that people in poor countries suffer such a disproportionate burden of disease and premature death. Second, the article explains a basic problem in global health: why health hazards seem to change form and migrate everywhere on the earth. Third, the article inquires why governments should care about serious health threats outside their borders, and explores the alternative rationales: direct health benefits, economic benefits, and improved national security. Fourth, the article describes how the international community focuses on a few high profile, heart-rending, issues while largely ignoring deeper, systemic problems in global health. By focusing on basic survival needs, the international community could dramatically improve prospects for the world\u27s population. Finally, the article explores the value of international law itself, and proposes an innovative mechanism for global health reform - a Framework Convention on Global Health

Learning Evaluation of the Disability Rights Fund

The Disability Rights Fund (DRF) is a partnership between funders and the disability community that provides grants and other support for work at country-level towards the realisation of rights affirmed in the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. DRF believes that enhancing the participation of persons with disabilities in the realisation of their rights will have an impact on poverty among persons with disabilities.In 2012, DRF conducted its first external evaluation. The evaluation, which was conducted by Universalia, concluded with an overall positive assessment of the Fund's performance, highlighting the Fund's relevance and progress towards its stated results. In 2013, DRF concluded another partnership agreement with DFID of the duration of 3 years. Both as part of the conditions set in this partnership agreement and as DRF being a learning-oriented organization, DRF launched a call for proposals to conduct a learning evaluation, consisting of two interrelated components: the development or adjustment of DRF's tools for data collection, recording, and management; and the mid-term evaluation of DRF grantmaking operations.The Learning Evaluation had the following objectives: i) provide an update on progress made towards the achievement of the output-, outcome- and impact-level results in DRF's logical framework; ii) identify DRF's contributions to results achieved and factors affecting performance; iii) make an overall assessment of DRF's value for money; and iv) provide DRF staff with a clear set of lessons learned to improve current interventions and guide future ones

Desertification indicators for the European Mediterranean region: state of the art and possible methodological approaches [= Indicatori di desertificazione per il Mediterraneo europeo: stato dell'arte e proposte di metodo]

The Italian Environment Protection Agency (ANPA), and the Desertification Research Centre at the University of Sassary have worked jointly to provide decision-makers with an in-depth analysis of the state of the art and methodologies applicable to the evaluation of the desertification phenomenon. ANPA has promoted this important research activity, within the wider and more dynamic framework of actions it conducts in the Italian National Committee, providing its support to the definition and start up of the National Plan to Combat Desertification and Drought. The complexity of the phenomena and their causes leads to the individuation of a plurality of “actors” who might take the responsibility to carry out actions aimed at combating Desertification and Drought. Indicators represent a crucial link in the chain that, from knowledge, leads to taking decisions and promoting responsible behaviours: starting from an evaluation of the various, physical, biologic, socio-economic processes that contribute to land degradation and desertification, the goal is to individuate indicators that might prove useful in territorial planning and public information activities, and that might be a suitable answer to the request for direct knowledge of the status and evolution of the phenomenon, as well as the opportunity to take actions aimed at mitigating and, above all, preventing the occurrence of the phenomenon

Apache Calcite: A Foundational Framework for Optimized Query Processing Over Heterogeneous Data Sources

Apache Calcite is a foundational software framework that provides query processing, optimization, and query language support to many popular open-source data processing systems such as Apache Hive, Apache Storm, Apache Flink, Druid, and MapD. Calcite's architecture consists of a modular and extensible query optimizer with hundreds of built-in optimization rules, a query processor capable of processing a variety of query languages, an adapter architecture designed for extensibility, and support for heterogeneous data models and stores (relational, semi-structured, streaming, and geospatial). This flexible, embeddable, and extensible architecture is what makes Calcite an attractive choice for adoption in big-data frameworks. It is an active project that continues to introduce support for the new types of data sources, query languages, and approaches to query processing and optimization.Comment: SIGMOD'1