Planting the foundations of a post-2020 land sector reporting and accounting framework

This paper presents possible elements of a long-term international vision for land sector reporting and accounting. The vision is of a multi-dimensional land sector reporting and accounting framework that is applicable to all countries and increases in comprehensiveness over time. The overarching objective of the framework is to build trust between Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) by tracking progress in implementation of mitigation contributions in the land sector. The paper argues that two of the most important dimensions could be the coverage of accounting for key sources and sinks and the quality and accuracy of data used for accounting. It outlines possible short-term steps for COP 20, COP 21 and 2016-2020 that could put Parties on a pathway towards realising the long-term vision.