Climate governance & transparency
Multilateral Assessment (MA)
The UNFCCC process in which developed countries' progress toward emission targets is publicly assessed by other Parties at SBI sessions.
Definition
Multilateral assessment is the second step of the international assessment and review (IAR) process, established under the Cancun Agreements for developed country Parties. Following technical review of each Party's biennial report, the Party's progress toward its quantified economy-wide emission reduction target is assessed in an SBI working group session, through a three-month written Q&A period, an in-session presentation and Q&A, and a concluding summary report.
References
Overview
What it means
MA promotes comparability of effort among developed countries and confidence that targets are being implemented; it peer-pressures laggards in a public, multilateral setting. The process laid groundwork for the Paris Agreement's enhanced transparency framework.
How it is used
Developed countries undergo MA after each biennial report cycle; observers track sessions; questions from other Parties are published on the UNFCCC MA portal.
Why it matters
Transparency processes like MA are the accountability backbone of the climate regime — turning reported numbers into internationally scrutinised performance.
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