Beyond the technical: The politics of developing the MRV system in Peru

Key findings

• There is very little clarity even among experts on the broader implications of the different carbon accounting methods, or of the design of the MRV system as a whole, particularly for the social, political and economic outcomes (e.g. outcomes related to benefit sharing).
• Greater understanding of the needs and interests of different actors through improved communication, dialogue, and trust between national and regional governments, and between scientists and policy makers, could lead to a more useful and effective institutional architecture for MRV.
• The development of the MRV system in Peru demonstrates the challenges inherent in vertical and horizontal (multilevel) coordination, including between the national government and regional governments, and across sectors, particularly the environment and agriculture sectors.
• Better intra- and inter-institutional coordination could help mitigate the costs associated with investment in overlapping activities, such as unhealthy competition, inefficient use of resources and the need to adapt or abandon work in progress.
• The technical complexities of MRV, particularly methods of monitoring and verifying carbon emissions analysis and changes in forest cover through high resolution spatial images, influence which actors are involved in the design process and the nature of their involvement. In Peru, this process has excluded those without this expertise, such as subnational governments that have limited technical capacity and funding and, in many cases, suffer from institutional instability.

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