Country needs assessment will be carried out in each country to determine needs and priorities in terms of data sharing, State of Environment Reporting (SoER), reporting on Multi-lateral Environmental Agreements(MEAs) and on the environmental dimension of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as well as on integrated environmental assessment processes. This activity will include identifying data flows and indicators already in use at country level, data sharing agreements, reporting obligations and other commitments at national, sub-regional, regional, and global levels. A mapping of reporting structures, workflows and focal points for environmental data collection, management and reporting will also be carried out as part of this needs assessment.
Country needs assessment reports which will be developed both in English and in local language, and shared with national project partners. Subject to agreement with the countries the needs assessment reports will be made available to the public through national partners’ websites and through country pages in Environment Live.
Based on the results of these needs assessments and of countries priorities in terms of data sharing and reporting, UN Environment will agree with each country on a specific area of intervention and provide the necessary means to address it. Depending on the country context, this may include providing guidance on reporting and integrated environmental assessments, making available UNSD guidelines and standards on environment statistics, supporting the development or improvement of national portals for online sharing of environmental data and SoE reports, and/or providing access to tools such as UN Environment’s Indicator Reporting Information System (IRIS) and transferring this technology to support improved sharing and use of environmental data as well as reporting on MEA obligations. In some countries this may include providing support to countries ongoing efforts to share data on national platforms and on Environment Live and/or with relevant regional and sub-regional portals to improve public sharing of national environmental data and information.
