Strengthening capacity in the agricultural and land-use sectors for

enhanced transparency in implementation and monitoring of Mongolia’s

Nationally Determined Contribution

Project result

SUMMARY
2019 - 2022
 MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT
AND TOURISM

Project result
summary
2019 - 2022
Strengthening capacity in the agricultural and land-use sectors for
enhanced transparency in implementation and monitoring of Mongolia’s
Nationally Determined Contribution
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This material was prepared by “Strengthening capacity in the agricultural and land-use sectors for enhanced
transparency in implementation and monitoring of Mongolia’s Nationally Determined Contribution” GCP/MON/016/
CBT project, funded by the Global Environment Facility, jointly implemented by the Ministry of Environment and
Tourism of Mongolia and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
 Contents

General information l 01

Executive summary l 03

Background l 05

Results l 07

Human and technical capacity strengthed l 15

Knowledge management products l 17

Policy brief l 18

Annex l 20

List of abbreviations l 21
 > General
information —

Copyright © FAO Mongolia

01 — PROJECT RESULT SUMMARY

T he United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change
(UNFCCC) is the primary interna-
tional environmental treaty on
climate change to stabilize greenhouse gas
concentrations at a level that would pre-
vent dangerous human induced interfer-
ence with the climate system.
The Paris Agreement (PA) is legally
binding international treaty to ensure
the implementation of the UNFCCC that
approved in 2015 at COP 21 in Paris and 196
Parties adopted it by 2022. All the member
parties of the PA are committed to take
actions to keep the global temperature in-
crease will below 2 degree compared to the
pre industrial levels and continue to efforts
to limit it to 1.5 C.
As stated in the article 4 of the PA, each
country should make contributions which
are determined by the country to achieve
the PA goal by its Nationally Determined
Contributions (NDC). In their NDCs, coun-
tries communicate actions they will take to
reduce their Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emis-
sions as well as to build resilience to adapt
to the impacts of climate change in order to
reach the goals of the PA.
The Capacity Building Initiative for
Transparency (CBIT) was established by the
Global Environment Facility (GEF) in 2016 to
support developing countries to build and
strengthen their institutional and technical
capacities to meet the enhanced transpar-
ency requirements defined in Article 13 of
the PA.
Main goals:
а. Strengthen national institutions for
transparency-related activities in
line with national priorities
b. Provide relevant tools, training, and
assistance for meeting the provi-
sions stipulated in Article 13 of the
PA,
c. Assist in the improvement of trans-
parency over time.
A total of 81 projects are included in the
portfolio of projects financed by the GEF, 72
of which have been approved or are in the
process of implementation.
Mongolia ratified the UNFCCC on 30
September 1993 and the Paris Agreement
on 21 September 2016, respectively. Since
the ratification of the UNFCCC, Mongolia
has developed and submitted four nation-
al communications and two NDCs to the
UNFCCC Secretariat, including the Initial
National Communication (NC1) in Novem-
ber 2001, the Second National Communica-
tion (NC2) in December 2010, the Intended
Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC)
in September 2015, the Initial Biennial
Update Report (BUR1) in August 2017, the
Third National Communication (NC3) in
December 2018 and NDC in 2020. Currently,
the preparations of the Second BUR and
the Fourth NC are ongoing and expected to
be submitted in 2022.
2019 - 2022 — 02
> Executive
summary —
Copyright © FAO Mongolia
Strengthening capacity in the
agricultural and land-use sectors
for enhanced transparency in
implementation and monitoring of
Mongolia’s Nationally Determined
Contribution project
The project with a main objective of
strengthening capacity in Agriculture, Forestry
and Other Land Use (AFOLU) sector for enhanced
transparency in implementation and monitoring
of Mongolia’s NDC within Enhaced Transparency
Framework (ETF) of the PA under the UNFCCC was
jointly implemented by the Ministry of Environment
and Tourism (MET) and Food and Agriculture
Organization of the United Nations (FAO) with the
funding from GEF between 2019 and 2022.
The project was not aimed at implementing
any climate change mitigation or adaptation
measures directly, but designed to enhance the
Measurement, Reporting, and Verification (MRV)
related activities for data quality compliant to
international standards within the following
three components: a) Institutional arrangements
03 — PROJECT RESULT SUMMARY
enhanced to coordinate preparation of ETF reports
for AFOLU sector, b) Strengthened capacity to
measure emissions, removals, and emission-
reduction activities from AFOLU sector, and c)
Strengthened capacity to measure climate-change
impacts, vulnerabilities, and adaptation-related
activities in the AFOLU sector.
Over 15 sets of research studies and
assessments were completed during the
implementation of the project in order to enhance
data flow/exchange between the stakeholders, to
improve data quality for estimating GHG emissions
and sinks by each sector, and to enhance reporting
the progress of climate change adaptation
measures.
Professionals from national and local
government organizations were introduced and
strengthened their capacities on the topics of
national and international policies and programs on
climate change, data quality improvement for GHG
Inventory and its methods, and reporting related
to climate change adaptation measures. General
information related to climate change has also been
introduced to the youth and the public.
Technical capacities of the stakeholders
involved in climate reporting were also
strengthened by providing the necessary
equipment and tools for collecting, analyzing, and
archiving accurate and quality of data.
 > Project The objective of the project is to
strengthen capacity in the Agricultural
and Land Use sector for implementation
summary — and monitoring of Mongolia’s NDC within
ETF of the PA under the UNFCCC.

COMPONENT

Institutional
1 COMPONENT

Strengthened capacity
2 COMPONENT

arrangements
enhanced to coordinate
preparation of ETF
reports for AFOLU
sector.
to measure emissions,
removals, and emission-
reduction activities from
AFOLU sector.
Strengthened capacity
3
to measure climate-
change impacts,
vulnerabilities, and
adaptation-related
activities in the AFOLU
sector.

Outcome 1.1. Institutional Outcome 2.1. Strengthened Outcome 3.1. Strengthened

arrangements enhanced for capacity to measure GHG capacity to measure
coordinating information emissions, removals, climate-change impacts,
and data from the AFOLU and emission-reduction vulnerabilities, and
sector into ETF processes activities from AFOLU adaptation-related activities
and reports. sector. in the AFOLU sector.
Outcome 1.2. Inter-sectoral,
national, and international
engagement strengthened
regarding ETF-related
processes.

KEY STAKEHOLDERS
• Ministry of Environment and Tourism
• Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Light
Industry
• Climate Change Research and
Cooperation Centre
Implementation Food and Agriculture • National Statistics Office
agency: Organization • Agency for Land Administration,
Project execution Ministry of Management, Geodesy, and
partner: Environment and Cartography
Tourism • Information and Research Institute
of Meteorology, Hydrology and
Funding Global Environment
Environment
organization: Facility
• Mongolian Academy of Sciences
Total budget: $ 863 242 • Universities
Project duration: 3 years (2019-2022) • Research Institutions
  • NGOs

2019 - 2022 — 04
> Background —
Mongolia joined the UNFCCC on June 12, 1992 and officially ratified it on
September 30, 1993, and joined the Kyoto Protocol on December 15, 1992.
Likewise, Mongolia has been actively participating in the process of drafting,
ratifying, and implementing the PA. Consequently, Mongolia ratified the PA
on April 21, 2016, submitted its first Intended NDC, and joined the agreement
on April 22, 2016, shortly after it was approved.

THE STATUS OF MONGOLIA’S GHG
EMISSIONS/REMOVALS AND MITIGATION
TARGET
The main sources of GHG emissions were
divided into following sectors in 2014 1) Energy,
2) Agriculture, Land Use, Land Use Change and
Forestry. 3) Industrial Process and Product Use and
4) Waste. In 2014, total GHG emissions in Mongolia
were 34,482.73 Gg CO2e (excluding LULUCF). The
second highest share of the total emissions was
from the agriculture sector with 16,726.98 Gg CO2e
accounting for 48.51%.

LULUCF -24,451.93 Energy Agriculture

Gg CO2e 17,267.8 Gg 16,726.98 Gg CO2e
CO2e (48.51%)
(50.08%)

-30,000 -20,000 -10,000 0 10,000 20,000 30,000 40,000

IPPU 328,1 Gg CO2e (0.95%) Waste 207.26 Gg CO2e (0.46%)

GHG emissions and removals, CO2e

Mongolia has developed its Nationally Determined
Contribution (NDC), an update to the INDC (2015), which
has enhanced its mitigation efforts with policies and
measures to be implemented in key economic and
natural resource management sectors by 2030. The
mitigation target of Mongolia’s NDC is 22.7% of reduction
in total GHG emissions by 2030.
agriculture sector, a total of (- 5,283.4) Gg CO2e (31.3%)
emissions could be removed:
• by regulating and reducing the number of livestock
(– 4,707.0 Gg CO2e)
• by updating the manure management (– 576.3 Gg
CO2e)

By implementing following mitigation measures in

TOTAL POTENTIAL
74,3 EMISSIONS REDUCTION

22.7
62,5
%
49,1
57,3
33.9
37,6 52,3
44,9 %
25,8
INCLUDING
LULUCF
2010 2015 2020 2025 2030

BAU Mitigation scenario

Indicative potential emission reductions of the measures compared to BAU

emissions thousand tons CO2-eq.

05 — PROJECT RESULT SUMMARY

GAP
There are still some gaps remain in Mongolia’s (viii) Data collection and its provision
AFOLU MRV system. For example:
(ix) Ensuring the financial and operational sustainability
(i) Establishment of nationally specific emissions factors of MRV initiatives.
and activity data (for IPCC Tier 2 reporting for key
categories),
Closing these gaps requires addressing some important
(ii) Full determination of key sub-categories,
barriers, namely:
(iii) Uncertainty estimates,
(i) Inadequate institutional arrangements to support the
(iv) Establishment of metadata and quality-control transition to ETF;
protocols,
(ii) Inadequate technological and technical capacities for
(v) Reliable measurement of activity data for key mitigation-related MRV;
categories for AFOLU of IPCC,
(iii) Inadequate technological and technical capacities for
(vi) Feasibility studies for adaptation-related adaptation-related M&R.
interventions,
(vii) Prioritization and specification of adaptation-related
metrics,

FURTHER PLAN FOR ENHANCING NATIONAL CLIMATE REPORTING

Planned improvements in the AFOLU sector (Table 1,2) for the next submission are stated in the Mongolia’s initial BUR.

Table 1. Table 2.
Planned improvements in the agriculture sector Planned improvements in the LULUCF sector

Sector Description Sector Description

Livestock To reassess the emission factors for
the enteric fermentation and manure
management had been developed by
local experts in order to apply Tier 2
method
Enteric To obtain and use enhanced charac-
fermentation terization for livestock populations
Manure man- To obtain and use country specific
agement conditions
Emission from To develop national estimates of the
biomass burn- area burnt and the nature of the fires
ing to provide reliable data for the forest
land, grassland and cropland
N2O from man- To obtain country specific data of the
aged soils annual synthetic N applications
General Uncertainty discussion of the applied
data sources
Land To include all six-land category, land
use changes between land categories
based on better data sources such as
Collect Earth tool
To include all carbon pools in the cor-
respondent land use category
To include better information on
management practice of forest land,
cropland and grassland
To include more reliable information
on disturbances (fire) in Mongolia
Forest To include better and more domestic
information on Saxaul forest

2019 - 2022 — 06
 >
1
Institutional arrangements enhanced
to coordinate preparation of ETF
reports for AFOLU sector

Outcome

UNFCCC SECRETARIAT
Submission of NC/BUR/NIR

Submission through NFP

Final reports NC/BUR/NIR
IPCC compatible LULUCF report
MET, CCD, Project director Submission of FRL report
Final reports NC/BUR/NIR

NFP, Scientific adviser

CCRCC
Stakeholder MRV working group for
consultation Final reports NC/BUR/ FRL
NIR Comments,
Research data
Institutes & Expert working NC/BUR NC & BUR project provision
Universities group reports coordinator
QA Final NIR, GHGI part to NC/BUR
Data check
request & Expert peer
QC
provision reviewers GHGI team Data collection, analysis,
check Preparation of GHGI part to NC/BUR calculation of GHG emissions/
removals
FRL report
Sectoral specialist: Sectoral specialist: Sectoral specialist:
Energy, IPPU Waste, Agriculture Land use, Forestry

QC QC
check check

AFOLU DATA
PROVIDERS
International data
Livestock GHG NSO FRDC
sources Integrated land Forest area change &
Inventory
FAOSTAT, IPCC results management carbon stock
report

MoFALI NSO ALAMGC ALAMGC

(endorse the result, quality control on the Forest area change
Livestock census Integrated land
methodology and provide recommen-
fund report
dation)

UB city & Province UB city & Province MET, Department

Statistical division Integrated land of forest policy and
fund report coordination
Forest carbon stock
District & Soum
Statistical officer District & Soum
Integrated land Research Institutions
fund report & Universities
Khoroo & Bagh Working group of
Statistical officer MRV
Khoroo & Bagh
Integrated land
fund report IRIMHE
National circum-
stances & CC effect

Data provision from different stakeholders

The institutional arrangement and data flow of the national reporting including the AFOLU sector
data providers (Source: CCRCC)

07 — PROJECT RESULT SUMMARY

 Within component 1, comprehensive assessments
have been completed to enhance Measurement,
Reporting, Verification (MRV) framework for the data
required for AFOLU sector reporting based on the
baseline assessment compliant with the ETF reporting
principles. For instance, enhancement of institutional
Main results:
• The stakeholder coordination map was updated
for institutional arrangements and stakeholders
involved in the reporting process with respective
roles, responsibilities, data flow, and the data
providers of the AFOLU sector.
• ETF Portal, a web-based data sharing platform, was
developed and published on the Environmental
Information Center website (https://eic.mn/etf)
to ensure transparency of information and data
related to climate change reporting and to enhance
intersectoral coordination. The metadata tables
and maps which indicate the data recourses,
guidelines, data collection information for the
national publications and reports, such as National
Communications (NCs), will be uploaded and
regularly updated aligning with the reporting period.
>
2
Outcome
In the context of component 2, in addition to gap
assessments of data and information for estimating GHG
emission and absorption of each sector using the Tier 2
methodology of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change (IPCC), several types of research were conducted
to improve activity data of the AFOLU sector.
coordination mechanism related to MRV framework,
creation of a database for data and information, draft
regulation for GHG Inventory for AFOLU sector, and
enhancement of the stakeholder engagement, mutual
understanding, and shared objectives, etc. (Please see
the list of reports from Annex).
• In compliance with the Paris Agreement
transparency requirement, the first-ever readiness
assessment was conducted for Mongolia in 2015
which was updated in 2022. It was found that there
have not been major achievements since 2015;
however, establishment of Climate Change Research
and Cooperation Centre (CCRCC) was considered as
one key achievement. Additionally, key assessments
have been completed including an assessment for
enhancing National MRV framework, enhancing
GHG Inventory, and strengthening capacity for
AFOLU sector reporting.
• The content of the draft regulation on data
provision for GHG inventory was developed
based on elaborated the draft Climate Change
Monitoring Plan for AFOLU sector, the findings of
the assessments, reports, and relevant consultations
with key stakeholders. Complementary legal
assessments of the draft data provision regulation
have been conducted and handed over to MET.
• Quality Assurance and Quality manual for GHG
Inventory for AFOLU sector was developed;
therefore, it has been approved by the director of
CCRCC for piloting the protocol internally by the
GHG Inventory experts.
Strengthened capacity to measure
emissions, removals, and emission-re-
duction activities from AFOLU sector.
Furthermore, the enteric fermentation emission
factor for cattle and yak was tested by the laboratory
and computational methods within the framework of
improving the estimation of greenhouse gases from the
livestock sector.
2019 - 2022 — 08
 LIVESTOCK SECTOR

The country-specific emission factor from native cattle was tested and the
annual methane emission from native cattle was estimated by the natural
zone based on the national livestock statistical data. Policy brief “Why
enteric methane from livestock matters on Mongolia” was developed.

METHANE GAS EMISSIONS

FROM CATTLE
Emission FACTOR Cows Barren and Mature Growing Calves
giving birth miscarriage males animals
to a calf cows

kg/head/year 63.6 45.2 58.2 47.6 25.0

Methane gas, thousand tn./year/ 1990 2000 2010 2020

High mountain Forest steppe Steppe Desert/Desert

and mountain steppe
taiga

4.3 5.1 16.8 19.7 21.2 23.2 8.2 7.0

Cows giving
birth to a calf
8.6 4.6 35.1 18.4 40.8 18.8 9.5 4.0

1.5 1.7 5.6 6.2 6.2 6.0 1.7 1.8

Barren and
miscarriage
cows 1.8 1.0 7.0 3.9 6.3 3.4 1.0 1.3

1.9 3.0 7.2 11.6 7.7 12.7 2.2 3.6

Mature
males
4.0 2.2 16.0 8.5 17.8 8.4 4.1 1.8

2.9 2.6 10.9 10.6 11.1 10.7 3.0 2.6

Growing
animals
3.6 2.0 13.3 7.7 14.7 6.8 3.2 1.3

2.0 1.9 7.6 7.3 8.2 8.2 2.4 2.3

Calves

3.4 1.3 13.6 5.3 15.3 5.7 1.2 3.7

This publication has been carried out by the FAO in collaboration with consultant team.

09 — PROJECT RESULT SUMMARY

Copyright © FAO Mongolia

 FOREST SECTOR

Development of biomass growth model, creation of forest mask, and

Restoration of National Forest Inventory database
www.forest-atlas.gov.mn were completed to improve the data quality of
the forest inventory.

DISTRIBUTION OF SAXAUL FORESTS

in Mongolia
Picture: Area of saxaul forest defined by digital mapping (ha)
1,951,316

By provinces
1,664,300

1,489,342

Estimation of saxaul forest area by forest inventory,

ha (Forest research and development center, 2020)

4,699,600
1,189,100

787,200

783,800
784,194

Areas of saxaul determined by

717,786

digital mapping (2022)

5,302,039
228,249

125,500
116,900

74,639

Difference (+11.4%)
56,512
32,800

602,439
Gobi-Altai Bayankhongor Dornogobi Dundgobi

Umnugobi Khovd Uvurkhangai Forest Inventory Digital mapping

This publication has been by the FAO in collaboration with BGI.

The validation of Saxaul forest distribution was performed

using QGIS, ESRI, ArcGIS, and Maxar Premium Imagery
service based on the the existing forest inventory data.

2019 - 2022 — 10

Copyright © FAO Mongolia

 LAND-USE SECTOR

National Land Use, Land Use Change and Forest (LULUCF) assessment for
1990-2019 using 102,490 sampling points was carried out by internationally
accepted tool (Collect Earth) with the support of high-resolution satellite
images.

UNIFIED LAND IPCC LAND

TERRITORY CATEGORY CATEGORY

STATISTICS

Total territory:
156,431,045 ha

79.9%
76.1%

Agricultural land: Grassland:

118,966,156.87 124,917,928.06

Special reserves: Forest land:

14,989,807.31 18,504,730.22

0.9% 0.9% 0.9% 1.0% 11.8%

0.1% 0.2% 0.4% 9.1% 9.6%

Forest reserve: Wetlands:

14,186,142.82 1,622,132.14

Cities, towns and other settlements: Other land:

631,150.46 1,442,985.46

Road and networks: Cropland:

272,873.85 1,395,521.62

Land with water reserve Settlements:

179,146.48 1,341,980.30

This publication has been carried by the FAO in collaboration with ALAMGAC.

The guideline on conversion of the National Unified Land Territory

classification into IPCC classification was revised and the updated
guideline was approved by the order of the Director of the ALAMGC
of Mongolia. An additional dashboard for statistical information
on IPCC classification based on the guideline was developed and
uploaded to the website https://egazar.gov.mn/api/landuse/nav.

11 — PROJECT RESULT SUMMARY

Copyright © FAO Mongolia

 Assessment of GHG emissions from permafrost regions of
Mongolia was completed based on the high resolution satellite
imagery and validated by with field measurements.

DISTRIBUTION OF
CARBON
GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS from
permafrost regions of Mongolia

GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS

Mongolian spatial distribution biosphere CO₂ flux, 2010-2017
from permafrost regions of Mongolia
Carbon source (emission range) 0.01-14 gC/m2/year
(sink range) -0.01- -120 gC/m2/year
The spatial variations of concentration was gradually decreased from west to east.

Minimum concentration (lower than 398.6 ppmv) was observed in the south eastern region
Maximum concentration (399.5 ppmv) was observed in the western region
Permafrost region

/ the part marked in white /

Permafrost region

14 gC/m2/year
Regions with the highest emission

PPMV
398.6 400.5

-120 gC/m2/year
Regions with the highest sink
Emission dominated

Sink dominated

This publication has been carried out by the FAO in collaboration with IGG. This publication has been carried out by the FAO in collaboration with IGG.

Gap analysis on data quality of annual synthetic N

(fertilizer) and pesticides application, and tillage
practices and burnt crop area was conducted for
improving data collection.

2019 - 2022 — 12
 >
3
Strengthened capacity to
measure climate-change impacts,

Outcome
vulnerabilities, and adaptation-related
activities in the AFOLU sectors.

Baseline assessment to identify the needs and gaps for establishing

Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E) framework as well as to evaluate the
current state of M&E framework was conducted, and the outcomes were
introduced to the relevant stakeholders.

71 key indicators for tracking adaptation measures were identified in 4

sectors, which are Livestock, Crop, Forest, and Peatland.

Assessment on livestock productivities (live weight, milk and wool/

cashmere yield) and the condition pastureland species was conducted
based on the data collected at meteorological observation stations
representing 3 ecoregions of Mongolia.

Action plan containing necessary measures for preparing Mongolia’s first

Biennial Transparency Report (BTR) to be submitted to the UNFCCC was
drafted.

13 — PROJECT RESULT SUMMARY

Copyright © FAO Mongolia

 Within the component 3, gap analysis to assess the goals, and their outcomes of the sectors specified in the
compatibility of the existing monitoring and reporting NDC with the international standards and methodolo-
framework for climate change adaptation measures, gies for ETF reporting was completed.

Impact of climate change on soil and 120

plant productivity (by natural zone)

High mountain and 180 60

mountain taiga

229.4 kg

240 0
XI XII I II III IV month

311.8 kg

LIVE WEIGHT LOSS

331.1 kg

295.1 kg
OF GRAZING
Carbon Nitrogen Aboveground
biomass
Belowground
biomass
300 CATTLE on
pastureland
1961-
g/m2 g/m2 g/m2 g/m2
2921.99 165.84 13.89 228.01
360 By natural zone /kg/
2010

2020
-1.02% +0.62% -17.43% -18.31%

Bulgan province /forest steppe/ Tuv province /steppe/

2050
-1.78% +0.76% -22.46% -24.34%
Weight reduction Weight reduction

Total: 82.3 kg Total: 36 kg

Daily: 457.7 gr Daily: 200 gr
Relative loss: -26.4% Relative loss: -10.9%
Changes in 2020 and 2050 compared to 1961-2010 Decreased Increased

This publication has been carried out by the FAO in collaboration with IRIMHE. This publication has been carried out by the FAO in collaboration with IRIMHE.  7

2019 - 2022 — 14
 The technical capacity was strengthened
by providing a total of 44 types of 253
pieces of necessary equipment and tools for
collecting, analyzing and archiving diverse

> Technical data types for measures of climate change

mitigation and adaptation to the stakeholder
organizations including the Ministry of
CAPACITY
Environment and Tourism, Ministry of Food,
STRENGTHENED Agriculture and Light Industry, Agency for
Land Administration and management,
Geodesy and Cartography, National Statistics
Office, Information and Research Institute of
Meteorology, Hydrology and Environment,
Climate Change Research and Cooperation
Centre and other stakeholders in the 21
provinces.

Total amount:

123,190 USD

IT equipment Networking Measurement

equipment equipment

62 procured
21 procured
170 procured

Recipients:

NATIONAL STATISTICS
OFFICE OF MONGOLIA

15 — PROJECT RESULT SUMMARY

> Human
CAPACITY STRENGTHENED

13 capacity building
trainings 29 workshops and
meetings

TOTAL Trainings and

42 meetings were
organized

1785
TOTAL PARTICIPANTS

55 %
female

45 %
male

2019 - 2022 — 16
KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT PRODUCTS

The knowledge management documents were prepared to improve the

knowledge of professionals involved in climate change reporting process, enable the
usage of international guidelines, and to improve public awareness.

The Modalities, Procedures, and Guidelines (MPGs) of Paris Agreement /translated

into Mongolia/, 2022

Tracking adaptation in agricultural sector - Climate change adaptation indicators,

UNFAO, 2017, /translated into Mongolia/

Livestock Activity Data Guidance (L-ADG): Methods and guidance on compilation

of activity data for Tier 2 livestock GHG inventories, UNFAO, 2020, /translated into
Mongolia/

Estimating Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Agriculture: A Manual to Address Data

Requirements for Developing Countries, UNFAO, 2014, /translated into Mongolia/

Livestock solutions for climate change, UNFAO, 2017, /translated into Mongolia/

Training material: Principles, methods and requirements for further improvement

of Enhanced Transparency Framework in Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land
Uses sector within the framework of the implementation of the Paris Agreement

ETF portal user manual, UNFAO, 2022

Screen shot mosaicing tool user manual, UNFAO, 2022

Collect earth manual, UNFAO, 2022

Quality Assurance and Quality Manual for GHG Inventory, UNFAO, 2022

Nomenclature and abbreviation of common terms to climate change, UNFAO,

2022

Project result summary, UNFAO, 2022

Project result illustration, UNFAO, 2022

Video:

Paris Agreement and Nationally Determined Contribution – 2021

Enhanced Transparency Framework - 2022

Climate Change Adaptation - 2022

CBIT Project Results - 2022

All documents produced by the

project can be found at “ETF portal” at
www.eic.mn/etf/

17 — PROJECT RESULT SUMMARY

> Policy
brief —
Why enteric methane from
livestock matters in Mongolia?
Executive summary
Mongolia has a significant population of ruminant
animals such as cattle, sheep and goats that continue
to grow from 2003 onwards. Mongolia’s livestock
industry, the primary engine of the economy, nowadays
is suffering from the effect of climate change and
overgrazing. On the other hand, enteric fermentation of
ruminant species (especially cattle) is the main source of
emissions in agriculture sector.
Assessing livestock emissions with advanced
methodologies will deliver to the country multiple
benefits, from complying with the Enhanced
Transparency Framework (ETF) requirements and
identifying more pertinent mitigation policies to tracking
the progress of the nationally determined contribution
(NDC) implementation and accessing finance to enhance
the ambition.
Background
Mongolia, as a landlocked country situated in the north of
the central Asian plateau, is experiencing severe climate
conditions. According to some estimates, 78 percent of
areas are under vulnerable conditions of medium to high
rates of desertification. Due to climate change, severe
drought in
summer and a harsh winter called “dzud” become more
frequent (Punsalmaa et al. 2013), causing considerable
animal losses. In addition, these extreme events lead
to decrease in quantity and quality of feed available to
animals, triggering a further stress on the remaining
animal population.
Livestock husbandry is one of the most important
economic sectors in Mongolia, which represents more
than 80 percent of the country’s Gross Agricultural
Product and employs 1 in 4 Mongolians— more than any
other sector. The role of the livestock sector continues to
expand and it is demonstrated by the increasing trend
in gross livestock output for the period 2003-2021 (NSO,
2022). Cattle husbandry ranks second in the Mongolian
livestock economy sector and is responsible for 90
percent of dairy products and more than 30 percent of all
meat consumed.
Agriculture sector is the second largest emission
source after energy in Mongolia and livestock enteric
fermentation contributes slightly more than half to
emissions from agriculture. According to National
Inventory Report (NIR) submitted in 2017, cattle is the
most significant species contributing with 35 percent
to total emissions from enteric fermentation in 2014,
followed by sheep (25 percent) and goats (24 percent).
In the updated nationally determined contribution
(submitted in 2020), more than five million tonnes of
CO2-eq of GHG emission reduction from the agriculture
sector by 2030 is expected to materialize from livestock
and equally one of the adaptation targets is looking at
improving the sector.
Livestock plays an important role in the country:
assessing and monitoring closely the sector should be
carefully considered as a priority because it will unpack
multiple benefits for the country.
GHG emissions from livestock
As indicated in the last NIR, enteric fermentation is the
major source of emissions from the agriculture sectors
and from 1990 to 2014 increased by more than 50 percent,
even though on the overall period the country faced
several dzud with a massive loss of animals.
Mongolia reported enteric emissions estimated
with the basic method (called Tier 1 according to the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
guideline). However, Tier 1 method is based on global
default emission factors (EFs) that prevent its application
for accounting of national circumstances and mitigation
actions taken. Considering that enteric fermentation is a
key category and the role of livestock sector in national
economy continues to expand, the implementation of
advanced method such as Tier 2 for significant animal
species is very relevant. Indeed, in the improvement plan
of the NIR, this is fully recognized as one of the priority
actions that the country should consider in the next
inventory cycle. This would help the country from several
perspectives:
• Use country specific information, which will improve
the accuracy of the estimates;
• Be compliant with the ETF reporting requirements
under and the Paris Agreement, which foreseen the
use of higher tier methods for key categories;
• Be able to track the NDC implementation toward the
agriculture target;
• Develop more accurate emission scenarios, helping
policymakers to make informed policy decisions and
set realistic future GHG targets;
• Support the alignment of national programs and
policies for tackling climate change with livestock
and agriculture development programs;
• Facilitate access to climate finance, demonstrating
the capacity of monitoring the system.
In this regard, the FAO-led GEF-funded “Strengthening
capacity in the agricultural and land-use sectors
for enhanced transparency in implementation and
monitoring of Mongolia’s Nationally Determined
Contribution” project, in collaboration with the Mongolian
Ministry of Environment and Tourism, identified several
activities to address the country’s needs:
• Identify data needs and gaps for estimating Tier 2
emission factors for enteric fermentation from cattle
with the support of the National Statistical Office
(NSO);
• Support national expert to allocate livestock
population by natural zones using GIS technics and
connect with livestock performance parameters of
each zone;
• Estimate the emission factors and resulting
emissions from cattle;
• Identify a list of further improvements in data to
increase emissions estimation accuracy.
2019 - 2022 — 18
Current status and potential mitigation
options
In the updated NDC, Mongolia is targeting the enteric
methane in livestock sector in two ways: from a
mitigation perspective indicating as action “regulate and
reduce the livestock number”; and from an adaptation
one with the target to increase the productivity of the
animal husbandry sector (with mitigation co-benefits)
while ensuring the sustainable development of the sector
and reducing the impacts and risks associated with
climate change.
To measure the impact of the policies and measures
in terms of emission reductions, an estimation of
emissions from enteric fermentation at higher tiers is
advisable. Tier 2 emissions factors are mostly affected by
the composition and quality of feed consumed by the
animals, their activity (walking patterns) and productivity.
Therefore, strategies to reduce emissions from livestock
enteric fermentation that focus on changes in feeding
rations, animal genetics (improved high-productive
breeds) and distance walked to obtain food, water and
shelter will be reflected in the estimation allowing for the
tracking of the NDC implementation.
In Mongolia, most of the cattle graze on rangelands
throughout the entire year and in winter and early spring
consume poor-quality dried grass. Moreover, pastures are
often overgrazed that leads to a decrease of available feed
in quantity and quality. Native cattle (indigenous breed)
are grazing very large areas walking up to 15 km per day
that takes a lot of energy and results in higher emission
factors.
Low meat and milk productivity of native cattle results in
high emissions per kg of milk or beef produced (emission
intensity).
Improved breeds reared on farms are on diet of good
quality throughout the year. In addition, farm cattle are
more productive and expend less energy to obtain food
than grazing cattle. But share of farm cattle within total
cattle population remains very low in Mongolia (for the
period 2015-2020 amounted to 0.4-2.8% based on NSO
data).
Considering that it is difficult to manage feed
supplementation (especially in remote areas) and
composition of grasses for cattle grazing natural pastures,
mitigation options for pastoral and transhumance
systems are limited.
Potential mitigation options:
1) Increase the share of improved breeds kept on
smallholder farms (up to 10 ha of land) by shifting from
transhumance/pastoral to sedentary husbandry. This
measure will:
a. increase feed quality and animal productivity;
b. decrease distance walked;
c. open opportunity to use feed additives (e.g. fats,
condensed tannins, zeolite etc.) that will reduce methane
production in the rumen.
d. improve animals’ welfare, reduce grazing pressure,
decrease animal losses due to draught and dzud and
boost employment rate in agriculture and market
accessibility of livestock products, as a co-benefit.
This mitigation strategy is also in line with the “State
Policy on Food and Agriculture” (State Great Khural, 2015)
with the goal to promote intensified livestock production
in crop cultivated regions, suburban and settled areas
19 — PROJECT RESULT SUMMARY
while preserving traditional animal husbandry patterns,
improve livestock sector economic growth, productivity
and competitiveness, and ensure openness of domestic
and foreign trade. However, shifting to sedentary
husbandry may imply trade-off with increasing CO2
and N2O emissions in feed production that should
be properly evaluated and taken into account. In
addition, commercial farms with capacity of hundreds
to thousands of animals usually tend to store manure
as a liquid in open tanks or lagoons that increases CH4
emissions compared with solid storage. This practice
should be limited, increasing knowledge of and funding
opportunity for alternative manure management system
(e.g. biodigesters).
2) Decrease animal stocking density (number of livestock
per ha of grazing area) by implementing rotational
grazing in paddocks, reintroducing a pasture tax (with
an exemption for small/medium herders) or developing
grazing standards. Such measure will increase grass
digestibility (quality) and carbon sequestration in
soils as well as decrease distance walked (compared
with rangelands). As a co-benefit, improved pasture
management will cease land degradation and
desertification.
3) Enhance quality of animal products—for example,
training herders on techniques that improve the quality
of the yak wool and goat cashmere or expanding the
external meat and milk markets, can improve profit
margins and reduce the reliance on large herds.
4) Enhance quality of animal products and increase
the income of herders – for example, train herders on
techniques that improve the quality of the yak wool
and goat cashmere or introduce a system that makes
the origin of meat and dairy products transparent to
customers which expands the external and internal meat
and milk markets, can improve profit margins and reduce
the reliance on large herds.
5) Have no less than 60% of Mongolia’s territory diseases
free, for trade and quarantine, confirmed by the World
Organization for Animal Health, develop veterinary
services that are compliant with animal health standards
for the export of livestock and livestock products to the
neighboring countries (MET, 2017a).
6) Develop soums with sustainable grassland
management plans that take into account climate
change. Through enhancement the knowledge of
local management units and citizens on activities of
adaptation and mitigation to climate change to increase
the number of districts with Sustainable Pasture
Management Plans with their participation (Mongolian
Livestock Program 2020-2024).
Conclusions
Estimating livestock enteric fermentation emissions
at Tier 2 would bring multiple benefits to Mongolia,
including the identification of more robust future
emission scenarios and NDC targets for increasing
ambition in the next round of submission. Furthermore,
the estimation at higher tiers will help to identify feasible
mitigation options that reflect the actual socio-economic
situation and could deliver adaptation and sustainable
development co-benefits. Finally, it would allow to track
the progress of policies and measures implementation,
setting up a stronger Measurement, Reporting and
Verification (MRV) system that attracts climate finance.
ANNEX towards climate change impacts, vulnerabilities
and NDC adaption related activities of Agriculture,
Forestry and Other Land Use sector, 2021
List of reports produced by project • MET/CCRCC, Report on multisectoral strategy and
coordination mechanism for national reporting to the
The online versions can be found from the ETF portal: UNFCC, 2021
www.eic.mn/cbit • МFRA, Report: Report on Updates of National Forest
Inventory, Biomass growth model, forest mask, 2022
• ALAMGC , Assessment report on Land Use and Land
Use Change at the national level by collect earth, 2020 • MNFPUG, Assessment report on Gap analysis of
annual livestock census, 2021
• ALAMGC , Report on Improvement of the Land Use
and Land Use Change and Forest data quality , 2021 • MNFPUG, Assessment report on metadata parameter
for climate change mitigation for AFOLU sector, 2021
• ALAMGC, Report on Development of system modules
to convert National Unified Land Territory to IPCC at • MNFPUG, Report on Quality Assurance and Quality for
the ULT System, 2022 GHG Inventory for AFOLU sector, 2021
• Botanical Garden Institute, MAS, Assessment report • MOOH NGO, Report onMonitoring and Reporting
on Saxaul forest area changes, 2021 (M&R) framework for tracking progress on adaptation
strategies, policies, plans, goals and actions for AFOLU
• Institute of Biology, MAS, Assessment report
sectors in Mongolia’s NDC and A-BTR preparation,
on Establishment of Monitoring and Evaluation
2022
Framework for adaptation in Agriculture, Forestry and
Other Land Use sectors of Mongolia, 2020 • National consultant, Assessment on the available
fire data from different sources to present improved
• Institute of Geography and Geoecology, MAS,
emission estimate results for forest and grassland
Assessment report on GHG emissions from permafrost
fires separately for full inventory period between 1990-
regions of Mongolia, 2021
2018, 2022
• IRIMHE, Assessment report on Productivities of
• National consultant, Report on Assessment result and
pastureland species and livestock (nature goat, sheep
agreed on the need to regulate GHG inventory data
and cattle) in three ecoregions of Mongolia , 2021
provision
• IRIMHE, Report on Creation of high-resolution
• National consultant, Report on Draft content of
imagery for one province by the selected screenshot
regulation on GHG Inventory data provision, along
mosaicking tool, 2021
with legal assessment result, 2022
• IRIMHE, Report on Development of Enhanced
• Ololt NGO, Report on initiating proxy measures under
Transparency Framework online portal to enhance
ETF for emission estimation and integrated data-
the collection of climate change-related data, 2021
sharing processes in AFOLU sector, and readiness gap
• IRIMHE, Report on Preparation of development of assessment, 2022
Climate change monitoring plan for Agriculture,
• RAIH, MULS, Report on Gap Analysis for Data
Forestry and Other Land Use sector, 2021
Improvement to Estimate Emission Factors for Native
• MET/CCRCC, Assessment report on Agriculture, livestock, 2022
Forestry and Other Land Use sector’s Monitoring,
• School of Agroecology, MULS, Report on Data collection
Reporting, and Verification consistency with the
improvement for annual synthetic N(fertilizer) and
Enhanced Transparency Framework Requirements,
pesticides applications, tillage practices, and burnt
2021
crop areas., UNFAO, 2021
• MET/CCRCC, Report on A capacity building plan for
Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use sector
Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification consistency
with the Enhanced Transparency Framework
Requirements, 2021
• MET/CCRCC, Report on Key indicators for monitoring

2019 - 2022 — 20
> Abbreviations —

AFOLU Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use

ALAMGC Agency of Land Administration and Management,

Geodesy and Cartography

BTR Biennial Transparency Report

BUR Biennial Update Report

CBIT Capacity Building Initiative for Transparency

CCRCC Climate Change Research and Cooperation Centre

COP Conference of Parties

ETF Enhanced Transparency Framework

GEF Global Environment Facility

GHG Greenhouse Gas

GIS Geographic Information System

INDC Intended Nationally Determined Contribution

IPCC Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

IRIMHE Information and Research Institute of Meteorology,

Hydrology and Environment

LULUCF Land Use and Land Use Change and Forest

MAS Mongolian Academy of Sciences

21 — PROJECT RESULT SUMMARY

MET Ministry of Environment and Tourism

МFRA Mongolian Forest Research Association

MNFPUG Mongolian National Federation Of Pasture User

Group

MOOH Mongolian Oi Ohi Hureelen

MRV Measurement, Reporting, and Verification

MULS Mongolian University of Life Sciences

NC National Communication

NDC Nationally Determined Contribution

NIR National Inventory Report

NSO National Statistics Office

PA Paris Agreement

UNFAO United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization

UNFCCC United Nations Framework Convention on Climate

Change

2019 - 2022 — 22
 All documents produced by the
project can be found at “ETF portal” at
www.eic.mn/etf/

Representative Office of Food and Agricul-

ture Organization of the United Nations in
Mongolia
United Nations building, United Nations
Street – 14, 14201, Ulaanbaatar

Phone: (976-11) 310248

Fax: (976-11) 320256
E-mail: fao-mn@fao.org
Web: www.fao.org/Mongolia