Does climate transparency enhance the reflexive capacity of state actors to improve mitigation performance? The case of Indonesia

Using Indonesia's energy sector as case study, we explore the effects of the domestic measurement, reporting and verification (MRV) system as a manifestation of national level climate transparency. We examine the ways in which MRV facilitates state actors' reflexive capacity to recognize, reflect on, and respond to the demand for mitigation-related information emanating from global climate governance processes. Our results show that engagement with Indonesia's domestic MRV system enhanced actors' capacities to reorganize institutional arrangements, including competing rules and practices; recalibrate data and information systems; reprioritize the deployment of available resources; and reformulate policy and strategy. These reflexive responses illustrate the range of potential MRV-associated effects that can be realized in a domestic context, beyond simply generating and reporting information. We conclude that while the generation of transparency has yet to directly enhance domestic mitigation action, it facilitates improvement of informational and executive systems and infrastructures that support mitigation policies.

Automated summary

Using Indonesia's energy sector as a case study, this research examines how the domestic MRV system can enhance state actors' reflexive capacity to respond to demands for mitigation-related information from global climate governance processes. Results show that engagement with the MRV system can facilitate reorganization of institutional arrangements, recalibration of data systems, reprioritization of resources, and reformulation of policies. These reflexive responses highlight the potential effects of MRV beyond information generation, indicating its role in improving systems and infrastructures to support mitigation policies domestically.