The 23rd annual Conference of the Parties (COP 23) is currently meeting in Bonn, Germany, to work on a rulebook for implementing the Paris Agreement. Since many of the Paris pledges remain fairly opaque and the specific policies the countries will take to meet them are vague, a major feature of the conference will be to obtain transparency in measuring, reporting and verifying each country's greenhouse gas emissions. Since the Paris Agreement does not include sanctions for countries that do not meet their agreed-to targets, peer pressure is the main mechanism for ensuring that governments abide by their commitments. The final rule book is due at the end of 2018 and is subject to approval at the next climate summit in Katowice, Poland.
