Presentation from February 2021 CCXG Workshop

1. Climate Change Expert Group www.oecd.org/env/cc/ccxg.htm
Preparing and reporting national GHG
inventories: Key steps and available tools
CCXG Workshop on GHG-inventory reporting
February 2021
Chiara Falduto (CCXG)
Based on: ‘’Towards common GHG inventory reporting tables for Biennial
Transparency Reports: Experiences with tools for generating and using reporting
tables under the UNFCCC’’, Chiara Falduto and Sina Wartmann (2021, draft)

2. 2 Climate Change Expert Group
Outline
• Definition of national GHG inventories
• Overview of the inventory process
• Phase one: Preparing the GHG inventory
• Phase two: Reporting the GHG inventory
• Reporting national inventories in the UNFCCC context
• Conclusions

3. 3 Climate Change Expert Group
How can inventories be useful?
What is a national GHG inventory?
• An accounting of greenhouse gases (GHGs) emitted by a country
over a given timeframe
• GHG emissions are usually listed by category / sector
• Prepared using the IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas
Inventories (1996, 2006, 2019)
• Develop mitigation strategies
and policies
• Assess effectiveness of
policies and progress towards
goals
• Monitor progress towards
reduction targets;
• Promote transparency and
trust
At the national level At the international level

4. 4 Climate Change Expert Group
The inventory process

5. 5 Climate Change Expert Group
Phase One: Preparing the inventory
• Activity data is collected from ministries,
academia, industries, other organisations;
• Activity data can be received in different file
types / formats / structures and needs to be
standardised.
• Once data is standardised, emissions can be
estimated using different tools / software.
GHG Emissions =
Activity data * Emission Factors
Tier 1
Tier 2
Tier 3

6. 6 Climate Change Expert Group
Phase Two: Reporting the inventory
• Once emissions are estimated, they can be
organised into a specific reporting format
• To report inventories under the UNFCCC,
Annex I and non-Annex I Parties use different
reporting guidelines and different reporting
formats.
• Non-Annex I Parties follow less stringent
reporting guidelines and are not required to
use a common reporting format.
• Annex I Parties follow more stringent
reporting guidelines and use a common set
of CRFs, generated by the CRF Reporter

7. 7 Climate Change Expert Group
Tools for GHG inventory preparation and reporting
Phase One: Preparing the
inventory
Phase Two: Annex I Parties’
inventory reporting
Useful software programs include:
IPCC Software
CRF Reporter

8. 8 Climate Change Expert Group
Reporting under the Enhanced Transparency
Framework
Reporting inventories
under the Convention
Reporting inventories
under the Paris Agreement
Annex I reporting guidelines
Unique set of reporting guidelines for
developed and developing countries
(with flexibility provisions)
Non-Annex I reporting
guidelines
National Inventory Reports
CRF tables
National Communications
Biennial Update Reports
Biennial Transparency Reports
Common Reporting Tables (CRTs)
From 2024

9. 9 Climate Change Expert Group
The Common Reporting Tables (CRTs)
• Will likely be based on the CRF tables currently in use by Annex I Parties
• Will likely be generated by a CRT Reporter (no official name yet)
• The ETF and the CRTs will introduce new reporting requirements (mostly) for
developing countries:
• E.g. CRT-reporting will likely require the reporting of more detailed data
compared to non-Annex I current reporting such as activity data
Yet, the CRTs will significantly improve the availability and
transparency of information reported by Parties, enhancing the
understanding of the global response to climate change

10. 10 Climate Change Expert Group
Conclusions
• The CRF tables and the CRF Reporter will likely serve as a basis for the
development of CRTs
• However, the CRF system is an uneven starting point, as developing countries do
not have any practical experience with it
• IT arrangements can play an important role in facilitating developing countries’
transition to the CRT system
• Many tools and software programmes can alleviate the reporting burden faced by
developing countries

11. 11 Climate Change Expert Group
Discussion questions
• What will be the new reporting challenges that developing countries will have
to face under the Enhanced Transparency Framework?
• The CRF tables represent a good technical starting point; however, can they
be simplified to meet the reporting challenges faced by developing countries?
• How challenging would it be for developing countries to set up the institutional
and IT arrangements needed to support CRT-reporting? What type of
resources would be needed?

12. 12 Climate Change Expert Group
Thank You!
chiara.falduto@oecd.org