KNOWLEDGE
HUB

Resource

Developing a national greenhouse gas inventory system

9pm, June 21st, 2017

LEDS GP is hosting two complementary tools to help design, plan, assess, and operationalize more sustainable national greenhouse gas inventory systems: Developing a National Greenhouse Gas Inventory System Template Workbook; and the Greenhouse Gas Inventory Toolkit. This series of templates provides a comprehensive base for preparing a National Inventory System Report used for national greenhouse gas inventory development processes.

A major component of the LEDS GP approach to building sustainable national greenhouse gas inventory management systems is starting with the pre-defined National Greenhouse Gas Inventory System Templates developed by the United States Environmental Protection Agency and USAID.

Completed templates can be used as the basis for preparing a National Inventory System Report, documenting each critical component for managing development of the greenhouse gas inventory preparation process. These tools are consistent with IPCC and UNFCCC guidelines for national greenhouse gas inventory development. This section describes and provides download links for each of the six individual templates, along with the Key Category Analysis Tool.

In addition to the templates, below you will find the Greenhouse Gas Inventory Toolkit which complements the first template for documenting institutional arrangements, by providing information to operationalize and institutionalize the plans outlined in the Institutional Arrangements template.

Institutional Arrangements for National Inventory Systems (IA)

Assists inventory teams in assessing and documenting the strengths and weaknesses of existing institutional arrangements and to help plan arrangements for future inventory development to ensure continuity and integrity of the inventory, promote institutionalization of the inventory process, and facilitate prioritization of future improvements.

Methods and Data Documentation (MDD)

Assists inventory teams in documenting and reporting the origin of methodologies, activity datasets, and emission factors used to estimate emissions or removals. Future inventory teams can refer to the completed template for each source and sink category to determine what information was collected, how the data were obtained, and what methods were used, as well as to reproduce estimates.

Description of Quality Assurance and Quality Control Procedures (QA/QC)

Guides countries through the establishment of a cost-effective QA/QC program to improve transparency, consistency, comparability, completeness, and confidence in national greenhouse gas inventories. The template includes supplemental checklists with recommended QA/QC procedures that are specific to management roles, such as the Inventory Coordinator and QA/QC Coordinator, as well as sector leads.

Description of Archiving System (AS)

Facilitates reproducing and updating greenhouse gas emission estimates to be easily recreated, safeguards against data and information loss, and facilitates development of subsequent inventories by future inventory staff. An archive system is an inexpensive yet critical step toward a sustainable National Inventory System.

Key Category Analysis (KCA)

Identifies the sources and/or sinks that have the greatest contribution to national emissions, and thus should be the focus of improvement efforts. The template and tool are consistent with IPCC Guidelines. The KCA Tool enables a country to determine key categories from greenhouse gas inventory estimates.

National Inventory Improvement Plan (NIIP)

National Greenhouse Gas Inventory Toolkit

The materials below specifically operationalize and institutionalize the plans outlined in the Institutional Arrangements template. This Toolkit can be used by key members of a national inventory team to help design and develop a sustainable inventory management system.

National Greenhouse Gas Inventory Coordinator: Responsibilities and Qualifications

Describes the roles and key responsibilities for the NIC in order to effectively manage and coordinate development of a National Greenhouse Gas Inventory.

Sector Roles and Responsibilities

These documents describe the likely roles and key responsibilities for each sector lead for the National Greenhouse Gas Inventory (Energy; Industrial Processes and Product Use; Agriculture; Land Use, Land-Use Change, and Forestry; and Waste). The primary role of each Sector Lead is to manage and coordinate development of greenhouse gas emission estimates for their respective sector.

Inception Memorandum

Provides a template for a memo that assists the National Inventory Coordinator (NIC) in providing guidance to a country’s inventory compilers, who are responsible for preparing emissions/removals estimates. This template serves as a guide to help outline the goals, expectations, and roles and responsibilities of team members during the inventory development cycle.

Statement of Work

Provides a template for drafting a Statement of Work (SOW) that the lead inventory agency may use as the basis of a request for proposals or terms of reference. Once customized, the lead inventory agency may distribute it to a consultant that is contracted to develop emission or removal estimates for a National greenhouse gas Inventory.

Confidentiality Agreement and Amendment Template

Provides a template for an agreement between a ministry developing greenhouse gas estimates and a data provider that is supplying confidential business information (CBI) for the development of greenhouse gas estimates.

Memorandum of Understanding Template 

Provides a template for an agreement between two entities working on the national greenhouse gas inventory, such as a ministry developing greenhouse gas estimates and a data provider.

Contact Form and Supplemental Information

Form to record personal communications, telephone conversations or serve as a cover sheet for email or facsimile communications.

Photo: Neil Palmer (CIAT)/Flickr

Institutions Involved

  • USA EPA
  • USAID