From the GHG Measurement Frontline: A Synthesis of Non-Annex I Country National Inventory System Practices and Experiences
The World Resources Institute (WRI) recently published a working paper on national greenhouse gas (GHG) inventories as part of the Measurement and Performance Tracking (MAPT) Project entitled ‘From the GHG Measurement Frontline: A Synthesis of Non-Annex I Country National Inventory System Practices and Experiences’.
National GHG inventories provide fundamental data to inform domestic and global action on climate change. Drawing upon case studies authored by inventory experts from Brazil, Colombia, India, Mexico, and South Africa, this paper highlights seven emerging good practices that these countries have used to develop capacity and improve and sustain their national GHG inventory systems, specifically:
- sustained institutional arrangements
- identification and enabling of a lead agency to manage the national GHG inventory process
- sectoral coordinating institutions with well-defined roles, responsibilities, and processes
- detailed institutional mandates and data-sharing agreements that include work schedules
- processes to archive inventory information and retain institutional memory
- sufficient, well managed, and sustained financial resources
- an iterative approach to improving the national GHG inventory system
This working paper aims to share the experiences and lessons learned that are described in the MAPT case studies with other countries grappling with similar inventory management concerns and capacity constraints. For more detailed examples and country-specific information, readers can review individual case studies within the MAPT national GHG inventory case study series, all of which are available for free (see links).