The international statistical community, including national statistical systems and international statistical organisations, should take an active role in contributing to the global GHG inventory system

The international statistical community, including national statistical systems and international statistical organisations, should take an active role in contributing to the global GHG inventory system. The standards, classifications and methods of greenhouse gas inventories and official statistics are developed and agreed upon in international processes. Therefore, a better dialogue among the statistical community and organisations working on climate issues would be beneficial. The international statistical community and NSOs may wish to consider the following issues and actions:

  • Seek closer collaboration between the statistical community and international organisations working on climate issues
  • Actively engage, at national level, with the national representatives delegated to the relevant UNFCCC forums
  • Follow up on the outcomes of the UNFCCC conferences of the parties to the convention
  • Involve NSOs at the outset of work when countries need to respond to new data needs from the convention
  • Existing international networks of NSOs could facilitate the exchange experience

Good practices

Name of the caseCountry/OrgBrief descriptionResultsDifficultiesFurther information
Explaining the different emission estimatesEuropean Environment Agency, DG CLIMA, Eurostat, and Joint Research CentreA quick reference for journalists and others interested to explain which different estimates are produced- The note explains the various emission estimates produced, their purposes, uses and differences- The note aims to remove confusion and clarify roles and purposes of different emission estimates and databasesHTML
FAOSTAT data and the associated capacity developmentFAODescription of FAO's work on:
- GHG emissions from agriculture, forestry and land use change
- Support to member countries to improve rural statistics and GHG reporting within UNFCCC
- In-country issues (establishment of Tier I inventories for gap analysis; consistency with food security, rural development, SEEA and SDGs)
- FAOSTAT Emissions Database
- Workshops for Capacity Development
- Knowledge generation
- coherency among relevant programmes,  increase efficiency of country impacts and donor resourcesPPT
Requirements and capacity-building needs of the UNFCCC process (IPCC)IPCCDescription of difficulties with activity data collection; importance of involving statistical offices in GHG inventory preparation; and good practice in data collection for GHG inventory compilation

Statistical offices can better contribute to national GHG inventory compilation by enhancing the capacities to do the following:
- Focus on the collection of data needed to improve estimates of key categories which are the largest, have the greatest potential to change, or have the greatest uncertainty.
- Choose data collection procedures that iteratively improve the quality of the inventory in line with the data quality objectives.
- Collect data/information at a level of detail appropriate to the method used.
- Collect uncertainty information as well when collecting data.

Individual data providers are not aware of GHG inventories and not willingness to provide data for production of GHG inventory.
- Lack of a legal framework that mandates the provision of data
- Inadequate institutional arrangements to ensure data collection

PPT
Pollutant Release and Transfer Registers (PRTR)UNECEThe register includes data reported by companies on emissions — such as greenhouse gases and heavy metals — from industrial sites and other sources to national PRTRs that are publicly accessible and searchable through the Internet.PRTRs allow free web-based access to geo-referenced data on industrial pollutants, including GHG emissions, to help the public, decision makers, scientists and journalists make informed choices.- Further work is needed to use the PRTRs for reporting to UNFCCC. Norway and Japan already make use of PRTR data for that and Finland is comparing the results from bottom-up calculations to top-down estimation of GHG emissions. Portal
NSO entry points to the greenhouse gas inventory systemUNECE Steering GroupNote outlining the role of NSOs in the national GHG inventory process- Statistical community has vast amounts of expertise and experience and can contribute to the global GHG inventory system- Different levels of NSO engagementPPT
Current and emerging data needs of the global climate change regime UNFCCCPresentation describing;
- requirements/guidelines for data reporting
- the review/verification processes for the data
 - “entry points” for NSO inputs/involvement
- Comprehensive and accurate statistical data are indispensable
- The Paris agreement is expected to result in more data requirements, such as the reporting in the form of INDCs
- Uncertainties about what INDCs will eventually be and what they will require; it is important to monitor the process closely and react timelyPPT
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