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Notes on GHG data

General

  1. The data interface includes GHG data received by the UNFCCC secretariat as of 22 October 2012.

  2. The reporting and review requirements for GHG inventories are different for Annex I and non-Annex I Parties. Annex I Parties report their GHG inventories annually by 15 April. Non-Annex I GHG data are reported in national communications, which are submitted at different points in time.

  3. Upon entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon on 1 December 2009, the European Community was replaced and succeeded by the European Union.

  4. The data are reproduced here as reported, with the exception of corrections of typographical or calculation errors or omissions. Note also the following:

    1. Because of rounding, totals and subtotals may differ from the sum of the individual components.

    2. In estimation of CO2 emissions using reference approach, Parties first report the apparent consumption in either physical (bbl, 106l, and grams) or energy (oil eq. and joules) units and then converted into energy units if it is reported in physical units. The data interface contains data on apparent consumption as reported and also the converted ones. However, due to technical reasons, the apparent consumption in energy units is reflected as fuel consumption.

  5. Three modules of the GHG data interface (Detailed data by Party, Comparison by Gas and Comparison by Category) use "---" to indicate that no data have been reported; "*" to indicate that data are reported with notation keys (IE, NA, NE, NO); and "n.a." to indicate that the selection is not applicable for the Party. For the Flexible queries and Compilation and accounting data modules, all (no data reported, data reported with notation keys and not applicable) are shown as blank/empty cells. For the user-defined indicators module, "--" is used to indicate that either no data are available or the ratio cannot be calculated; "n.a." is used to mean that the selection is not applicable to the Party.

 

GHG Data - UNFCCC

  1. Under the Convention, Parties are grouped together according to differing commitments. Such groups are:

    1. Annex I Parties include the industrialized countries that were members of the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) in 1992, plus countries with economies in transition (the EIT Parties), including the Russian Federation, and several Central and Eastern European States. This group can be further sub-grouped into two.

      1. pdf-icon Annex I (Economies in Transition) EITs include countries that are Annex I but undergoing the process of transition to market economy.

      2. Annex I non-EITs include the rest of the Annex I countries which are not grouped as Annex I EITs.

    2. Non-Annex I Parties are mostly developing countries.

  2. The UNFCCC data interface contains some data on population and gross domestic product (GDP), which are shown in order to illustrate the national context for GHG emissions/removals. The source of the population data is the UNSD Demographic Statistics but data are accessed through the Common Database of the United Nations Statistics Division; the source of the GDP data (at market prices, constant 2000 US$) is the World Bank. These data are displayed on the GHG data interface with the kind permission of the United Nations and the World Bank; the United Nations and the World Bank have regulations concerning the use of their data and these organizations must be consulted before downloading population and GDP data for further use. The country area data is taken from the Statistical Database of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

  3. Base year data in the GHG data interface relate to the base year under the Climate Change Convention (UNFCCC), which is a year with a historical level of anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases not controlled by the Montreal Protocol chosen as a reference (Article 4.6 of the Convention). The base year under the Convention is defined slightly differently than the base year under the Kyoto Protocol. An exception is made for European Union (15) whereby the base year under the Kyoto Protocol is displayed. The base year emissions under the Kyoto Protocol are provided in the data interface under the KP data - UNFCCC section.

  4. The definition format of data for emissions/removals from the forestry sector is different for Annex I and non-Annex I Parties. For Annex I Parties, the sector is called Land Use, Land-use Change and Forestry (LULUCF) whereas for non-Annex I Parties, it is called Land-use Change and Forestry (LUCF). These two definitions are close but not equivalent.

  5. Annex I Parties report GHG data in the common reporting format (CRF). The CRF data prepared using the CRF Reporter software are readily available for import into the GHG database. Non-Annex I Parties do not use the CRF Reporter software because of the difference in reporting requirements and therefore the GHG data reported by non-Annex I Parties need to be processed manually before the data reported can be imported into the UNFCCC GHG database and displayed as part of the GHG data interface. Due to resource limitations at the UNFCCC secretariat, activity data and implied emission factors reported in initial national communications could not be prepared for import into the GHG database except for six Parties, which have been selected as test cases. These six non-Annex I Parties are Argentina, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Mozambique, Uruguay and Venezuela. Activity data and implied emission factors for other non-Annex I Parties will be added to the data interface, to the extent they were reported and subject to resource availability.

  6. Some of the source categories under the industrial processes sector have unique country specific activity data depending on the national circumstances. For such source category, the data interface does not provide description of activity data and is noted by the generic term 'activity data'. However, the details on the description of the activity data can be found in the CRF tables reported by the respective Parties.

  7. As per the decisions pdf-icon 9/CP.2 and pdf-icon 11/CP.4, some of the Parties are allowed to use a base year other than 1990. These Parties and their base years are Bulgaria (1988), Hungary (average of 1985-1987), Poland (1988), Romania (1989) and Slovenia (1986).

  8. Decision pdf-icon 26/CP.7 invited Parties to recognize the special circumstances of Turkey, which place it in a situation different from that of other Parties included in Annex I to the Convention.

  9. Emission estimates of the 15 member States prior to May 2004 (EU-15) and of EU-27 are reported separately from those of its individual member States. Both estimates are not included in the Annex I totals in order to avoid double counting.

  10. Bolivia and Mexico reported in their national communications potential HFC emissions. However, both Parties included those estimates in their national GHG totals, therefore they are not displayed in the data interface.

  11. The GHG inventory submitted by Sierra Leone for the period 1990-1995 appears to contain technical errors, especially for the Agriculture and LUCF Sectors. Therefore, this inventory is currently not included in the data interface.

  12. Some non-Annex I Parties (Jamaica, Malawi, Samoa, South Africa and Swaziland) submitted GHG inventory data in their second national communications. They used the 2006 IPCC Guidelines in estimating GHG emissions/removals, therefore these data could not be incuded in the data interface.

 

KP Data - UNFCCC

  1. Under the Kyoto Protocol, Annex I Parties that are also Parties to the Kyoto Protocol with commitments inscribed in Annex B to the Kyoto Protocol (Annex B Parties) should submit a national GHG inventory, as required under the Convention, as well as supplementary information on its implementation of the Kyoto Protocol that covers the Party's holdings and transactions of Kyoto Protocol units (for the previous year), and emissions and removals from land use, land-use change and forestry (LULUCF) activities under Article 3, paragraphs 3 and 4, of the Kyoto Protocol.

  2. Similar to Annex I Parties, Annex B Parties can be sub-grouped into two:

    1. Annex B (Economies in Transition) EITs

    2. Annex B non-EITs

  3. Belarus was included in Annex B to the Kyoto Protocol with quantified emission reduction commitment of 92 per cent through an amendment to Annex B of the Kyoto Protocol (decision pdf-icon 10/CMP.2). As of this release, this amendment has not been ratified by a sufficient numer of Parties to enter into force.

  4. For the purpose of reporting under the Kyoto Protocol, the European Union submits two sets of standard electronic format (SEF) tables -- one for the European Union (15) and another for the European Union (Community Registry).

  5. Data of the European Union (15) are included in the calculation of the totals for Annex B groups (i.e. Annex B and Annex B non-EIT), and data of individual member States are excluded. The data of the European Union (Community Regisry) is also included in the calculation of the totals of Kyoto Protocol units for Annex B groups.

  6. Please note New Zealand has advised the secretariat that the KP-LULUCF data submitted on 4 November 2012, and included in 13 March 2013 release of the Data Interface, experienced a technical problem and contained incorrect figures. The data will be updated in the next release of the Data Interface, until then the correct KP-LULUCF data can be found on the National Inventory Submissions 2012 page of the UNFCCC website.