The Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA), at its thirty-seventh session, agreed (FCCC/SBSTA/2012/5, paragraphs 74–85) on the work programme on the revision of the guidelines for the review of biennial reports and national communications, including national inventory reviews, for developed country Parties (hereinafter referred to as the review guidelines), in accordance with decision 2/CP.17, paragraph 28. COP 19 adopted guidelines for the review of biennial reports and national communications (decision 23/CP.19). The decision envisaged further discussion at SBSTA 40 on the guidelines for the review of national greenhouse gas (GHG) inventories from Parties included in Annex I to the Convention (Annex I Parties) with a view to adopting a decision at COP 20 that will contain the already agreed guidelines for the review of biennial reports and national communications as well as the guidelines for the review of national inventories.

The SBSTA, at its fortieth session, invited Parties to submit, by 15 July 2014, further views and suggestions for textual modifications on specific paragraphs of the revised UNFCCC Annex I inventory review guidelines. It requested the secretariat to make the submissions available on the UNFCCC website. The SBSTA requested the secretariat to prepare, by 15 September 2014, an updated draft of the revised UNFCCC Annex I inventory review guidelines, with tracked changes, based on the discussion that took place at the fortieth session and the submissions from Parties. This draft will serve as the input to the discussion at the workshop.

The SBSTA reiterated the need for a technical workshop under the work programme in the second half of 2014 to allow further discussion on the outstanding issues and to advance the text of the revised UNFCCC Annex I inventory review guidelines. This workshop, open to all Parties, will be organized by the secretariat under the guidance of the Chair of the SBSTA, with a view to encouraging participation from as many experts as possible. It requested the secretariat to prepare a report on that workshop as input to SBSTA 41. It also requested the secretariat to prepare a further updated draft of the revised UNFCCC Annex I inventory review guidelines, with tracked changes, based on the updated draft guidelines and the discussion that took place during the above-mentioned workshop. The output of the discussions on the revision of the UNFCCC Annex I inventory review guidelines at SBSTA 40, with the additions, with tracked changes, from the workshop, and submissions from Parties, will serve as initial input, inter alia, to the discussions at SBSTA 41, to allow for input from those Parties that were not present at the workshop.