Please note that the UNFCCC Secretariat does not promote any particular methods or publications.

All Parties to the Convention are required to periodically submit to the Conference of the Parties (COP), in accordance with Article 4, paragraph 1, and Article 12, paragraph 1, of the Convention a report containing information on the following elements:

(a) A national inventory of anthropogenic emissions by sources and removals by sinks of all greenhouse gases (GHGs) not controlled by the Montreal Protocol, to the extent the Party's capacities permit, using comparable methodologies to be promoted and agreed upon by the COP;
(b) A general description of steps taken or envisaged by the Party to implement the Convention;
(c) Any other information that the Party considers relevant to the achievement of the objective of the Convention and suitable for inclusion in its communication, including, if feasible, material relevant for calculations of global emission trends.

Parties not included in Annex I to the Convention (non-Annex I Parties) prepare their national communications following the " Guidelines for the preparation of national communications from Parties not included in Annex I to the Convention " contained in the annex to decision 17/CP.8.

The COP, at its fifteenth session, reconstituted the CGE for a period of three years, from 2010 to 2012 with the objective of improving the process of and preparation of national communications from non-Annex I Parties, by providing technical advice and support to non-Annex I Parties, including those Parties that have not yet completed their initial national communications.

As per its current terms of reference, the CGE is mandated to, inter alia, provide technical assistance to non-Annex I Parties for the regular development of national GHG inventories, vulnerability and adaptation (V&A) assessment, mitigation assessment, research and systematic observation, education, training and public awareness, technology transfer and capacity-building, with a view to improving the accuracy, consistency and transparency of information in their national communications.

In response to the mandate referred to above, the CGE, in its work programme for 2010–2012, agreed to the update of CGE training materials on national communications, including national GHG inventories, V&A assessments and mitigation assessments developed in 2004 and 2005. These updated training materials have been published below for use by national experts involved in the preparation of national communications and other interested stakeholders. These updated training materials should be treated as working documents and hence would benefit from continuous revision and improvement.

The training materials are designed to facilitate the preparation national communications by non-Annex I Parties in accordance with the UNFCCC Guidelines for the preparation of national communications from Parties not included in Annex I to the Convention (decision 17/CP.8). It is in no case intended to replace any of the methodologies or tools referred to or mentioned in its various modules. For further detail and explanation, the reader is therefore always encouraged to go back to the original documents or tools referred to. It is also important to note that some files and links below are from external sites. They are presented merely as an example or illustration. The UNFCCC secretariat is neither responsible for content from external sites nor vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in those sites. In case of any difficulties with the files, contact the relevant website directly.

These CGE training materials are also available in French and Spanish.

Vulnerability and Adaptation Assessments	GHG Inventories	Mitigation Assessments
Introduction • Handbook Vulnerability and adaptation frameworks • Handbook • Presentation Baseline socioeconomic scenarios • Handbook • Presentation • Exercise Climate change scenarios • Handbook • Presentation • Exercise Coastal resources • Handbook • Presentation • Exercises Water resources • Handbook • Presentation • Exercise (346 kB) Agriculture • Handbook • Presentation - CH7_Agriculture_01 (7124 kB) - CH7_Agriculture_02 (4993 kB) • Exercise Human health • Handbook • Presentation • Worksheets Integration • Handbook • Presentation Communication • Handbook • Presentation	Cross-cutting issues • National arrangements • Building sustainable national GHG inventory management systems • IPCC EFDB • Key category analysis • Uncertainty assessment • Quality assurance/quality control procedures • Data gaps • Exercise – Key category analysis (372 kB) Energy • Fuel combustion - Presentation - Handbook - Test • Fugitive emissions - Presentation - Handbook - Test • Exercise – Energy sector (363 kB) Industrial processes • Presentation • Handbook • Exercise • Test Agriculture • Presentation • Handbooks - General issues - Inventory simulation • Exercise • Test LULUCF • Presentation • Handbook • ALU software • Exercise • Test Waste • Presentation • Handbook • Exercise • Test Conversion tool UNFCCC software • NAIIS Web application • NAIIS User Manual (3454 kB)	Handbook • Mitigation handbook Mitigation of climate change • Presentation Mitigation in Context of National Communications and the UNFCCC • Presentation Mitigation Assessment: Concepts, Structure and Steps • Presentation Mitigation Options, Issues and Barriers by Sector • Presentation Mitigation Analysis: Methods and Tools • Presentation Reporting on Mitigation in National Communications • Presentation Building national arrangements for the mitigation assessment • Presentation • Template A: Key Sectoral Emissions Analysis • Template B: Institutional Arrangements for Mitigation Activities • Template C: Mitigation Assessment Methods and Data Sources • Template D: Mitigation Analysis Archiving System • Template E: National Plan for Further Mitigation Assessment Exercise • Screening exercise • Screening blank • Screening mitigation options • LEAP

Further, the CGE also compiled a list of:

• Reference materials on steps to integrate climate change considerations into relevant social, economic and environmental policies and actions (248 kB) ;
• Regional centers of excellence that undertake technical work in the areas of national communications from non-Annex I Parties and also existing activities and programmes, including bilateral, regional and multilateral sources of financial and technical assistance, to facilitate and support the preparation of national communications by non-Annex I Parties (195 kB) .

Previous CGE training materials more>>

Inventory

• Good Practice Guidance for Land Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry. 2003 more>>
• Good Practice Guidance and Uncertainty Management in National Greenhouse Gas Inventories. 2000. more>>
• IPCC Emission Factors Database (EFDB) more>>
• Revised 1996 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories (3 Volumes) Approved in 1996, and published in 1997. more>>
• For supporting material (Expert Meeting Reports) of the IPCC National Greenhouse Gas Inventories Programme (IPCC-NGGIP) please click here.

Abatement

• Climate Change 2007: Mitigation of Climate Change.  Contribution of Working Group III to the Fourth Assessment Report of the IPCC more>>
• IPCC Special Report on Emissions Scenarios. 2000. more>>
• IPCC Special Report on Technology Transfer. 2000. more>>
• IPCC Special Report on Land Use, Land Use Change, and Forestry. 2000. more>>
• Technologies, Policies and Measures for Mitigating Climate Change - IPCC Technical Paper I. November 1996.
  English, French, Spanish

Vulnerability and adaptation

• Climate Change 2007: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability.  Contribution of Working Group II to the Fourth Assessment Report of the IPCC more>>
• IPCC Special Report on The Regional Impacts of Climate Change: An Assessment of Vulnerability. 1998. more>>

The science of climate change

• IPCC Working Group I - Fourth Assessment Report:  The Physical Science Basis of Climate Change more>>
• An Introduction to Simple Climate Models used in the IPCC Second Assessment Report - IPCC Technical Paper II. February 1997.
  English, French, Spanish
• Stabilization of Atmospheric Greenhouse Gases: Physical, Biological and Socio-Economic Implications - IPCC Technical Paper III. February 1997. English, French, Spanish
• IPCC Technical Guidelines for Assessing Climate Change Impacts and Adaptations. 1995 (The guidelines are out of print. They also cannot be downloaded from the Internet.)

• Handbook on Methods for Climate Change Impact Assessment and Adaptation Strategies. This handbook, published by UNEP and the Free University of Amsterdam in 1998, was designed to be an introduction to a wide range of methods that can be used to design assessment studies of climate change impacts and related adaptation strategies.  more>>
• Model for the Assessment of Greenhouse-gas Induced Climate Change / Global and regional SCENario GENerator (MAGICC and SCENGEN). The MAGICC/SCENGEN workbook and technical manual may be downloaded from the web site of the Climatic Research Unit, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK. more>>
• Managing the Greenhouse Gas Inventory Process  Handbook:  This handbook was developed under the leadership of the NCSP, who managed a review process in which draft versions were circulated for comments to 130 project co-ordinators of non-Annex I National Communications, interested Annex I Parties, the Consultative Group of Experts on non-Annex I National Communications (CGE) and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change National Greenhouse Gas Inventories Programme (IPCC-NGGIP).
• LEAP: Long-range Energy Alternatives Planning system. LEAP is a software tool for integrated energy-environment and greenhouse gas mitigation analysis. LEAP has been developed by the Stockholm Environment Institute-Boston with support from international organizations to meet the needs of researchers, NGOs and government agencies worldwide. more>>
• Adaptation Policy Framework (APF). The UNDP National Communications Support Programme (NCSP) has developed an Adaptation Policy Framework, which is currently undergoing a review process. The main objective of the framework is to help countries strengthen their capacity for preparing national plans and prioritising adaptations to climate change. According to the NCSP the work may also support preparation of National Communications of non-Annex I Parties. more>>