|
As per Article 4, paragraph 1 (a), and Article 12, paragraph 1(a) of the Convention, non-Annex I
Parties are required to communicate to the Conference of the Parties 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 its capacities permit, following the guidelines
contained in annex to decision17/CP.8.
In order to facilitate non-Annex I Parties in developing and reporting their GHG inventories as a
part of their national communications, the secretariat developed an Excel-based software which
incorporated all the elements of a national GHG inventory prescribed by decision 17/CP.8. The
software was based on the IPCC inventory software version 1.1 which used the Tier 1 methodologies for
estimating GHG emissions and removals for all source categories described in the Revised 1996 IPCC
Guidelines, and further complimented by GPGs.¹
Since its release in 2005, most non-Annex I Parties have been using that software for development of
their national GHG inventories. In June 2011, Parties requested the secretariat to upgrade the
software and make it available to non-Annex I Parties by June 2013. Pursuant to that request,
the secretariat upgraded the current Excel-based version of the software (v.1.3.2)² into a
web-based application that provides greater degree of flexibility in using it as well as enable a
prompt upgrade of the application to respond to any possible methodological changes that may occur in
the UNFCCC process, such as the possible switch to the use of the 2006 IPCC Guidelines in the
reporting of national GHG inventories by non-Annex I Parties.
Upon request to the secretariat, each non-Annex I Party will be provided with an access to a password
enabled working space in the web-based application. The individual working space will contain
the following functionalities:
1. Software to estimate and report GHG emissions, conduct key source analysis, consistency and
completeness checks, and report the results of uncertainty analysis;³
2. Export to and import from in the Excel and Xml format;
3. Inventory management, including management of users and different versions of the inventory;
4. Archiving of the finalized inventories;
5. Automated submission of inventories to the secretariat.
It is important to note that some functionalities such as inventory management and automated
submission are still under development. These pending functionalities are expected to be
deployed, at the latest, by December 2013.
Access to the web-application shall be through the national focal points for the UNFCCC. Hence,
the request for the access should be either from or endorsed by the national focal points. The
person who requests the access shall be, for the purpose of the user management of this
web-application, designated as the national focal point in the web-application and shall be
responsible for providing and managing access to other national experts.
|
