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Overview of existing reporting and review requirements for Annex I Parties under the
Convention
The Conference of Parties, by Decision 1/CP.16, decided that developed country Parties should enhance
reporting in national communications (NC) and submit biennial reports (BR) which outline progress in
achieving emission reductions and the provision of financial, technology and capacity-building
support to non-Annex I Parties, building on existing reporting and review guidelines, processes and
experiences. It also established a new process, international assessment and review (IAR),
under the Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI) for developed country Parties that aims to promote
the comparability of efforts among all developed country Parties with regard to their quantified
economy-wide emission limitation and reduction targets.
The detailed guidelines for the preparation of BRs contained in annex I to decision 2/CP.17 as well
as modalities and guidelines for IAR contained in annex II to decision 2/CP.17 were adopted by COP 17
in Durban. The COP also decided, among other things, that:
- developed country Parties shall submit the first BR by 1 January 2014, and the second and
subsequent BR two years after the due date of a full NC (i.e. 2016, 2020);
- in the years when the full NCs are submitted, BRs can be presented either as an annex to the
NC or as a separate report;
- the first rounds of IAR should commence two months after the submission of the first round of
BRs by developed country Parties;
- the modalities and procedures of the IAR will be revised on the basis of the experience gained
in the first round of IAR, no later than 2016, and that any revisions of the modalities and
procedures of the IAR should take into account any future agreement on a compliance regime for
mitigation targets under the Convention.
According to the adopted modalities and guidelines, the IAR of BRs from developed country Parties
will be conducted under the SBI in two steps:
a. A technical review of BRs, where relevant in conjunction with the review of annual greenhouse
gas (GHG) inventories, and NCs of developed country Parties, which will result in an individual
review report for each developed country Party. The information considered will include all emissions
and removals related to quantified economy-wide emission reduction targets; assumptions, conditions
and methodologies related to the attainment of quantified economy-wide emission reduction target;
progress towards the achievement of quantified economy-wide emission reduction target; and the
provision of financial, technological and capacity building support to developing country
Parties.
b. A multilateral assessment of developed country Parties’ progress in implementation
towards the achievement of emission reductions and removals related to their quantified economy-wide
emission reduction targets. The multilateral assessment will be conducted on the basis of BRs,
the national GHG inventory (including the national inventory report) and the NC, the technical review
report of BR, as well as supplementary information on the achievement of the Party’s quantified
economy-wide emission reduction target. The multilateral assessment will be conducted under a working
group session of the SBI for each developed country Party, with participation of all Parties. The
Party under review may make a brief oral presentation, followed by oral questions by Parties and
responses by the Party under review.
SBSTA 37 (Doha) concluded with the adoption of a work programme for the revision of review guidelines
in 2013 and 2014 (FCCC/SBSTA/2012/L.28). According to the work programme, the review guidelines for
national communications and biennial reports will be developed and adopted by the end of 2013, and
the revised review guidelines for GHG inventories will be adopted by the end of 2014. These review
guidelines will lay a solid foundation for the upcoming international assessment and review (IAR)
commencing in 2014.
Reporting and review requirements under the Convention encompass the following
elements:
- National communications which contain information on national greenhouse gas (GHG)
emissions, climate-related policies and measures, GHG projections, vulnerability and adaptation to
climate change, financial assistance and technology transfer to non-Annex I Parties, and actions on
raising public awareness on climate change;
- National GHG inventories which contain information on GHG emissions, such as activity data,
emission factors and methodologies used to estimate these emissions.
National communications are submitted by Annex I Parties every 4–5 years following decisions
for each submission by the Conference of the Parties (COP). They are prepared and reported
periodically by Annex I Parties based on agreed reporting guidelines (decision 4/CP.5). They
are reviewed, within 1–2 years from the submission date, by international expert review teams
(ERTs) following specific mandates included in COP decisions, including the general procedures for
review that are enshrined in decision 2/CP.1. Also, the UNFCCC secretariat prepares the
so-called “compilation and synthesis reports” on Annex I NCs, which are considered by the
SBs and COP, as a basis for a substantive discussion on the implementation of the Convention by Annex
I Parties.
Reporting and review of national GHG inventories of Annex I Parties are based on reporting and review
guidelines (decisions 18/CP.8, 19/CP.8 and 14/CP.11). National GHG inventories are reported
annually by Annex I Parties following reporting guidelines agreed by the COP and methodology
developed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). They are reviewed
annually by ERTs following agreed review guidelines. Reporting comprises a National
Inventory Report (NIR) and Common Reporting Format (CRF) tables. The NIR includes qualitative
and qualitative information, such as a description of methodologies used, emission factors, activity
data and emission trends and analysis thereof, uncertainties, quality assurance and quality
control. The CRF tables include data and results from inventory estimates.
Reviews are co-ordinated by the secretariat and conducted by international ERTs. In-depth
reviews of the national communications as a rule are conducted through in-country visits.
Reviews of GHG inventories are conducted through centralized reviews and in-country reviews. In
accordance with the review guidelines, at least once in five years, the review of a Party’s GHG
inventory should be conducted through an in-country review. The review guidelines also envisage
an option of a desk review, but this option has rarely been used. The purpose of the review by
ERTs is to provide a thorough and comprehensive technical assessment of the implementation of the
Convention by Annex I Parties, and to ensure that the COP has sufficient information to carry out its
responsibilities to review the implementation of the Convention. The outcome from review is
reflected in review report, which is prepared under the collective responsibility of the ERT.
The draft report is provided to Party for review and comments before its publication and placing on
the UNFCCC web-page.
To ensure that the review process is comprehensive and rigorous, the secretariat has prepared
training courses for review of GHG inventories. It organizes
training of experts that conclude with a training seminar and examination. Only experts who
successfully pass the examination can participate in the reviews. There are no special
arrangements for training of experts for national communication reviews.
Overview of existing reporting and review requirements for Annex I Parties under the Kyoto
Protocol
Reporting for Annex I Parties under the Kyoto Protocol
As in the case of the Convention, the Kyoto Protocol imposes two regular, ongoing reporting
requirements for Annex I Parties: an annual report and a periodic national
communication. In both cases, Parties should submit the information elements as
required by the Convention and include additional information related to the implementation of the
Kyoto Protocol.
For the annual report, each Annex I Party is required to submit an national
GHG inventory, as required by the Convention, plus supplementary
information on its implementation of the Kyoto Protocol. This supplementary
information covers:
- The Party’s holdings of and transactions of Kyoto Protocol units;
- Emissions and removals from land use, land-use change and forestry (LULUCF) activities under
Article 3, paragraphs 3 and 4, and calculations of the amount to be added or subtracted from the
assigned amount;
- Changes in the Party’s national system;
- Changes in the Party’s national registry;
- Information on the Party’s implementation of its commitment to strive to minimize adverse
social, environmental and economic impacts of its climate change mitigation actions on developing
country Parties.
Each Annex I Party must also provide the following supplementary information on its implementation of
the Kyoto Protocol in its periodic national communications:
- A description of the national system;
- A description of the national registry;
- An explanation of how the Party’s use of the Kyoto mechanisms is supplementary to domestic
action;
- Information on the Party’s implementation of policies and measures under Article 2;
- A description of the Party’s legislative, enforcement and administrative arrangements;
- Technology transfer, capacity-building and other Article 10 activities;
- Financial assistance to non-Annex I Parties.
In addition to the annual report and national communication, Annex I Parties had to submit two
additional one-time reports, namely the demonstrable progress report in the context
of Article 3, paragraph 2, and the initial report. A separate report covering the
true-up period should be submitted for that period. Figure 1 illustrates the
four types of report that are required from Annex I Parties under the Kyoto Protocol.
Initial reports had to be submitted by Annex I Parties by 31 December 2006 or one
year after the entry into force of the Protocol for the Party, and contained the following
information:
- A complete GHG inventory time-series (from 1990 to the latest reported year, usually 2004);
- The Party’s calculation of its assigned amount;
- The Party’s calculation of its commitment period reserve (CPR);
- A description of the national registry;
- A description of the Party’s national system;
- Parameters related to the accounting of LULUCF activities under Article 3, paragraphs 3 and
4.
The true-up period report, due at the end of the commitment period, is intended to enable the
determination of the Party’s compliance with its Article 3, paragraph 1, commitment. This
report must contain final information on the Party’s holdings of and transactions of Kyoto
Protocol units, including all units retired for compliance purposes.
Figure 1. Kyoto Protocol reports
Review for Annex I Parties under the Kyoto Protocol
Each report submitted by an Annex I Party is subject to review by international ERTs. Similarly to
the review under the Convention, the purpose of the review under the Kyoto Protocol is to provide a
thorough technical assessment of the Party’s implementation of the Kyoto Protocol. and to
ensure that the CMP has sufficient information to carry out its responsibilities to review the
implementation of the Kyoto Protocol. The outcome from review is reflected in review report, which is
prepared under the collective responsibility of the ERT. The draft report is provided to Party for
review and comments before its publication and placing on the UNFCCC web-page.
However, the review process under the Kyoto Protocol is much more rigorous than the review under the
Convention. In particular, if the ERT identifies a problem with a Party’s implementation of a
particular commitment that is not resolved by the Party during the review, the ERT has the authority
to list the problem as a ‘question of implementation’ in its final
review report. An ERT can raise questions of implementation only when there is an unresolved problem
regarding implementation by a Party of a mandatory commitment. All review reports, including those
that do not list any questions of implementation, are forwarded to the Compliance Committee for its
consideration.
In contrast to the Convention, the ERTs have specific responsibilities with respect to the accounting
of emissions and assigned amounts. If an ERT is of the opinion that a Party’s inventory is
incomplete, or has been prepared in a manner which is not consistent with the IPCC methodologies,
IPCC Good Practice Guidance for LULUCF, and the IPCC Good Practice Guidance and Uncertainty
Management in National Greenhouse Gas Inventories, it may recommend the application of an
‘adjustment’.
During the annual review and in the true-up period, ERTs should assess reported information on
holdings of Kyoto Protocol units and on their transactions, and compare this information with that
maintained by the International Transaction Log (ITL). ERTs should also review any information on
problems identified by the ITL. If an ERT identifies a problem with a particular transaction, it may
recommend a ‘correction’ to the Kyoto units. A correction is analogous
to an inventory adjustment. However, whereas adjustments are applied to inventory estimates,
corrections are applied to a Party’s holdings of Kyoto Protocol units.
To ensure that the review process is comprehensive and rigorous, similarly to the approach taken
under the Convention, the secretariat has prepared training courses for review under
the Kyoto Protocol. In addition to the training under the Convention GHG inventories, these courses
include training on the national system, national registry, accounting for the assigned amount and
review of information reported under Article 3, paragraphs 3 and 4. It organizes training of experts
that is performed through on-line courses for those experts that have already taken the Convention
courses and successfully passed the examinations. Only experts who successfully pass the examination
can participate in the annual reviews.
Reporting and review for Annex I Parties under the Kyoto Protocol and linkages to
compliance
The fundamental difference between the reporting and review system under the
Convention and under the Kyoto Protocol is that the latter is linked to compliance.
Given the binding nature of emission targets, e.g. QELROs, any problem relating to
these targets, identified through the reporting and review system, should be considered by the
Enforcement Branch of the Compliance Committee. In addition, the Enforcement Branch considers any
issues related to eligibility to participate in the Kyoto Protocol mechanisms. Any
unresolved question of implementation that affects the eligibility requirements, for example a
question related to the national system and national registry, can lead to the suspension of
eligibility until this question has been resolved.
Any consideration and decision by the Enforcement Branch of the Compliance Committee is reported to
the CMP.
Figure 2 summarizes the main reporting and review requirements under the Convention and the
Kyoto Protocol. For the Kyoto Protocol it shows the linkages between the reporting and
review system and compliance.
Existing reporting and review methodologies, guidelines and requirements
A large number of guidelines underpin the operationalization of the reporting and review requirements
under the current climate change regime, which are primarily applicable to Annex I Parties. The
reporting and review guidelines are prepared by the subsidiary bodies to the Convention and adopted
by COP or CMP through decisions. For GHG emission inventories the guidelines usually include
reference to the guidelines prepared by the IPCC as a methodological basis for GHG inventory
preparation.
Most of these guidelines are technical in nature, extensive in scope and complex in content, which
reflects the complexity of the relevant issues and processes, such as the preparation of national GHG
inventories or reporting on national policies and measures, and financial assistance. The existing
guidelines and the related key methodological documents are listed below.
For national GHG inventories, the key documents are:
- Revised 1996 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories;
- IPCC Good Practice Guidance and Uncertainty Management in National Greenhouse Gas Inventories;
- IPCC Good Practice Guidance for Land Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry;
- Guidelines for the preparation of national communications by Parties included in Annex I to the
Convention, Part I: UNFCCC reporting guidelines on annual inventories;
- Guidelines for the technical review of greenhouse gas inventories from Parties included in Annex
I to the Convention.
For national communications, the key documents are:
- Guidelines for the preparation of national communications by Parties included in Annex I to the
Convention, Part II: UNFCCC reporting guidelines on national communications;
The elements of additional reporting that is required from Kyoto Protocol Annex I
Parties, including accounting information, are defined through the following documents and
decisions:1
- Modalities for the accounting of assigned amounts under Article 7, paragraph 4 of the Kyoto
Protocol (decision
13/CMP.1)
- Standard electronic format for reporting Kyoto Protocol units (decision 14/CMP.1)
- Guidelines for the preparation of the information required under Article 7 of the Kyoto Protocol
(decision
15/CMP.1)
- Land use, land-use change and forestry (decision 16/CMP.1)
- Guidelines for national systems under Article 5, paragraph 1, of the Kyoto Protocol (decision
19/CMP.1)
- Good practice guidance and adjustments under Article 5, paragraph 2, of the Kyoto Protocol
(decision
20/CMP.1)
- Issues relating to adjustments under Article 5, paragraph 2, of the Kyoto Protocol 21/CMP.1
- Guidelines for review under Article 8 of the Kyoto Protocol (decision 22/CMP.1)
- Terms of service for lead reviewers (decision 23/CMP.1).
Figure 2 Summary of the main reporting and review requirements under the Convention and the Kyoto
Protocol
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1 See also the Kyoto Protocol Reference Manual which presents in detail the
accounting rules under the Kyoto Protocol, available here.
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