Key outcomes of COP 26 regarding national greenhouse gas inventories

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What is the enhanced transparency framework? 

The enhanced transparency framework (ETF) was established under the Paris Agreement in 2015 to enhance the transparency of Parties’ reporting on national greenhouse gas (GHG) inventories, mitigation actions and related support, and the subsequent review of that information with a view ultimately to enhancing the integrity of the implementation of the Paris Agreement. Following the Paris Agreement, Parties set a timeline of three years to agree on the implementation guidelines, referred to as the Paris rulebook. At COP 24 in 2018 in Katowice, the majority of the Paris rulebook was adopted, which included a set of modalities, procedures and guidelines (MPGs) in decision 18/CMA.1 for operationalizing the ETF. The MPGs set out guiding principles and provide details on the information to be reported under the ETF, the technical expert review, transitional arrangements and the facilitative multilateral consideration of progress. They are guided by the principle of building on and enhancing the existing transparency arrangements under the UNFCCC.

Under the ETF there is less difference between the reporting requirements for developed and developing countries, with both required to submit biennial transparency reports (BTRs), which will supersede the biennial reports and biennial update reports (BURs), with built-in flexibility to those developing countries that need it in light of their capacities. All Parties to the Paris Agreement are therefore required to submit their first BTR and national inventory document (NID), if submitted as a stand-alone report, in accordance with the MPGs by 31 December 2024 (with small island developing States and the least developed countries submitting at their discretion). ​​​​​​​

What provisions do the MPGs contain on national GHG inventories?

Under the ETF all Parties are to prepare their GHG inventories following the guidance in the MPGs. More specifically, chapter II of the MPGs contains provisions for the reporting of national GHG inventories relating to:

• Definitions
• National circumstances and institutional arrangements
• Methods
  • Methodologies, parameters and data
  • Key category analysis
  • Time-series consistency and recalculations
  • Uncertainty assessment
  • Assessment of completeness
  • Quality assurance (QA)/quality control (QC)
• Metrics
• Information to be reported
  • Methods and cross-cutting elements
  • Sectors and gases
  • Time series

According to the MPGs, all Parties shall use the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 2006 IPCC Guidelines (mandatory) and are encouraged to use any subsequent version or refinement thereof agreed upon by the CMA, as well as the Wetlands Supplement. Furthermore, Parties are required to use the 100-year time horizon global warming potential (GWP) values from the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report (AR5), or such values from a subsequent IPCC assessment report agreed upon by the CMA. ​​​​​​​

What are the main outcomes of COP 26 concerning national GHG inventories?

Although the majority of the Paris rulebook was adopted at COP 24, several issues remained unresolved. Parties therefore agreed to continue working on the following missing aspects for consideration and adoption at CMA 3:

• Common reporting tables for the electronic reporting of the information referred to in chapter II of the MPGs, taking into account the existing common tabular formats and common reporting formats
• Outlines of the BTR, NID and technical expert review report
• The training programme for technical experts participating in the technical expert review

At COP 26 in Glasgow in 2021, the parts of the Paris rulebook on transparency of climate action and support were decided upon. Parties reached an agreement, namely decision 5/CMA.3, which completed the operational guidance on reporting and review under the ETF.

The following sections highlight some of the key aspects of the agreement reached at COP 26 related to national GHG inventories.

1. Voluntary use of the 2019 Refinement and clarification on use of GWP values

The MPGs require all Parties to use the 2006 IPCC Guidelines for preparing their GHG inventories and encourage the use of any subsequent version or refinement thereof agreed upon by the CMA. In the light of this, paragraph 28 of decision 5/CMA.3 notes that Parties may voluntarily use the 2019 Refinement to the 2006 IPCC Guidelines for preparing their national GHG inventories.

Furthermore, paragraph 25 of decision 5/CMA.3 clarifies that the 100-year time-horizon GWP values referred to in the MPGs shall be those listed in table 8.A.1 of the AR5, excluding the value for fossil methane.

2. Common reporting tables for the electronic reporting of the national GHG inventory

The common reporting tables for the electronic reporting of the information referred to in chapter II of the MPGs were adopted by decision 5/CMA.3 as referred to in annex I to that decision.

In accordance with paragraph 8 of decision 5/CMA.3, reporting tools will be developed for the electronic reporting of the common reporting tables, with an initial test version of the tools expected by June 2023 and a final version of the tools to be completed by June 2024, subject to the timely availability of sufficient financial resources.

3. Outline of the NID

The outline for reporting the GHG inventory information in the NID for all Parties was agreed upon and can be found in annex V to decision 5/CMA.3:

• Executive summary
• Chapter 1: National circumstances, institutional arrangements and cross-cutting information
• Chapter 2: Trends in greenhouse gas emissions and removals
• Chapter 3: Energy (CRT sector 1)
• Chapter 4: Industrial processes and product use (CRT sector 2)
• Chapter 5: Agriculture (CRT sector 3)
• Chapter 6: Land use, land-use change and forestry (CRT sector 4)
• Chapter 7: Waste (CRT sector 5)
• Chapter 8: Other (CRT sector 6) (if applicable)
• Chapter 9: Indirect carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide emissions (related to non-mandatory provisions as per para. 52 of the MPGs)
• Chapter 10: Recalculations and improvements
• Annexes to the NID
• References

What implications do these COP 26 outcomes have for developing countries?

So far 78 of the 154 non-Annex I Parties have submitted a BUR to the UNFCCC, either containing a national GHG inventory or providing a stand-alone national inventory report (NIR), leaving a substantial number of countries that have not yet reported a national GHG inventory. For the non-Annex I Parties that have submitted a NIR (which will be mandatory under the ETF), most of the NIRs do not contain all the information presented in annex V to decision 5/CMA.3. In addition, most of the inventories presented in the BURs include as the latest mandatory inventory year T-4 (T being the year of BUR submission), whereas under the ETF the latest mandatory inventory year will be T-2 (flexibility is allowed in the light of national capacities for T-3 but should be justified).

The enhanced reporting requirements under the Paris Agreement and relevant outcomes of COP 26 therefore result in a substantial challenge for developing countries that have either not previously submitted a national GHG inventory or have submitted one in accordance with the BUR reporting requirements. Some of the key implications for developing countries related to estimating and reporting their national GHG inventories are highlighted below.