Greenhouse gas inventories are a type of emission inventory that are developed for a variety of reasons. Scientists use inventories of natural and anthropogenic (human-caused) emissions as tools when developing atmospheric models. Policy makers use inventories to develop strategies and policies for emissions reductions and to track the progress of those policies. And, regulatory agencies and corporations rely on inventories to establish compliance records with allowable emission rates. Businesses, the public, and other interest groups use inventories to better understand the sources and trends in emissions.
Unlike some other air emission inventories, greenhouse gas inventories include not only emissions from source categories, but also removals by carbon sinks. These removals are typically referred to as carbon sequestration.
Greenhouse gas inventories, typically use Global warming potential (GWP) values to combine emissions of various greenhouse gases into a single weighted value of emissions.
Some of the key examples of greenhouse gas inventories include:
All Annex I countries are required to report annual emissions and sinks of greenhouse gases under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
National governments that are Parties to the UNFCCC and/or the Kyoto Protocol are required to submit annual inventories of all anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions from sources and removals from sinks.
The Kyoto Protocol includes additional requirements for national inventory systems, inventory reporting, and annual inventory review for determining compliance with Articles 5 and 8 of the Protocol.
Project developers under the Clean Development Mechanism of the Kyoto Protocol prepare inventories as part of their project baselines.
Corporation and other entities can prepare greenhouse gas inventories to track progress towards meeting an emission reduction goal.
Scientific efforts aimed at understanding detail of total net carbon exchange. Example: Project Vulcan - a comprehensive US inventory of fossil-fuel greenhouse gas emissions.
The ISO 14064 standards
The ISO 14064 standards (published in 2006 and early 2007) are the most recent additions to the ISO 14000 series of international standards for environmental management. The ISO 14064 standards provide governments, businesses, regions and other organisations with an integrated set of tools for programs aimed at measuring, quantifying and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. These standards allow organisations take part in emissions trading schemes using a globally recognised standard.
Annex I Greenhouse Gas Inventories
The objective of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is to stabilize greenhouse gas (GHG) concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent and reduce dangerous human-induced interference with the climate system. The ability of the international community to achieve this objective is dependent on an accurate knowledge of GHG emissions trends, and on our collective ability to alter these trends.
In accordance with Articles 4 and 12 of the Convention and the relevant decisions of the Conference of the Parties (COP), Annex I Parties to the Convention submit to the secretariat national greenhouse gas inventories of anthropogenic emissions by sources and removals by sinks of greenhouse gases not controlled by the Montreal Protocol. These inventories are subject to an annual technical review process. In addition, Annex I Parties provide inventory data in summary form in their national communications and biennial reports under the Convention.
