National inventory report

The National Inventory Report , engl. National Inventory Report ( NIR ), is that of the Parties to the Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) of the United Nations created an annual accounting of GHG - emissions . This reporting is crucial above all for the implementation of the Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol and for emissions trading .

Reporting structure

Requirements

Comprehensive requirements of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) on the form and content of the reports should enable a high degree of transparency and comparability in an international context. The report must be submitted in one of the official UN languages. It follows that the German-language versions are translated into English or created exclusively in English.

Parts

The reports consist of a text part , which describes the methods and summarizes the data, and a table part , which contains all available data in a standardized form.

construction

The reports are sorted by source category, i. H. according to areas in which greenhouse gas emissions occur and are binding for all countries in the so-called Common Reporting Format (CRF). These main sources are:

1. Energy (e.g. from fossil fuels )
2. Industrial processes (for example from the chemical industry)
3. Solvent and other product usage
4. Agriculture (for example from animal husbandry, rice cultivation)
5. Land use change and forestry
6. Waste and wastewater ( e.g. landfill gases or from wastewater treatment )
7. other sources.

These source categories are further subdivided. For example, emissions from public power plants are listed in source category 1A1a.i , emissions from steel production are listed under 2C1 .

Recorded emissions

The following greenhouse gases are recorded:

• Carbon dioxide (CO ₂ )
• Methane (CH ₄ )
• Laughing gas (N ₂ O)
• Partially halogenated fluorocarbons (HFC)
• Perfluorocarbons (PFC)
• Sulfur hexafluoride (SF ₆ )
• Nitrogen trifluoride (NF ₃ )

In addition, the following indirect greenhouse gases are recorded:

• Nitrogen oxides (NO _x )
• Carbon monoxide (CO)
• Volatile Organic Compounds (NMVOC)
• Sulfur dioxide (SO ₂ )

units

Since the greenhouse gases all have different effects, the emissions of all greenhouse gases are converted to gigagrams (Gg, 1 Gg = 1000  tons = 10 ⁶  kg) CO ₂ equivalent , whereby the effectiveness of the gases is based on 100 years.

Examples of National Inventory Reports

The German National Inventory Report is prepared by the German Federal Environment Agency (UBA), the Austrian report by the Austrian Federal Environment Agency (UBA), the Swiss NIR by the Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) and the Liechtenstein NIR by the Office for Environmental Protection (AUS). The current and all old National Inventory Reports can be viewed on the UNFCCC website and, as a rule, on the websites of the relevant national authorities (see literature).

Since the European Union has signed the Kyoto Protocol, it - although it is not a state - also has to submit regular inventory reports to the UNFCCC.

literature

• Germany: Emissions - Publications
• Liechtenstein: Liechtenstein's Greenhouse Gas Inventory 1990–2015
• Austria: Austria´s National Inventory Report 2013
• Switzerland: Swiss climate reporting under the UNFCCC
• European Union: Annual European Union greenhouse gas inventory 1990–2011 and inventory report 2013

Web links

• IPCC Task Force on Inventories :
  • 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories.
  • 2013 Supplement to the 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories: Wetlands.
  • 2019 Refinement to the 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories.
• UNFCCC: National Inventory Submissions 2013
• Federal Environment Agency: How does the reporting work?

Individual evidence

1. ^ Status of Ratification of the Kyoto Protocol. UNFCCC, accessed June 10, 2013 .