ETC/CME Report 12/2021: A Guide to Conducting an Emission Inventory Review

Since 2012, the European Environment Agency (EEA) has coordinated emission inventory reviews under the EU Effort Sharing Decision No 406/2009/EC (ESD). The ESD is the European Union’s (EU’s) internal mechanism that defined annual emission reduction targets for the period 2013-2020 for each Member State to contribute to the overall achievement of the EU’s 2020 climate target. The first ESD inventory review was organised in 2012 to determine the annual emission allocations (AEAs) assigned to Member States. Subsequent reviews, starting in 2015, provided the European Commission and Member States with verified greenhouse gas emission data for the assessment of yearly compliance with national ESD targets.

Over these 10 years, the EEA review Secretariat and the European Commission’s consultants have gained a broad understanding of the principles, good practices and challenges of conducting an emission inventory review. This experience is shared in this Guide. We hope it will contribute to a better understanding of what conducting a quality review may entail and facilitate the design of efficient review procedures. The Guide is aimed at the emission inventory review community - those organising and coordinating reviews, those performing reviews and those subject to reviews. Read more here...