IPCC Good Practice Guidance IPCC Good Practice Guidance for Land Use, Land-Use Change for Land Use, Land-Use Change
and Forestryand Forestry
UNFCCC Workshop on the Preparation of National Communications from non-Annex I Parties
April 26-30, 2004, Manila
Leandro BuendiaProgramme Officer, IPCC-NGGIP-TSU
Decision 17/CP.8
ObjectivesPara 1b. To encourage the presentation of information in a consistent, transparent and comparable, as well as flexible, manner, taking into account specific national circumstances.
MethodologiesPara 11. Non-Annex 1 Parties are encouraged to apply the IPCC Good Practice Guidance and Uncertainty Management in National Greenhouse Gas Inventories, taking into account the need to improve transparency, consistency, comparability, completeness and accuracy in inventories.
Para 12. Non-Annex I Parties are also encouraged, to the extent possible, to undertake any key source analysis as indicated in the IPCC good practice guidance to assist in developing inventories that better reflect their national circumstances.
ReportingPara 24. Non-Annex I Parties are encouraged to provide information on the level of uncertainty associated with inventory data and their underlying assumptions, and to describe the methodologies used, if any, for estimating these uncertainties.
Contents
Background Information What is good practice guidance? Relationship to GL96 and GPG2000 Contents of the Report Policy Relevance Conclusion
Background Information GPG2000 did not cover the land-use change and
forestry (LUCF) activities described in Chapter 5 of the GL96:
to avoid the risk of inconsistency with SR-LULUCF
Kyoto Protocol sink negotiations weren’t concluded in 2000
Background Information August 2001: Expert Group Planning Mtg. to develop the
work programmeMarch 2002 – July 2003: Conducted 5 Authors/Experts
Meetings to draft and finalize the Report First government/expert review in December 2002 to
January 2003 Second governments/experts review in May to June 2003
November 2003: IPCC XXI adopted/accepted the ReportDecember 2003: COP9 welcomed the Report April 2004: published the GPG-LULUCF Report
What is good practice guidance?
GPG2000 defines inventories consistent with good practice as those which contain neither over- nor underestimates so far as can be judged, and in which uncertainties are reduced as far as is practicable given national circumstances.
When applied to LULUCF, this definition should ensure the bona fide estimates of:
emissions by sources and removal by sinks carbon stock changes
Good practice aims to satisfy the definition by providing guidance on:
Choice of estimation method within the context of the IPCC Guidelines
QA/QC procedures to provide cross-checks during inventory compilation
Data and information to be documented, archived and reported to facilitate review and assessment of inventory estimates
Quantification of uncertainties at the source or sink category level and for the inventory as a whole, so that resources available can be directed toward reducing uncertainties over time, and the improvement can be tracked
transparent documented consistent over time complete comparable assessed for uncertainties subject quality control and assurance efficient in the use of resources available to
inventory agencies uncertainties are reduced as better information
becomes available
Good practice guidance further supports the development of inventories that are:
Relationship to GL96 and GPG2000
GPG-LULUCF is consistent with GL96:
specific source or sink categories it addressed can be traced back to categories in GL96
it uses the same functional forms for the equations that are used in GL96, or their equivalent
it allows corrections of any errors or deficiencies that have been identified in GL96.
Relationship to GL96 and GPG2000
GPG-LULUCF, following conclusion from SBSTA15, used some flexibilities in handling of categories while ensuring consistency with Chapter 5 of GL96.
GPG-LULUCF has some interlinkages with GPG2000 in estimation of agricultural emissions (i.e. N2O from soils), and must maintain consistency with the advice already agreed upon.
Contents of the Report
PrefaceChapter 1 OverviewChapter 2 Basis for Consistent Representation of
Land AreasChapter 3 LUCF Sector Good Practice GuidanceChapter 4 Supplementary methods and good practice
guidance arising from the Kyoto ProtocolChapter 5 Cross-Cutting IssuesGlossaryBasic InformationAbbreviations and AcronymsList of Reviewers
Overview of the GPG-LULUCF
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
IntroductionBasis for Consistent Representation of Land Areas
LUCF Sector Good PracticeGuidance
Supplementary methods and good practice guidance arising from the KP
Cross-Cutting Issues
Chapter 1 Overview sets out the mandate for GPG for
LULUCF
defines and describes the history of IPCC good practice guidance and its relationship to the IPCC Guidelines
summarises the practical advice provided to inventory agencies
discusses policy relevance
Chapter 2 Basis for Consistent Representation of Land Areas
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Land-Use Categories
2.3 Representing Land Areas
Annexes and Appendices
Chapter 2:Annex 2A.1 Examples of Approaches in
Individual Countries
Annex 2A.2 Examples of International Land Cover Datasets
Chapter 2 Basis for Consistent Representation of Land Areas
provides advice on different approaches for representing land area depending on the data available
provides 3 approaches for representing land areas (not hierarchical)
six broad categories of land use that provide the basis for more detailed discussion in the chapters that follow
advice on the development of land-use databases and some examples on their usage to approaches
Approach 1 – Basic Land-Use data
Approach 2 – Survey of land use and land-use change
Approach 3 – Geographically explicit land use data
1.Forest land2.Cropland3.Grassland4.Wetlands5.Settlements6.Other land
Approach 1 – Basic Land-Use data
most common approach
uses area datasets likely to have been prepared for other purposes such as forestry or agricultural statistics
Approach 1 – Basic Land-Use data
Land-use Category
Area(Time 1)
Area(Time 2)
Land-use Change bet. T1 and T2
Forest land 18 19 +1
Cropland 31 29 -2
Grassland 84 82 -2
Wetlands 0 0 0
Settlements 5 8 +3
Other land 2 2 0
Total 140 140 0
Approach 2 – Survey of land use and land-use change
include more information on changes between categories
more data intensive than Approach 1 but can account for all land-use transitions
Approach 2 – Survey of land use and land-use change
Forest Land Cropland Grassland Wetlands Settlements OtherFinal Area
(2001)
Forest Land 321 4 325
Cropland 2 114 3 119
Grassland 2 3 205 210
Wetlands 15 15
Settlements 2 38 40
Other 2 2
Initial Area (2000) 327 117 212 15 38 2 711
Net Change -2 +2 -2 0 +2 0 0
Initial
Final
Approach 3 – Geographically explicit land use data
Requires spatially explicit data of land use and land-use change (location, boundaries)
Subdivide area into spatial units (e.g. grid cells) appropriate to the scale of land-use variation
Requires sampling sufficient for spatial interpolation
Approach 3 – Geographically explicit land use data
Grid cells can also be aggregated into polygons
2000 2001
F
Chapter 3: LUCF Sector Good Practice Guidance
3.1 Introduction3.2 Forest Land3.3 Cropland3.4 Grassland3.5 Wetlands3.6 Settlements3.7 Other land
Chapter 3: LUCF Sector Good Practice Guidance
organised using six land-use categories, broad
carbon pools and non-CO2 gases, and by tier
LU Categories
Forest land
Cropland
Grassland
Wetlands
Settlements
Other land
C Pools
Living biomass
Dead organic matter
Soils
Non-CO2
CH4
N2O
NOx
CO
Tiers
Tier 1
Tier 2
Tier 3
Carbon poolsCarbon pools
Living biomass
above-ground biomass
below-ground biomass
Dead organic matter
Dead wood
Litter
Soils Soil organic matter
Land-Use Categories and C-Pools Land-Use Categories and C-Pools (“X” denotes that methodologies are provided in the GPG-LULUCF)
Forest Land
Cropland Grassland Wetlands SettlementsOther Land
Living
Biomass(above- and
below-ground)
X X X X X X
Dead Organic Matter(Dead wood and Litter)
X
Soils (Soil Organic Matter)
X X X X X
Chapter 3: LUCF Sector Good Practice Guidance
provides advice on the estimation of emissions and removals of CO2 and non-CO2 greenhouse gases
decision trees guide the choice of method according
to national circumstances
Methodological Issues
- Choice of Method
- Choice of EF
- Choice of AD
Completeness
Developing a consistent time series
Reporting and Documentation
Inventory QA/QC
Repeat for each gas:- CO2 (carbon)- CH4
- N2O
Repeat for each land use category:- FF- GG- CC- WW- SS- OO
Repeat for each subcategory*:- Biomass- Dead organic matter- Soils
Do managed forests exist?
(Note 1)Report “Not Occurring”
Is FF a key category?
(Note 2)
Use tier level most appropriate for available
data
Ask for each sub-
category under FF (Note 3): Is this subcategory
significant? (Note 4)
Are country-specific data
available?
Are country-specific data
available?
Are advanced methods
and detailed data for FF available in your
country?
Develop or obtain representative data and
EFs
Use advanced methods and detailed country-specific data (Note 5)
(Tier 3)
Use country-specific data (Note 5)
(Tier 2)
Use default data (Note 5)
(Tier 1)
No
Yes
No
Yes
No No
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
Yes No
Chapter 3: LUCF Sector Good Practice Guidance
default values of emission factors/parameters and activity data
Section Biomass DOM Soils Total
3.2 Forest Land (Annex 3A.1)
16 2 2 20
3.3 Cropland 3 4 7
3.4 Grassland 4 4 8
Appendix 3a.1 (HWP)
4 4
Appendix 3a.2 (drainage/rewetting)
1 1
Appendix 3a.3(Wetlands)
3 3
Appendix 3a.4(Settlements)
1 1
Total Number of Tables 44
Chapter 3: LUCF Sector Good Practice Guidance
simple tables are provided to assist countries with the linkage to the IPCC Guidelines and good practices on the default methods in the IPCC Guidelines are clearly identified
Table 3.1.1 - mapping between GL96 categories and GPG-LULUCF categories ……
Forest landGPG-LULUCF GL96
Initial Time period Reporting Year
Forest land Forest land 5 A
Cropland Forest land 5 A, 5 C, 5 D
Grassland Forest land 5 A, 5 C, 5 D
Wetlands Forest land 5 A, 5 C, 5 D
Settlements Forest land 5 A, 5 C, 5 D
Other land Forest land 5 A, 5 C, 5 D
5A- Changes in Forest and Other Woody Biomass Stocks5C- Abandonment of Managed Lands5D- Emissions and Removals from Soils
CroplandGPG-LULUCF GL96
Initial Time period Reporting Year
Cropland Cropland 5 A, 5 D
Forest land Cropland 5 B, 5 D
Grassland Cropland 5 B, 5 D
Wetlands Cropland 5 D
Settlements Cropland 5 D
Other land Cropland 5 D
5A- Changes in Forest and Other Woody Biomass Stocks5B- Forest and Grassland Conversion5D- Emissions and Removals from Soils
GrasslandGPG-LULUCF GL96
Initial Time period Reporting Year
Grassland Grassland 5 A, 5 D
Forest land Grassland 5 B, 5 D
Cropland Grassland 5 C, 5 D
Wetlands Grassland 5 C, 5 D
Settlements Grassland 5 C, 5 D
Other land Grassland 5 C, 5 D
5A-Changes in Forest and Other Woody Biomass Stocks5B- Forest and Grassland Conversion5C- Abandonment of Managed Lands5D- Emissions and Removals from Soils
Chapter 3: LUCF Sector Good Practice Guidance
also provides appendices covering wetlands and settlements, for which the IPCC Guidelines provide only limited advice and harvested wood products (HWP), which remain under consideration by the
UNFCCC.
Annexes and AppendicesChapter 3:Annex 3A.1 Biomass Default Tables for Section 3.2
Forest LandAnnex 3A.2 Reporting Tables and WorksheetsAppendix 3a.1 Harvested wood products: Basis for
future methodological developmentAppendix 3a.2 Non-CO2 Emissions from drainage
and rewetting of forest soils: Basis for future methodological development
Appendix 3a.3 Wetlands remaining wetlands: Basis for future methodological development
Appendix 3a.4 Settlements: Basis for future methodological development
Chapter 4 Supplementary methods and good practice guidance arising from the Kyoto
Protocol
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Methods for Estimation, Measurement, Monitoring and Reporting of LULUCF Activities under Articles 3.3 and 3.4
4.3 LULUCF Projects
Chapter 4 Supplementary methods and good practice guidance arising from the Kyoto Protocol
Generally apply to Annex B Parties (emission cap) Provisions are fixed in the Kyoto Protocol and the Marrakesh
Accords of the UNFCCC Additional classification of land areas Parties need to
choose certain parameters (e.g. thresholds in the definition of forest)
apply additional methods report annually on lands subject to:
Article 3.3 Activities
• Afforestation
• Reforestation
• Deforestation
(elected) Article 3.4 Activities
• Forest management
• Revegetation
• Cropland management
• Grazing land management
Kyoto Protocol Issues (Chapter 4)
Wetland, Settlements, Other Lands
Unmanaged forest
Unmanaged grassland
Managed grassland Managed forest
Cropland/arable/tillage
Kyoto Protocol Issues (Chapter 4)
CM
GM
Wetland, Settlements, Other Lands
Unmanaged forest
Unmanaged grassland
Managed grassland Managed forest
Cropland/arable/tillage
RV## D##
D** ##
AR* ##
RV# ##
D** ## RV# ## FM
CM
GM
Kyoto Protocol Issues (Chapter 4)
GPG-LULUCF gives guidance on how to identify land areas that are subject to Article 3.3 and
Article 3.4 activities which pools are to be reported For which years C-stock changes and GHG emission are to
be reported
For each Article 3.3 and 3.4 activity GPG-LULUCF gives guidance on: Activity-specific issues relating to identifying land areas and
reporting requirements The choice of method for estimating carbon stock changes and
non-CO2 emissions
Projects (CDM & JI) (Section 4.3)
GPG-LULUCF is mostly about national inventories Section 4.3 is exceptional (and new compared to the 1996
IPCC Guidelines):
gives guidance on inventorying LULUCF projects (typically recommends the use of higher tiers)
gives guidance on defining project boundaries (for JI), measuring, monitoring and estimating changes in carbon stocks and non-CO2 GHGs
gives detailed guidance on sampling design and statistical methods
Projects (CDM & JI) (Section 4.3)
GPG-LULUCF does not address CDM-specific issues, such as baseline, non-permanence, additionality, leakage, uncertainties, and socio-economic and environmental impacts (these were negotiated at COP9 of the UNFCCC)
Annexes and AppendicesChapter 4:
Annex 4A.1 Tool for estimation of changes in soil carbon stocks associated with management changes in croplands and grazing lands based on IPCC default data
Annex 4A.2Examples of allometric equations for estimating aboveground biomass and belowground biomass of trees
Chapter 5 Cross-Cutting Issues
5.1 Introduction
5.2 Identifying and Quantifying Uncertainties
5.3 Sampling
5.4 Methodological Choice -Identification of Key Categories
5.5 Quality Assurance and Quality Control
5.6 Time Series Consistency and Recalculations
5.7 Verification
Chapter 5 Cross-Cutting Issues
provides advice on applying the key category concept in GPG2000 to cover sinks
provides advice on:quality assurance and quality controlreconstruction of missing data time series consistencycollecting and analysing data by samplingquantification and combination of uncertaintiesverification by means of comparison with
inventories in other countries, independently compiled datasets, modelling approaches and direct measurements on land and/or atmosphere.
PART 2 - KEY CATEGORIES ANALYSIS WITH LULUCF (GPG-LULUCF)
GPG2000 the concept was
named “key source categories” and dealt with the inventory excluding the LULUCF sector.
GPG-LULUCF the term "key
category" is used to better reflect that both sources and sinks are included.
GPG2000 vs. GPG-LULUCF
Both provide Quantitative and Qualitative approaches
Same decision tree to identify key categories
Same equations (format), spreadsheet, and threshold value
Due to inclusion of sinks, some parameters have to be modified to reflect absolute values
Quantitative Approach -Tier 1 Method Level Assessment
Equation 5.4.1Key Category Level Assessment =
│Source or Sink Category Estimate│ / Total Contribution
Lx,t *= Ex,t */ Et*
Where:
Lx,t * = level assessment for source or sink x in year t (The asterisk * indicates that contributions from all categories (including LULUCF categories) are entered as absolute values.
Ex,t *= │Ex,t│= absolute value of emission or removal estimate of source or sink category x in year t
Et* = │Ex,t│= total contribution, which is the sum of the absolute values of emissions and removals in year t. The asterisk (*) indicates that contributions from all categories (including LULUFC categories) enter as absolute values.
Trend Assessment (Tier 1) Equation 5.4.2
Source or Sink Category Trend Assessment = (Source or Sink Category Level Assessment) • | (Source or Sink
Category Trend – Total Trend) |
Tx,t* = Ex,t* / Et • | [( Ex,t – Ex,0 ) / Ex,t ] – [ ( Et – E0 ) / Et] |
Where: Tx,t* = trend assessment, which is the contribution of the source or sink category
trend to the overall inventory trend. The Trend Assessment is always recorded as an absolute value, i.e., a negative value is always recorded as the equivalent positive value. The asterisk (*) indicates that, in contrast to Equation 7.2, in Chapter 7 of the GPG2000, LULUCF sources and sinks can be evaluated using this equation.
Ex,t* = Ex,t absolute value of emission or removal estimate of source or sink category x in year t
Ex,t and Ex,0 = real values of estimates of source or sink category x in years t and 0, respectively
Et and E0 = and total inventory estimates in years t and 0, respectivelyEt and E0 differ from Et* and E0* in Equation 5.4.1 in that removals are not entered as absolute values.
Tier 2 Method – Level Assessment
Equation 5.4.4
Level Assessment, with Uncertainty =
Tier 1 Level Assessment ● Relative Source Uncertainty
LUx,t = Lx,t ● Ux,t
Note: The key categories are identified by accounting for those that add up to 90% of the total value of the total LUx,t (Rypdal & Flugsrud, 2001).
Qualitative Consideration
Mitigation techniques and technologies High expected growth of emissions or
removals High uncertainty Unexpectedly high or low emissions or
removals Large stocks Deforestation Completeness
Policy Relevance
Chapters 1, 2, 3 and 5 are relevant to all countries to estimate emissions/removals from LULUCF Sector, whether or not KP is ratified
First 2 sections of Chapter 4 provide supplementary information to that in Chapters 2, 3 and 5, which is relevant only to Annex I countries that have ratified the Kyoto Protocol.
Section 4.3 (LULUCF Projects) is relevant to all countries that will undertake projects under the Articles 6 or 12 of the Kyoto Protocol.
Policy Relevance
some issues remain under consideration for some emission/removal categories are put in the appendix:harvested wood products (the material provided is
in an appendix rather than part of the main text, since SBSTA is still considering this issue)
Settlements and wetlands are land-use categories for which limited methodological guidance was provided in the IPCC Guidelines, but a great deal of scientific work has been done since GL96.
This applies also to non-CO2 emissions from drainage and rewetting of forests soils.
Policy Relevance
Countries do not have to prepare estimates for categories contained in appendices, although they can do so if they desire.
The IPCC Guidelines do not explicitly include losses from natural disturbances in managed forests (omitting the effect of these disturbances would overestimate C uptakes). GPG therefore provides guidance on how to account for them.
For Kyoto Protocol reporting, Chapter 4 is intended to provide policy-neutral scientific operationalisation of the COP7 agreement in terms of annual reporting.
Steps in LULUCF inventory preparation
1. Use the 3 approaches (Chapter 2) to estimate land areas for each land-use category relevant to your country
2. Follow the good practice guidance (Chapter 3) to estimate the emissions and removals of GHGs for each land use, land-use change and pool relevant to your country. Perform key category analysis. If necessary collect additional data to improve data quality.
3. Estimate uncertainties, report emissions/removals, and implement Quality assurance/quality control procedures (Chapter 5).
4. (if required: prepare supplementary information for Kyoto Protocol reporting (follow Chapter 4))
Conclusions it is through good practice guidance and uncertainty
management that a sound basis can be provided to produce more reliable estimates of the magnitude of absolute and trend uncertainties in GHG inventories than has been achieved previously
whatever the level of complexity of the inventory, good practice provides improved understanding of how uncertainties may be managed to produce emissions estimates that are acceptable for the purposes of the UNFCCC (i.e. transparency, consistency, comparability, completeness and accuracy in inventories), and for the scientific work associated with GHG inventories.
Conclusions
The development of Good Practice Guidance for LULUCF is a step in the IPCC’s on-going programme of inventory development and will also support future revisions of the IPCC Guidelines themselves….