The impact of human activities on the global climate has been irrefutably recorded and documented by the scientific community. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), human activities result in emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) such as carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and halocarbons, which accumulate in the atmosphere, causing concentrations to increase with time. Significant increases in all of these gases have been recorded during the industrial era and these increases are attributable to human activities.
National and international efforts to reduce the human impact on the global climate rely on knowing the amount of emissions released and of the carbon absorbed as result of human intervention. GHG inventories provide information that is vital for the design of policies and measures to both reduce emissions of GHGs into the atmosphere and to enhance their removal in forests and other lands.
Compiling a GHG inventory can be described as the systematic approach to record and account for the contribution of human activities to global net GHG emissions. The quality of your inventory data relies on the use of appropriate methodologies, reliable statistical information, and representative factors to derive emissions and removals.
In this course you will learn the importance of, and how to establish, institutional arrangements for your GHG inventory, how to identify the most important emission-producing activities, and how to select appropriate estimation methodologies. You will also learn how to calculate the uncertainty of your estimates, how to ensure that your inventory is as complete as possible, and how to establish quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC) and verification procedures. In sum, upon completion of this course, you will know the best practices for developing high-quality emissions and removals data established by the international expert community.
“I became the most well-known climate expert who could negotiate and suggest new climate strategies thanks to the climate skills I gained from this programme. In addition, I was chosen to represent Lesotho as a party delegate at the COP27, where I was monitoring the proceedings related to loss and damage and its financial arrangements. I instruct additional Lesotho Party representatives on the UNFCCC Climate Negotiation System’s operation as well. I also gained a better understanding of my nation.
– Letsatsi Phinehas Lekhooa, Lesotho
“Taking the GHGMI Overview course has has been very helpful in my work as an inventory compiler. The course enhanced my theoretical and practical skills on GHG inventory. The training material is clear and concise. The course covers other material and tools besides the IPCC Guidelines, which is helpful for compiling inventories other than for UNFCCC purposes.”
– Dingane Sithole, Zimbabwe
“I enjoy learning GHG accounting. I have been involved in so much activism and sustainability work, but there has never been a way to measure if what we do is having a positive impact/helping to mitigate climate change. So GHG accounting is empowering for me, it has provided the first real opportunity for me to feel agency when it comes to climate action.”
– Maddie Hague, Canada
“Anyone who wants to have a comprehensive understanding of GHG inventory development will benefit tremendously from the course content and instructions from the facilitators at GHGMI. The discussion forums also help to explain any concepts that may not have been clear whilst studying alone. This is a worthy course to do to improve individual competence on inventory development.”
– Caroline Tagwireyi, Zimbabwe
The course was developed by the GHG Management Institute with the support of the USAID Low Emission Asian Development (LEAD) program.
