Newswise — Burlington, VT, USA, 19 May 2023 – The constrained precision and openness of domestic greenhouse gas emission inventories are impeding climate action, notably within the agriculture and land use domain.
Unreliable and insufficient disclosure from low-and-middle-income countries (LMICs), uncertainties in data reporting, and a dearth of comprehensive activity data and region-specific emission factors have been identified as hindrances to effective policy measures. Greenhouse gas inventories serve as the bedrock for assessing and monitoring advancements toward mitigation objectives, necessitating the provision of dependable, transparent, and harmonized data for informed decision-making.
An examination of agricultural greenhouse gas (GHG) data reported by countries to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), along with analysis from three separate global databases, presents a comprehensive assessment of the challenges associated with national GHG inventories. The focus of this review was to assess the quality and consistency of inventories, with the ultimate goal of enhancing data utilization and monitoring advancements toward climate change mitigation objectives.
The findings reveal a notable disparity in low-and-middle-income country (LMIC) reporting within the UNFCCC data, underscoring the necessity for standardized reporting methodologies, particularly in the context of addressing food security, climate change adaptation, and mitigation. To address this gap, policymakers and decision-makers are advised to incorporate independent emissions databases, distinct from the UNFCCC data, to cross-reference and validate emission-related information for informed decision-making.
According to lead author Kyle Dittmer, additional analyses indicate a widespread deficiency in the quality of reporting within the UNFCCC. While the UNFCCC-reported data is expected to be the most authoritative, it often suffers from incompleteness and, at times, illegibility. The study identified specific areas that require improvement to enhance consistency. Some of the factors that impacted the quality of countries' reports included errors and omissions in reporting numerical data, inconsistencies in global warming potentials, and challenges related to legibility.
It is imperative that developed nations fulfill their climate-finance commitments without further delay. Ambitious financial and technical assistance must be provided to low-and-middle-income countries (LMICs) to honor the commitments made by wealthy nations under the Paris Agreement. This support is crucial for enabling decision-makers to effectively monitor progress, establish mitigation priorities, and manage emissions in a comprehensive manner.
Dittmer K.M., Wollenberg E., Cohen M., Egler C. 2023. How good is the data for tracking countries' agricultural greenhouse gas emissions? Making use of multiple national greenhouse gas inventories. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems - Climate-Smart Food Systems, 7. doi: 10.3389/fsufs.2023.1156822
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