Reporting and Verification of Emissions and Removals of Greenhouse Gases

For a compliance regime to be effective, it must be possible to verify that reductions actually have taken place according to the commitments undertaken. In the political negotiations of the Framework Convention on Climate Change (FCCC) there was a demand for measures to be both comprehensive and cost effective (UNFCCC, Art 3.3). These dual demands were made operational in the 1997 Kyoto Protocol by formulating emissions targets as the aggregate anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO₂) equivalent emissions of six specified greenhouse gases or groups of gases: CO₂, methane (CH₄), nitrous oxide (N₂O), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs) and sulphur hexafluoride (SF₆). ¹ However, the inclusion of several gases from a variety of sources, including managed ecosystems and even carbon sinks in forests, increases the uncertainty in emission estimates considerably. Thus there is a trade-off between a cost effective and comprehensive agreement, and the possibility to assess compliance with obligations.