INTRODUCTION TO THEREPORTING INSTRUCTIONS

1Using the Reporting Instructions
If you are engaged in preparing a national inventory you should read theReporting Instructions. Even if you have already made an inventory, or havestarted to do so, and are simply reporting existing data to IPCC, you shouldstill read them. These instructions provide the primary means of ensuringthat all reports are consistent, transparent and comparable. The remaining
chapters in this book are as follows:
Chapter 1: Understanding the Common Reporting Framework contains a listingof the categories you should use when reporting emissions and removals.
Each of the categories is further broken down into sub-categories and given
a definition if necessary. It also contains a listing of the basic fuel categories,
some standard equivalents and unit definitions, and descriptions of theSectoral Report Tables and Summary Report Tables used for reporting aninventory in IPCC format.
Chapter 2: Reporting the National Inventory contains step-by-step instructions
for completing the Sectoral Report Tables and Summary Report Tables thatare used to bring together and make a record of the estimates which havebeen made in your own inventory.
Tables: You will use these tables to assemble data from your national
greenhouse gas inventory and present them in the IPCC reporting format.
Finally, having completed the Sectoral Report Tables and the Summary
Report Tables, you can assess the quality and completeness of the inventory
by completing the Overview Table which provides a synoptic view of theresults of the IPCC Greenhouse Gas Inventory.
Annex 1: Managing Uncertainties provides guidance on the theoreticalconsiderations involved in taking account of uncertainties in creating aninventory.

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Annex 2: IPCC and CORINAIR Source Categories looks at the ways in whichdata assembled for the CORINAIR inventory conducted by the European
Union (EU) member countries as well as by the United Nations Economic
Commission for Europe (UNECE) and IPCC data relate to each other.
Glossary: A glossary containing definitions of terms used in the Guidelines
can be found at the end of this book.

2

Underlying Principles
The Revised 1996 IPCC Guidelines allow for the use of a range of methods atdifferent levels of detail, including methods which are appropriate tonational conditions. Default methods and assumptions are provided for
calculating the major emissions and removals of greenhouse gases at theminimum acceptable level of detail. The IPCC default methods have beendeveloped with efficiency in mind. They build on data that are readily
available and should be easily applicable to all countries of the world. Moredetailed methods are also discussed in the Guidelines and national experts
are encouraged to use them wherever this is possible and likely to produce
more accurate national estimates. In some cases, national experts may
choose to use an entirely different methodology if they believe this betterreflects their national situation. Common reporting instructions are
therefore needed to accommodate inventories developed at different levelsof detail and (potentially) with different methods. The objective of theinstructions is to establish minimum requirements for reporting data whichallow for comparison and identification of differences in inventory
construction (transparency). For this reason the IPCC recommends that allusers of the Guidelines follow the Reporting Instructions explicitly when they
communicate their national inventories to the IPCC or other international
bodies.
Several main principles underlie the Revised 1996 IPCC Reporting Instructions:•Common Reporting Framework
The core of the reporting system is the establishment and use of astandard table format using common source/sink categories andcommon fuel categories. Common definitions of pollutants, units, andtime intervals are necessary. Ultimately, all countries should beworking toward complete greenhouse gas inventories within each, andacross all, greenhouse gases.
Emission inventory results should be transmitted using the Sectoraland Summary Report Tables . Use of these reporting conventions will
not only enhance the comparability of data, it will facilitate the speedwith which inventories can be processed, made available in summary
form, aggregated and reviewed internationally.

•Documentation Standards
Documentation standards are necessary to ensure transparency ofnational inventories and hence to allow the inventory to be reviewed.
By providing the necessary documentation, the comparability ofnational inventories can also be evaluated. Therefore, along with
Sectoral and Summary Report Tables, countries should provide theworksheets used to develop the national inventory, containing at least

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INTRODUCTION

all major assumptions activity data and emission factors. The IPCC also
recommends that, countries submit a description of the method used,
any definitions, as well as other relevant assumptions that cannot besummarised in table form. Enough data should be provided to allow athird party to reconstruct the inventory from national activity data andassumptions (the working definition of transparency).
To limit the volume of data to be provided, written documentation
should focus on describing fully any differences in method andassumptions from the IPCC default methods.
•Verification and Uncertainty Assessment
To improve the quality of inventory data and to help assess theuncertainty surrounding estimates, the Revised 1996 IPCC Reporting
Instructions recommend that inventories be verified through the use ofa set of simple checks for completeness and accuracy of submissions.
These checks can be performed centrally, although it is preferable forthe countries to do as much as possible themselves. Finally, an
uncertainty assessment should also be conducted as far as possible andsummarised for each major part of the inventory. Conceptual guidance
for the assessment of the uncertainty of emission estimates areprovided in Annex 1 Managing Uncertainties. Other approaches to
describing uncertainty associated with point estimates of emissions andremovals are also possible. Whether you use one of the approaches
provided by the IPCC or another approach, you should include an
uncertainty discussion in your inventory submission.

Each of these three principles is addressed in more detail in the following
chapters.

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Reporting Instructions

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3

Basic Information to Help Work with
the IPCC Guidelines
Prefixes and multiplication factors
The following multiplication factors are used throughout the Guidelines:
Multiplication
FactorAbbreviation

PrefixSymbol1 000 000 000 000 000

1015

peta

P

1 000 000 000 000

1012

tera

T

1 000 000 000

109

giga

G

1 000 000106

mega

M

1 000

103

kilo

k100

102

hecto

h10101

deca

da

0.1

10-1

deci

d0.01

10-2

centi

c0.001

10-3

millim0.000 001

10-6microµAbbreviations for chemical compounds
The following abbreviations are used in the Guidelines:
CH4Methane

N2 O

Nitrous Oxide

CO2Carbon Dioxide

COCarbon Monoxide

NOx

Nitrogen Oxides

NMVOC

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Non-Methane Volatile Organic Compound

NH3

Ammonia

CFCs

Chlorofluorocarbons

HFCs

Hydrofluorocarbons

PFCs

Perfluorocarbons

SO2Sulphur Dioxide

SF6Sulphur hexafluoride

CCl4Carbon tetrachloride

C2 F6

Hexafluoroethane

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Standard equivalents
1 tonne of oil equivalent (toe)1 x 1010 calories

103 toe41.868 TJ

1 short ton

0.9072 tonne

1 tonne1.1023 short tons

1 tonne1 megagram

1 kilotonne

1 gigagram

1 megatonne

1 teragram

1 kilogram

2.2046 lbs

1 hectare

104 m2

1 calorie IT

4.1868 Joules

1 atmosphere101.325 kPa

Units1 and abbreviations
The following abbreviations are used in the Guidelines:
cubic metrem3

hectarehagramgtonne

tjouleJ

degree Celsius°C

caloriecalyearyr

capitacapgallon

gal

dry matterdm

1 For decimal prefixes see previous page.

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