CONFERENCE OF THE PARTIES
Second session,
Geneva, 8-19 July 1996
Agenda item 6 (a) (ii)
COMMUNICATIONS FROM PARTIES NOT INCLUDED IN ANNEX I TO THE CONVENTION: GUIDELINES, FACILITATION AND PROCESS FOR CONSIDERATION
The Conference of the Parties,
Recalling Articles 12.1, 12.5 and 12.7 of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change,
Recalling also decision 8/CP. 1 on first communications from Parties not included in Annex I to the Convention and decision 4/CP. 1 on methodological issues,
Noting that, in accordance with Article 12.5 of the Convention, each Party not included in Annex I to the Convention shall make its initial communication within three years of the entry into force of the Convention for that Party, or of the availability of financial resources in accordance with Article 4.3, and that Parties that are least developed may make their initial communication at their discretion,
Recognizing that, in accordance with Article 4.7, the extent to which developing country Parties will effectively implement their commitments under the Convention will depend on the effective implementation by developed country Parties of their commitments under the Convention related to financial resources and transfer of technology, and will take fully into account that economic and social development and poverty eradication are the first and overriding priorities of the developing country Parties,
Having considered that from its first session, in accordance with Article 12.7, the Conference of the Parties shall arrange for the provision to developing country Parties of technical and financial support, on request, in compiling and communicating information under this Article, as well as in identifying the technical and financial needs associated with proposed projects and response measures under Article 4. Such support may be provided by other Parties, by competent international organizations and by the secretariat, as appropriate,
1. Requests the Convention secretariat:
(a) In accordance with Article 8.2(c), to facilitate assistance to Parties, particularly developing country Parties, in the preparation of their initial communications, through the organization of workshops at the regional level; to provide a forum for the exchange of experiences in the development of emission factors and activity data for the estimation of the inventory, as well as, on request, for other elements of information in the initial communication; and to provide a report to the Subsidiary Body for Implementation and the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice at each of their sessions; and
(b) To make available to the Subsidiary Body for Implementation, at each of its sessions, details of the financial support made available to Parties not included in Annex I to the Convention (non-Annex I Parties) from the interim operating entity of the financial mechanism for the preparation of their initial communications, including projects in this regard proposed by each Party, the funding decision and the date and amount of funds made available to the Party;
2. Decides
(a) That non-Annex I Parties should use the guidelines contained in the annex to the present decision when preparing their initial communications under the Convention;
(b) That the national and regional development priorities, objectives and circumstances of non-Annex I Parties should, in accordance with Article 4.1, and the provisions of Article 3 and Article 4.3, 4.4, 4.5, 4.7, 4.8, 4.9 and 4.10, be taken into account by the Conference of the Parties in considering matters related to their initial communications; and
(c) That non-Annex I Parties which wish to submit voluntarily additional information may use elements from the guidelines approved for Parties included in Annex I to the Convention when preparing their initial communications.
Annex
GUIDELINES FOR THE PREPARATION OF INITIAL COMMUNICATIONS BY PARTIES NOT INCLUDED IN ANNEX I TO THE CONVENTION
1. The guidelines for the preparation of initial communications by Parties not included in Annex I to the Convention (non-Annex I Parties) have five principal objectives, taking into account Article 4.7:
(a) To assist non-Annex I Parties in meeting their commitments under Article 12.1;
(b) To encourage the presentation of information in ways that are, to the extent possible, consistent, transparent and comparable as well as flexible, and to take into account specific national situations and requirements for support to improve the completeness and reliability of activity data, emission factors and estimations;
(c) To serve as policy guidance to the interim operating entity of the financial mechanism for the timely provision of financial support needed by the developing country Parties to meet the agreed full costs in complying with their obligations under Article 12.1, as referred to in decision 11/CP.2;
(d) To facilitate the process of preparation, compilation and consideration of the communications, including the preparation of compilation and synthesis documentation; and
(e) To ensure that the Conference of the Parties has sufficient information to carry out its responsibilities to assess the overall aggregated effects of the steps taken by the Parties in the light of the latest scientific assessments concerning climate change, and to assess the implementation of the Convention.
Scope
2. In accordance with Article 12.1, the communication should include:
(a) A national inventory of anthropogenic emissions by sources and removals by sinks of all greenhouse gases not controlled by the Montreal Protocol, to the extent its capacities permit, using comparable methodologies to be promoted and agreed upon by the Conference of the Parties;
(b) A general description of steps taken or envisaged by the Party to implement the Convention; and
(c) Any other information that the Party considers relevant to the achievement of the objective of the Convention and suitable for inclusion in its communication, including, if feasible, material relevant for calculations of global emission trends.
National circumstances
3. In presenting the information, non-Annex I Parties should specify their national and regional development priorities, objectives and circumstances on the basis of which they will address climate change and its adverse impacts. The description of these circumstances can cover a wide range of information. In addition to information which can be conveniently presented in a table (see table I below), Parties may present basic economic, geographic and climatic information, as well as other factors relevant to climate change of any nature, such as, for example, features of their economy which may affect their ability to deal with climate change.
4. Parties may provide a brief description of existing institutional arrangements which are relevant to the preparation of the inventory on a continuing basis, or a list of perceived deficiencies in this area.
5. Parties may also present information on their specific needs and concerns arising from the adverse effects of climate change and/or the impact of the implementation of response measures, specially on:
(a) Small island countries;
(b) Countries with low-lying coastal areas;
(c) Countries with arid and semi-arid areas, forested areas and areas liable to forest decay;
(d) Countries with areas prone to natural disasters;
(e) Countries with areas liable to drought and desertification;
(f) Countries with areas of high urban atmospheric pollution;
(g) Countries with areas with fragile ecosystems, including mountainous ecosystems;
(h) Countries whose economies are highly dependent on income generated from the production, processing and export, and/or on consumption of fossil fuels and associated energy-intensive products;
(i) Landlocked and transit countries; and
(j) Other special considerations foreseen in Article 4.9 (least developed countries) and Article 4.10 (fossil-fuel dependency), as appropriate.
6. In presenting the information, wherever applicable, Parties should present numerical indicators. For example, they might present data expressed in terms of affected percentage of land area, population, gross domestic product (GDP), etc.
Inventory
7. There is a clear need for adequate and additional financial resources, technical support and technology transfer to supplement the efforts towards capacity building for preparation of the national inventories.
8. The Guidelines for the National Greenhouse Gas Inventories and Technical Guidelines for Assessing Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation or the simplified default methodologies adopted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) should be used by non-Annex I Parties, as appropriate and to the extent possible, in the fulfilment of their commitments under the Convention.
9. Information should be provided on the following greenhouse gases: carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O), to the extent the Party's capacities permit. In addition, Parties are encouraged to include in their national inventories the fully-fluorinated compounds, as appropriate. Other greenhouse gases included in the IPCC methodology may be included at the discretion of the Parties. Emissions from bunker fuels should be reported separately from national emissions.
10. Parties should strive to present the best available data in a table (see table II below), to the extent their capacities permit, and try to identify the areas where the data may be further improved in future communications through national capacity building. Additional information, such as, for example, expression of the results in terms of socio-economic, geographical indicators deemed relevant by each country, may also be provided.
11. As recognized by the IPCC in its Second Assessment Report, there is still great uncertainty associated with net anthropogenic emissions resulting from activities other than combustion of fossil fuels. Such activities include, inter alia, methane emissions from agriculture and waste sectors, coal mining, biomass burning; carbon dioxide emissions from land use change and forestry; and nitrous oxide emissions from all sectors. Since the emissions resulting from these activities depend on local circumstances, and make up a large proportion of the national emissions of non-Annex I Parties, such Parties should make efforts to obtain field observation data to decrease the uncertainties associated with the inventory of these emissions, taking into account the further development of the IPCC methodology.
12. It is further recognized that such improvement of the quality of emission data, in addition to improving the transparency and comparability of national emissions inventories, also improves knowledge of the relationship between global emissions and resulting atmospheric concentration of greenhouse gases, and therefore aids significantly the task of estimating the emission limitations or reductions required to achieve a given concentration level of greenhouse gases, the ultimate objective of the Convention.
13. Non-Annex I Parties are thus encouraged to formulate cost-effective national, and where appropriate regional, programs aiming at the improvement of the quality of local emission factors and appropriate data gathering, and to submit requests for financial and technical assistance to the interim operating entity of the financial mechanism of the Convention in addition to their request for support for the preparation of their initial communications.
14. Non-Annex I Parties should provide the best available data in their inventory. To this end such data should be provided for the year 1994. Alternatively, non-Annex I Parties may provide such data for the year 1990.
General description of steps
15. In accordance with Article 12.1, each non-Annex I Parties should communicate a general description of steps taken or envisaged by the Party to implement the Convention. Taking into account the chapeau of Article 4.1, the initial communication should seek to include, as appropriate:
(a) programs related to sustainable development, research and systematic observation, education and public awareness, training, etc;
(b) Policy options for adequate monitoring systems and response strategies for climate change impacts on terrestrial and marine ecosystems;
(c) Policy frameworks for implementing adaptation measures and response strategies in the context of coastal zone management, disaster preparedness, agriculture, fisheries, and forestry, with a view to integrating climate change impact information, as appropriate, into national planning processes;
(d) In the context of undertaking national communications, building of national, regional and/or sub-regional capacity, as appropriate, to integrate climate change concerns in medium and long-term planning;
(e) programs containing measures the Party believes contribute to addressing climate change and its adverse impacts, including the abatement of increase in greenhouse gas emissions and enhancement of removals by sinks.
Other information
16. In accordance with Article 12.7 the Conference of the Parties should use the information in initial communications in arranging for the provision to developing country Parties of technical and financial support, on request, in compiling and communicating information under Article 12, as well as in identifying the technical and financial needs associated with proposed projects and response measures under Article 4.
17. Developing country Parties may, in accordance with Article 12.4, on a voluntary basis, propose projects for financing, including specific technologies, materials, equipment, techniques or practices that would be needed to implement such projects, along with, if possible, an estimate of all incremental costs, of the reductions of emissions and increments of removals of greenhouse gases, as well as an estimate of the consequent benefits.
18. Non-Annex I Parties may provide any other information relevant to the achievement of the objective of the Convention, including, if feasible, material relevant for calculation of global emission trends, constraints and obstacles, etc.
Financial and technological needs and constraints
19. Non-Annex I Parties may describe the financial and technological needs and constraints associated with the communication of information. In particular, and following the recommendations of the Conference of the Parties that have evolved through its subsidiary bodies, the description may cover needs and constraints associated with the further improvement of national communications, including reduction of the margin of uncertainty in emission and removal variables through appropriate institutional and capacity-building.
20. According to national priorities, non-Annex I Parties may include a description of financial and technological needs associated with activities and measures envisaged under the Convention.
21. Information on national technological needs related to measures to facilitate adequate adaptation to climate change may be included in the communication.
22. Information on relevant financial and technological needs relating to the assessment of national, regional and/or sub-regional vulnerability to climate change may be added in the communication. This may include, where appropriate, information related to data-gathering systems to measure climate change effects in particularly vulnerable countries or regions or to strengthen such systems; and identification of a near-term research and development agenda to understand sensitivity to climate change.
23. There is a need to take into full consideration the circumstances and vulnerabilities of developing country Parties, keeping in mind that the extent to which developing countries will effectively implement their commitments under Convention will depend on the effective implementation by developed countries of their commitments under the Convention related to financial resources and transfer of technology.
Timing of submission of initial communication
24. In accordance with Article 12.5, the timing for submission of the initial communication is within three years of entry into force of the Convention for that Party or of the availability of financial resources in accordance with Article 4.3.
Structure and executive summary
25. The information provided in accordance with these guidelines should be communicated by a Party to the Conference of the Parties in a single document. Any additional or supporting information may be supplied through other documents such as a technical annex.
26. The initial communication should include an executive summary that would present the key information and data from the full document. The executive summary will be translated and distributed widely. It would be useful to envisage an executive summary of no more than 10 pages.
Language
27. The communications may be submitted in one of the official languages of the United Nations. Non-Annex I Parties are also encouraged to submit, to the extent possible and where relevant, a translation of their communications into English.
Table I - National circumstances
| Criteria |
1994 |
| Population |
|
| Relevant areas (square kilometres) |
|
| GDP (1994 US$) |
|
| GDP per capita (1994 US$) |
|
| Estimated share of the informal sector in the economy in GDP (percentage) |
|
| Share of industry in GDP (percentage) |
|
| Share of services in GDP (percentage) |
|
| Share of agriculture in GDP (percentage) |
|
| Land area used for agricultural purposes (square kilometres) |
|
| Urban population as percentage of total population |
|
| Livestock population (disaggregate as appropriate) |
|
| Forest area (square kilometres, define as appropriate) |
|
| Population in absolute poverty |
|
| Life expectancy at birth (years) |
|
| Literacy rate |
|
Note: Parties may also report on the rate of change of the above indicators to the extent
possible; data in this table should be as disaggregated as possible and include
information on individual sectors.
Table II - Initial national greenhouse gas inventories of anthropogenic emissions by sources and removals by sinks of all greenhouse gases not controlled by the Montreal Protocol
Greenhouse Gas Source and Sink CategoriesCO2CH4N2O
Total (Net) National Emission (Gigagram per year)
| X |
X |
X |
1. All Energy
| X |
X |
X |
| Fuel Combustion |
|
|
|
| Energy and Transformation Industries |
X |
|
X |
| Industry |
X |
|
|
| Transport |
X |
|
|
| Commercial-Institutional |
X |
|
|
| Residential |
X |
|
|
| Other (please specify) |
X |
X |
|
| Biomass Burned for Energy |
|
X |
|
| Fugitive Fuel Emission |
|
|
|
| Oil and Natural Gas Systems |
|
X |
|
| Coal Mining |
|
X |
|
2. Industrial Processes
| X |
|
X |
3. Agriculture
| |
X |
X |
| Enteric Fermentation |
|
X |
|
| Rice Cultivation |
|
X |
|
| Savanna Burning |
|
X |
|
| Others (please specify) |
|
X |
X |
4. Land Use Change and Forestry
| X |
|
|
| Changes in Forest and other woody biomass stock |
X |
|
|
| Forest and Grassland Conversion |
X |
|
|
| Abandonment of Managed Lands |
X |
|
|
5. Other Sources as appropriate and to the extent possible (please specify)
| X |
X |
X |
Note 1: X - Data to be presented to the extent the Party’s capacities permit (Article 12.1(a)).
Note 2: Non-Annex I national communications will include the information in this table,
and a description of assumptions and methods used, and the values of emission coefficients,
where these differ from IPCC assumptions, methods and values.
Note 3: Efforts should be made to report the estimated range of uncertainty, where appropriate.
