Conclusions

At its 9th meeting, on 18 November, having considered a proposal by the Chairman, the SBI adopted the following conclusions:

(a) The SBI took note of the information contained in document FCCC/SBI/2000/INF.14 on the progress made with in-depth reviews of second national communications and requested the secretariat to prepare for the review of the third national communications due in November 2001;

(b) The SBI took note of the information provided in document FCCC/SBI/2000/14 on the implementation of decision 6/CP.51 on the technical review of greenhouse gas (GHG) inventories from Parties included in Annex I and welcomed the publication on the web site of the secretariat of the status reports on greenhouse gas inventories from Annex I Parties. It requested  the secretariat to continue its activities in this area and noted the importance of the experience gained during the trial period in the use of the guidelines for the technical review of greenhouse gas inventories related to timing, level of effort and practical lessons learned, for possible further elaboration of the future greenhouse gas inventory review process under the Kyoto Protocol. The SBI also expressed its appreciation to those Annex I Parties volunteering for the review of their greenhouse gas inventories in the trial period;

(c) The SBI took note of the documents prepared by the secretariat on national greenhouse gas inventory data from Annex I Parties (FCCC/SBI/2000/11 and Corr.1, FCCC/SBI/2000/INF.13). The SBI commended Annex I Parties for using the UNFCCC reporting guidelines on annual inventories, including the common reporting format, and noted with satisfaction the progress in the number of Annex I Parties reporting and in the timeliness of reporting. However, the SBI noted that some Annex I Parties have not fulfilled all aspects of the reporting requirements, specifically by either not providing a recent report, not reporting for all years, gases and sectors, or not fully completing the common reporting format. The SBI urged these Annex I Parties to make greater efforts to report in accordance with the UNFCCC reporting guidelines on annual inventories;

(d) The SBI noted that, as a result of incomplete and inconsistent reporting by some Annex I Parties, it was difficult to compare trends in emissions. However, the SBI noted that, based on the reported data, Annex I Parties collectively had reduced their greenhouse gas emissions by 6 per cent in 1998 compared with 1990 levels, emissions from Annex I Parties with economies in transition having decreased by 37 per cent, while emissions from several Annex II Parties had increased, resulting in an overall increase in emissions from Annex II Parties of 7 per cent since 1990. The SBI expressed concern over the increase in emissions of many Annex I Parties and reaffirmed the need for further action to reverse the trend.

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1 For the full texts of decisions adopted by the Conference of the Parties at its fifth session, see document FCCC/CP/1999/6/Add.1.