[2018] Greenhouse Gas Inventory System Training Workshop
Description
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development was adopted by the UN Member States in September 2015 including 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and 169 associated targets. Among these 17 SDGs, Climate Action (SDG 13) aims to take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts through training activities, raising awareness and strengthening human and institutional capacities on climate change mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction and early warning.
To address the growing concerns on climate change and its impacts, 179 UN Member States ratified the Paris Agreement. Under the Agreement, all Member States agreed to work to limit the global temperature rise to well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, and given the grave risks, to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5 degrees Celsius. This can be done by leveraging investments and financial flows, advancement of technology and building enhanced capacities. According to the Agreement, each Party has to set up their own greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction target, officially communicated through its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), and monitor their national level GHG emissions. Each Party is required to report regularly on its national GHG emissions as well as its implementation efforts of GHG mitigation actions.
In terms of GHG emissions, 33.4 gigatons of GHG were released into the atmosphere in 2017. During the same period, the Asia Pacific region emitted 16.3 gigatons of GHG emissions which accounted for 48.8% of the global total. Meanwhile, Europe and Asia, combined, produced 6.4 gigatons of GHG emissions (19%), a figure that is less than half of the Asia Pacific’s GHG emissions. Under these circumstances, the Asia Pacific region plays a crucial role in reducing and managing GHG emissions. As the largest emitting region in the world, the participation of countries in the Asia Pacific region is key to achieving GHG reduction goals. An initial step is to reduce GHG emissions by establishing a transparent and reliable GHG inventory system to monitor and verify the current state of emissions. The GHG inventory system provides a basic approach in organizing monitoring, reporting, and verifying (MRV) procedures in each country.
In view of the above, the UN Office for Sustainable Development (UNOSD) will play an active role in capacity building of Asian countries in tackling climate change by holding the GHG Inventory System Training Workshop in Bangkok, Thailand. Thailand is one of the leading countries of ASEAN (The Association of South-East Asian Nations) when it comes to energy and environment policies along with its Low Carbon City (LCC) programme. The LCC programme contains data and information that could feed into the national GHG inventory and the measurement of mitigation actions. It will be a great opportunity to share their experience and best practices with participants of the workshop.
With this backdrop, the GHG Inventory System Training Workshop will be hosted by the United Nations Office for Sustainable Development in cooperation with the Korea Environment Corporation (K-ECO) and Thailand Greenhouse Gas Organization. The workshop is designed to provide necessary skillsets and knowledge to build GHG inventory systems and facilitate general understanding of climate change policies as well as the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs.
Programme
Formal Opening
Ms. Eunhae Jeong (Senior Development Management Expert, UNOSD)
Day 1 (September 10, 2018)
Session 1: Overview of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and NDCs Financing in Developing Nations
Presentation:
- "NDC Overview & Financing" - Mr. Dharma K.C (Executive Director, Climate Advocacy International in Nepal)
Session 2: Achieving SDGs by 2030: Importance of Climate Change Regime under the Paris Agreement
Presentation:
- "Achieving SDGs by 2030: Importance of Climate Change Regime under the Paris Agreement" - Dr. Suhyong Chung (Professor, the Division of International Studies, Korea University, Republic of Korea)
Session 3: Policies of Republic of Korea on Climate Change
Presentation:
- "Korea's Policies on Climate Change" - Dr. Minho Lee (Professor, the Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Kyung Hee University, Republic of Korea)
Session 4: Main Contents of 2006 IPCC (The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) Guideline-Vol. 1 (General Guidance Reporting)
Presentation:
- "The 2006 Guidelines Volume 1" - Mr. Dharma K.C (Executive Director, Climate Advocacy International in Nepal)
Session 5: Main Contents of 2006 IPCC Guideline-Vol. 2 (Energy)
Presentation:
- "Main Contents of 2006 IPCC Guideline-Vol. 2 (Energy)" - Mr. Mert Engin (Senior Consultant, Kagitsokagi, Turkey)
Day 2 (September 11, 2018)
Session 6: Main Contents of 2006 IPCC Guideline-Vol. 3 (Industrial Process and Product Use)
Dr. Heejeong Yim (Director, Erdeliebe Institute, Republic of Korea)
Session 7: Main Contents of 2006 IPCC Guideline-Vol. 4 (Agriculture, forestry and Other Land Use)
Dr. Patthra Penthamkeerati (Associate Professor, Environmental Technology and Management Faculty of Environment, Kasetsart University, Thailand)
Session 8: Main Contents of 2006 IPCC Guideline-Vol. 5(Waste)
Presentation:
- "IPCC Guideline Vol. 5 (Waste)" - Mr. Christoper Eric Godlove (Founding Principal, THINKCities Consulting, Belgium)
Session 9: Tools and Guidance for Assessing Impacts of Policies and Actions
Ms. Cynthia Elliot (Associate Researcher, World Resources Institute, USA)
Session 10: MRV (Measuring, Reporting and Verification) & Session 11: Practical Exercise
Presentation:
- "MRV (Measuring, Reporting and Verification) & Practical Exercise - Calculating GHG Emissions" - Mr. Yungyul Choi (3rd Party Verifier, Korean Foundation for Quality, Republic of Korea)
Session 11: Group Discussion
Day 3 (September 12, 2018)
Session 12: Setting the National Cap in the Republic of Korea (NDC and GHG Reduction Roadmap)
Presentation"
- "Setting the National Cap (NDC and GHG Reduction Roadmap) : The Case of Korea" - Mr. Jongchul Bang (Environment Researcher, GHG Inventory & Research Center of Korea, Republic of Korea)
Session 13: Emissions Trading and the Linkage among Countries
Presentation:
- "Status and Overview of International Carbon Markets and Their Potential Linking" - Mr. Quoqiang Qian (Deputy General Manager, SinoCarbon Innovation & Investment, China)
Day 4 (September 13, 2018)
Session 14: Obtaining Financial Support for GHG Mitigation Projects from the Green Climate Fund
Presentation:
- "Obtaining Financial Support for GHG Mitigation Projects from the Green Climate Fund" - Mr. Andrei Chicherin (Senior Project Finance Specialist, Green Climate Fund)
Formal Closing
Closing remarks:
Mr. Chessada Sakulku (Director of GHG Information Centre of Thailand Greenhouse Gas Management Organization, Thailand)
Documentation