CGE Training Materials
National Greenhouse Gas Inventories
Land Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry
(LULUCF) Sector
Version 2, April 2012
Consultative Group of Experts (CGE)
Training Materials for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories
Target Audience and Objective of the Training Materials
•
These training materials are suitable for people with beginner to intermediate level
knowledge of national greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory development.
•
After having read this Presentation, in combination with the related documentation, the reader
should:
a) Have an overview of how emissions inventories are developed for the land use, land-use
change and forestry sector;
b) Have a general understanding of the methods available, as well as of the main
challenges of GHG inventory development in that particular area;
c)
Be able to determine which methods suits their country’s situation best;
d) Know where to find more detailed information on the topic discussed.
•
These training materials have been developed primarily on the basis of methodologies
developed by the IPCC; hence the reader is always encouraged to refer to the original
documents to obtain further detailed information on a particular issue.
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Acronyms
•
AD
Activity Data
•
AGR
Annual Growth Rate
•
EF
Emission Factor
•
EFDB
IPCC Emission Factor Database
•
GPG
Good Practice Guidance
•
LUCF
Land-Use Change and Forestry
•
LULUCF
Land Use, land-Use Change and Forestry
•
RF
Removal Factor
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Training Materials for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories
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Outline of Course –
Land Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF)

Introduction (slide 5)

Definitions (slide 6)

Revised 1996 IPCC Guidelines (slide 10)

IPCC good practice guidance for LULUCF (GPG 2003) (slide 36)
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Introduction
• This presentation aims to assist non-Annex I (NAI) Party experts in preparing
GHG inventories in the LULUCF sector using the Revised 1996 IPCC Guidelines
and the IPCC good practice guidance for LULUCF (GPG 2003), particularly in the
context of UNFCCC decision 17/CP.8, focusing on:
a) The need to shift to GPG 2003 and higher tiers/methods to reduce uncertainty
b) Overview of the tools and methods
c) Review of activity data (AD) and emission factors (EF) and options to reduce
uncertainty
d) Use of UNFCCC inventory software and IPCC emission factor database
(EFDB).
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Training Materials for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories
5
Definition of Key Terms
• LUCF (Land-Use Change and Forestry) – Land use is the type of activity
being carried out on a unit of land, such as forest land, cropland and
grassland. The Revised 1996 IPCC Guidelines refer to sources and sinks
associated with GHG emissions/removals from human activities, which:
a) Change the way land is used (e.g., clearing of forest for agriculture,
conversion of grassland to forest)
b) Affect the amount of biomass in existing biomass stocks (e.g., forest,
village trees, savanna) and soil carbon stocks.
• LULUCF (Land Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry) – This includes GHG
emissions/removals resulting from managed land (involving no change in
use, such as forest remaining forest land) and land-use changes (involving
changes in land-use, such as grassland converted to forest land or forest land
converted to cropland).
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Definitions (cont.)
• Source – Any process or activity that releases a GHG (such as CO2 and CH4) into the
atmosphere. A carbon pool can be a source of carbon to the atmosphere if less carbon is
flowing into it than is flowing out of it.
• Sink – Any process, activity or mechanism that removes a GHG from the atmosphere. A
given pool can be a sink for atmospheric carbon if during a given time interval more carbon
is flowing into it than is flowing out of it.
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Definitions (cont.)
• Activity data – Data on the magnitude of human activity, resulting in emissions/removals
taking place during a given period of time (e.g., data on land area, management systems,
lime and fertilizer use).
• Emission factor – A coefficient that relates the activity data to the amount of chemical
compound, which is the source of later emissions. Emission/removal factors are often
based on a sample of measurement data, averaged to develop a representative rate of
emission or removal for a given activity level under a given set of operating conditions.
• Removal factor – Rate at which carbon is taken up from the atmosphere by a terrestrial
system and sequestered in biomass and soil.
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Contribution and Role of LUCF Sector to NAI GHG Emissions: 3 examples
• Argentina, Indonesia and Zimbabwe for 1994
• LUCF sector has a significant impact on national net CO2 equivalent emissions in most
developing countries, being sink or source
• LUCF sector is a net sink for Argentina and Zimbabwe
• Net source for Indonesia, which experienced forest land conversion of over one Mha
• Inclusion of LUCF sector in the inventory had the following impact on GHG emissions:
a) Argentina: Emissions of 119 Tg CO2 when LUCF excluded, but 84 TgCO2 when
LUCF included
b) Indonesia: Emissions of 189 Tg CO2 when LUCF excluded, but 344 Tg CO2 when
LUCF included.
c) Zimbabwe: Source of 17 Tg CO2 when LUCF excluded, but a net sink of 45 TgCO2
when LUCF included.
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Revised 1996 IPCC Guidelines: Basic assumptions
• The flux of CO2 to/from atmosphere is assumed to be equal to changes in carbon
stocks in existing biomass and soils
• Changes in carbon stocks can be estimated by establishing rates of change in land
use and practices that bring about change in land use
• Estimating carbon stocks in land-use categories:
• That are not subjected to change
• That are changed.
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Four Default Categories in Revised 1996 IPCC Guidelines
5A. Changes in forest and other woody biomass stocks due to:
a) Commercial management
b) Harvest of industrial roundwood (logs) and fuelwood
c) Establishment and operation of forest plantations
d) Planting of trees in urban, village and non-forest locations.
5B. Forest and grassland conversion:
a) The conversion of forests and grassland to pasture, cropland etc, can
significantly change carbon stocks in vegetation and soil.
5C. Abandonment of cropland, pasture, plantation forests, or other managed
lands
5D. CO2 emissions and removals from soils:
a) Cultivation of mineral soils
b) Cultivation of organic soils
c) Liming of agricultural soils.
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Reporting of GHG Inventory in the LUCF Sector – Revised 1996 IPCC Guidelines
LUCF categories
CO2
emissions
CO2
removal/uptake
CH4 N2O CO NOx
5A. Changes in forest
and other woody biomass
stocks
5B. Forest and grassland
conversion
5C. Abandonment of
croplands,
pastures,
plantation forests, or
other managed lands
5D. CO2 emissions and
removals from soils
5E. Others
TOTAL
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Basic Steps in Preparing Inventory Using Revised 1996 IPCC Guidelines
• Step 0: The Revised 1996 IPCC Guidelines do not provide a key category analysis
approach. Inventory experts are encouraged to conduct it using GPG 2003.
• Step 1: Select the land-use categories (forest/plantations), vegetation types
subjected to conversion (forest and grassland), changes in land-use/management
systems (for soil carbon inventory).
• Step 2: Assemble the required AD, depending on tier selected, from local,
provincial, national and global databases, including EFDB.
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Basic Steps in Preparing Inventory Using Revised 1996 IPCC Guidelines (cont.)
• Step
3:
Collect
EF/RF,
depending
on
tier
level
selected,
from
local/regional/national/global databases, including EFDB.
• Step 4: Estimate GHG emissions and removals.
• Step 5: Estimate uncertainty involved.
• Step 6: Report GHG emissions/removals.
• Step 7: Report all procedures, equations and sources of data used for GHG
inventory estimation.
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Category 5A. Steps
• Step 1: Estimate total biomass carbon uptake by using area under different
plantations/forests (AD) and annual biomass growth rate (removal factor).
• Step 2: Estimate total biomass consumption by adding commercial harvest,
fuelwood consumption and other wood use.
• Step 3: Estimate the net carbon uptake or release by deducting the consumption
or loss from total biomass carbon uptake.
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Sources of AD
Activity data
Area of
plantation/forests
Harvest categories
(e.g., sawn wood,
industrial wood and
fuelwood)
Commercial
harvest (e.g.
industrial
roundwood)
Traditional
fuelwood use
Other wood use
Tier 1
- National sources such as
the Ministry of Environment
/ Forests/ Natural
Resources
- International data sources
such as FAO and TBFRA
-
Tier 2
- National sources such as
the Ministry of Environment
/Forests/Natural Resources
Tier 3
- National remote
sensing/satellite
assessment sources
- National sources
- FAO Yearbook of Forest
Products
Website: www.fao.org
- National sources
- FAO Yearbook of Forest
Products
- National sources
according to
forest/plantation
categories
- Country-specific data
according to
forest/plantation
categories
- National production
/consumption data
- Country-specific data
- National production
/consumption data
- FAO Yearbook of Forest
Products
Website: www.fao.org

National data
sources
 - FAO Yearbook of
Forest Products
Same as for commercial harvest/fuelwood use
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Emission/Removal Factors
• The key emission/removal factors include:
•
annual biomass growth rate, carbon fraction of dry matter, biomass expansion
ratio.
• Biomass Expansion Ratios (BERs) as given in the Revised 1996 IPCC Guidelines
are required to convert commercial roundwood harvested biomass (in m3) to total
above-ground biomass (in tonnes).
• Similarly, AGB/BGB ratio is required to estimate BGB using data on AGB and the
conversion ratio, according to GPG 2003.
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Sources of EF/RF
EF/RF
Annual biomass
growth rate
Tier 1
- Default values from
IPCC 1996GL and
GPG2003
- EFDB
Carbon fraction of
dry matter
Biomass
expansion ratio
(BER)
- Default data of 0.5
- Default values of 1.8
Tier 2
- Default data;
1996GL, GPG2003
- Country-specific
data
- EFDB
- Default data of 0.5
- Default data of 1.8
- National data for
key forest types
Tier 3
- National forest inventory or
monitoring system
- Allometric equations
- Species-specific data from
laboratory estimations
- Species-specific data from
measurements
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Assessment of Emission Factors and Strategy for Improvement
• To reduce uncertainty, it is desirable to use nationally derived AD and EF at as
disaggregated level as possible.
• Example: Annual Growth Rate (AGR) of biomass is mean annual above-ground
biomass growth rate expressed in t/ha/year. AGR varies with:
•
Forest or vegetation or plantation types (e.g. evergreen/deciduous/eucalyptus)
•
Climatic region based on latitude and rainfall (e.g. humid, sub-humid, semi-arid,
arid)
•
Age of the forest or plantation stand
•
Management system or silvicultural practice (e.g. thinning, fertilizer application,
fire management).
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Short-term Strategy for Improving AGR Values
• Disaggregate the land use, forest or vegetation types occurring in the country at as
fine a level as possible along the following lines or using other more nationally
relevant stratification:
•
Different forest types/vegetation types/plantations
•
Latitude: tropical, temperate, boreal
•
Rainfall zone (mm/yr): humid (>2000), semiarid (500–1000), arid (<500)
•
Age of the stand: 0–5 yr, 5 to 10 yr, 10–20 yr, > 20yr
•
Management system: naturally regenerated or planted
•
Other category.
• Allocate area of different forest types/plantations in the country, using forest map,
rainfall zone map, soil map and other statistical information.
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Illustration of UNFCCC Inventory Software – Revised 1996 IPCC Guidelines
Total carbon uptake increment (in kt C) = Area of forest/plantation category (in kha) *
Annual growth rate (in t dm/ha) * Carbon fraction of dry matter
From UNFCCC Software Sheet 5-1s1
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Category 5B. Forest and Grassland Conversion
Worksheet 5.2
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Category 5B. Steps
• Step 1: Estimate annual loss of biomass due to conversion.
• Step 2: Estimate quantity of carbon released from fraction of biomass burned onsite.
• Step 3: Estimate quantity of carbon released from fraction of biomass burned offsite.
• Step 4: Estimate carbon released from decay of above-ground biomass.
• Step 5: Estimate total annual CO2 release from burning and decay of biomass,
resulting from forest and grassland conversion.
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Issues in Estimating CO2 Emissions from Biomass – Forest and Grassland
Conversion
• Lack of compatibility between Revised 1996 IPCC Guidelines vegetation types and
national circumstances or classification
• Absence of forest and grassland conversion data for the inventory year as well as
the 10-year average
• Lack of methods for savanna/grassland burning
• Lack of disaggregated activity data on biomass stock before and after conversion
• Lack of clarity on fraction of biomass burnt on-site, off-site and left to decay
• Biomass burned for energy is reported in the energy sector.
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Sources of AD
AD factors
Area converted
annually
Average area
converted (10-year
average)
Tier 1
- FAO: Tropical
Forest Assessment
Report
Tier 2
- National data on area
conversion at
disaggregated level
- If no national data,
use data from FAO:
Tropical Forest
Assessment Report
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Tier 3
- Ministry of Land
Resources
- Satellite or
remote sensing
data
25
Sources of EF
EF
Aboveground
biomass before
and after
conversion
Tier 1
Tier 2
- IPCC
1996GL
- GPG2003
- EFDB
- National/regional
scientific literature
- EFDB
- GPG2003
Fraction of
biomass oxidised
- Default
value of 0.9
- Default value of
0.9
Carbon fraction of
biomass
Fraction of
biomass left to
decay
- Default
value of 0.5
- Default
value of 10
t/ha
- Default value of
0.5
- Default value of
10 t/ha
Fraction of
biomass burnt onsite and off-site
Tier 3
- Data from national forest
inventory at finer scales
according to
forest/grassland categories
- Ecological / silvicultural
studies in different
categories
- National forest inventory
data
- Biomass consumption
data according to
forest/grassland categories
- National forest
inventories
- Field measurements
- Published data at species
level
- National forest inventory
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Category 5C. Abandonment of Managed Lands
Worksheet 5-4
MO DULE
ABANDO NMENT O F MANAGED LANDS
WO RKSHEET
5-4
SHEET
1 O F 3 CARBO N UPTAKE BY ABO VEGRO UND REGRO WTH - FIRST 20 YEARS
CO UNTRY
0
YEAR
0
Vegetation types
Tropical
LAND-USE CHANGE AND FO RESTRY
SUBMO DULE
A
20-Year Total
Area
Abandoned
and
Regrowing
(kha)
B
Annual Rate of
Aboveground
Biomass
Growth
(t dm/ha)
S TEP 1
C
Annual
Aboveground
Biomass
Growth
D
Carbon
Fraction of
Aboveground
Biomass
(kt dm)
E
Annual
Carbon
Uptake in
Aboveground
Biomass
(kt C)
C = (A x B)
E = (C x D)
Wet/Very M oist
0.00
0.00
M oist, short dry season
0.00
0.00
M oist, long dry season
0.00
0.00
Dry
0.00
0.00
M ontane M oist
0.00
0.00
M ontane Dry
0.00
0.00
Tropical Savanna/Grasslands
0.00
0.00
Temperate Coniferous
0.00
0.00
Broadleaf
0.00
0.00
Grasslands
Boreal
M ixed
Broadleaf/Coniferous
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
Coniferous
0.00
0.00
Forest tundra
0.00
0.00
Grasslands/Tundra
0.00
0.00
Other
0.00
0.00
S ubtotal
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0.00
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Category 5C. Steps Estimation Procedure
• Step 1: Estimate the annual carbon uptake in above-ground biomass, using the
area abandoned (during the previous 20 years) and annual biomass growth.
• Step 2: Estimate the total carbon uptake from area abandoned (during 20–100
years) and annual growth rate.
• Step 3: Estimate the total carbon uptake from abandoned land (Step 1 + Step 2).
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Issues in Estimating CO2 Uptake from Abandonment of Managed Lands
• Lack of compatibility between vegetation types given in the Revised 1996 IPCC
Guidelines and national classification for abandoned land
• Lack of methods to identify managed land abandoned and regenerating:
•
according to different vegetation types
•
for the past 20 years and 20–100 years
• Absence of annual data for aboveground biomass growth for abandoned land:
•
according to different vegetation types
•
for the past 20 years and 20–100 years.
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Category 5D. CO2 Emissions and Removals from Soils
Worksheet 5-5
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Category 5D. Steps
•
Step 1: Changes in soil carbon for mineral soils.
•
Step 2: Carbon emissions from intensively managed organic soils.
•
Step 3: Carbon emissions from liming of agricultural soils.
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Methodological and Data Related Issues on Soil Carbon
• Absence of linkage between biomass carbon and soil carbon for different land
categories or vegetation types
• Ambiguity in classification of land-use/management systems, and soil types
• Absence of activity data on land area under different conditions:
•
land-use/management systems
•
soil type
•
for periods t (inventory year), and t–20
•
intensively managed organic soils
• Absence of emission factors such as soil carbon in mineral soils and annual loss rate
of carbon in managed organic soils.
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Sources of AD
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Sources of Emission/Removal Factors
Activity data and
emissions/removal factor
Soil carbon in different land use
/ management systems and soil
types
Tier 1
Tier 2
Tier 3
- FAO soil survey database
at aggregated land use /
management system level
- IPCC 1996GL
- National soil
survey sources for
different land use
systems
Annual rate of loss of carbon
from managed organic soils
- Global database
- IPCC 1996GL
- National sources
- IPCC 1996GL
Carbon conversion factor from
lime to carbon
Base factor
Tillage factor
Input factor
- IPCC 1996GL
- IPCC 1996GL
- National forest
inventory studies
- Experimental studies
in different land use
systems
- National forest
inventory in organic
soils
- Field studies on
organic soil carbon
- IPCC 1996GL
- IPCC 1996GL
- EFDB
- IPCC 1996GL
- EFDB
- IPCC 1996GL
- EFDB
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Summary of Methodological Issues/Problems in GHG Inventory Using the
Revised 1996 IPCC Guidelines
• Compatibility of Revised 1996 IPCC Guidelines land categories to national
classification
• High uncertainty of inventory, AD and EF
• Lack of disaggregated data, particularly on vegetation types
• Lack of clarity for reporting estimates of emissions/removals in managed natural
forest
• Lack of consistency in estimating/reporting total biomass or only above-ground
biomass
• Lack of methods for below-ground biomass and for incorporating non-forest areas,
such as coffee, tea, coconut, cashew nut
• Difficulty in differentiating managed (anthropogenically impacted) and natural
forests
• Ambiguity in terminology, e.g. forest, afforestation, reforestation, managed forest
• Complexity of the methodology.
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GPG 2003 LULUCF
Land-Use Categories and Methods
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Mapping/Linkage Between the Revised 1996 IPCC Guidelines and
GPG2003
• GPG 2003 is based on a land-use category approach, and provides a procedure to
link inventory estimates of GPG 2003 to the Revised 1996 IPCC Guidelines, based
on Categories 5A to 5D.
• However, the inventory estimates obtained using the Revised 1996 IPCC Guidelines
could be different from the estimates obtained using GPG 2003 due to the
following reasons:
•
Inclusion of additional land categories, e.g. agro-forestry, coconut, coffee, tea
•
Inclusion of additional carbon pools; belowground biomass, dead organic matter,
etc.
•
Estimation of biomass increment and losses in each land category, sub-category
•
Linking of biomass and soil carbon for each land category
•
Use of improved default values.
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Reporting of GHG Inventory in the LULUCF Sector – GPG2003
Greenhouse gas source and sink
categories
5. Total Land-Use Categories
5.A. Forest Land
5.A.1. Forest Land remaining Forest Land
5.A.2. Land converted to Forest Land
5.B. Cropland
5.B.1. Cropland remaining Cropland
5.B.2. Land converted to Cropland
5.C. Grassland
5.C.1. Grassland remaining Grassland
5.C.2. Land converted to Grassland
5.D. Wetlands (2)
5.D.1. Wetlands remaining Wetlands
5.D.2. Land converted to Wetlands
(2)
5.E. Settlements
5.E.1. Settlements remaining Settlements
5.E.2. Land converted to Settlements
(2)
5.F. Other Land
5.F.1. Other Land remaining Other Land
5.F.2. Land converted to Other Land
(2)
5.G. Other (please specify)
(2)
Harvested Wood Products
IPCC guidelines
Net CO2 emissions / removals (1)
CH4
N2O
NOx
CO
(Gg)
5A
5A, 5C, 5D
5A, 5D
5B, 5D
5A, 5D
5C, 5D
5A, 5E
5B, 5E
5A
5B, 5E
5A
5B, 5E
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GPG2003 - Major Advancements: 1
GPG2003 adopted two major advances over the Revised 1996 IPCC Guidelines. The
first is:
1. Three hierarchical tiers of methods:
•
T1: use of default data and simple equations
•
T2: use of country-specific data and
•
T3: models to accommodate national circumstances.
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Rationale for Adopting GPG2003
 Addresses most of the methodological limitations and
inadequacies of IPCC 1996GL
 Adopts key source/sink category analysis, which enables
dedication of limited inventory resources to key source/sink
categories, CO2 pools and non-CO2 gases
 Enables estimation of carbon stock changes and non-CO2
emissions for all the relevant geographic area
 Accounts for all the five carbon pools
 Ensures consistent representation of land for long-term periodic
inventories
 Reduces uncertainty in GHG estimates
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Combination of Tiers
• NAI experts can adopt multiple tiers in the GHG inventory for LULUCF sector:
•
For different land-use categories
•
Within a given land-use category for different carbon pools
•
Within a carbon pool, for activity data and emission factor.
Adopt higher tiers for key categories and wherever possible use countryspecific, climatic region-specific emission/removal factors
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GPG 2003 - Major Advancements: 2
2.
Land-use-category-based approach for organizing methodologies:
•
Six land-use categories to ensure consistent representation, covering all
geographic areas of a country
•
•
Forest land, cropland, grassland, wetland, settlements and other lands
Each land-use category is further disaggregated to reflect the past and the
current land use:
• Forest land remaining forest land
• Lands converted to forest land.
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In addition GPG 2003 includes Key Source/Sink Category Analysis
• GPG 2003 assists Parties in identifying the key:
•
Land categories (e.g. forest land, cropland, etc.)
•
Gases (CO2, CH4 and N2O)
•
Carbon pools (living biomass, dead organic matter and soil organic carbon).
• The decision trees given in GPG 2003 could be adopted:
•
Decision trees at two levels of disaggregation:
• Land remaining in the same land-use category (e.g. forest land
remaining forest land)
• Land converted to another land-use category (e.g. grassland converted
to forest).
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Definitions of Land-Use Categories in GPG 2003
• Forest land: all land with woody vegetation consistent with thresholds used to define
forest land in the national GHG inventory, sub-divided into managed and unmanaged,
and also by ecosystem type as specified in the Revised 1996 IPCC Guidelines. Also
includes systems with vegetation that fall below, but are expected to exceed, the
threshold of the forest land category.
• Cropland: land that is not forest land or grassland. (Arable and tillage land, and agroforestry systems where woody vegetation falls below the thresholds used for the forest
land).
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Definitions (cont.)
• Grassland: rangelands and pasture land that is not forest land or cropland. (Pasture
lands with woody vegetation below the threshold used in the forest land category and
not expected to exceed it without human intervention are included).
• Settlements: all developed land, including transportation infrastructure and human
settlements of any size, unless they are already included under other categories. This
should be consistent with the selection of national definitions.
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Definitions (cont.)
• Wetland: land covered or saturated by water for all or part of the year and that does
not fall into the forest land, cropland, grassland or settlements categories.
• Other lands: includes bare soil, rock, ice, and all unmanaged land areas that do not
fall into any of the other five categories. It allows the total of identified land areas to
match the national area, where data are available.
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Important…
• Classify land under only one category to prevent double counting.
• It is good practice to combine or disaggregate the existing land classes of a land-use
classification in order to use the categories presented here, and to report on the
procedure adopted.
• It is good practice to specify national definitions for all categories used in the
inventory and report any threshold or parameter values used in the definitions.
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Other Categories
• Harvested wood products (HWP), wetlands and other sources/sinks
• Default assumption of Revised 1996 IPCC Guidelines is that:
•
HWP pool is constant. So carbon removed in wood and other biomass from
forests is oxidized in the year of harvest
• Countries may report on HWP pools, if they can document that existing stocks
of forest products are in fact increasing
• GPG2003-Appendix provides guidance on methodological issues for accounting
emissions and removals from HWP.
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Land Representation is Key: 3 Approaches in GPG 2003
Approach 1:
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Approach 2
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Approach 3: Spacially Explicit (GIS required)
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Carbon Pools
• CO2 emissions and removal are estimated for all the carbon pools namely:
•
Aboveground biomass (AB)
•
Belowground biomass (BB)
•
Soil organic carbon (SOC)
•
Dead organic matter (DOM) and woody litter (L)
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Non-CO2 Gases and Sources of Non-CO2 Gases
• Non-CO2 gases estimated include:
•
CH4, N2O, CO and NOx
• Sources of non-CO2 gases:
•
N2O and CH4 from forest fires
•
N2O from managed (fertilized) forests
•
N2O from drainage of forest soils
•
N2O and CH4 from managed wetland
•
Soil emissions of N2O from land-use conversion.
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Broad Approach and Steps in Adopting GPG 2003
• Accounts for all land-use categories and subcategories, all carbon pools and nonCO2 gases, depending on key source/sink category analysis
• Select nationally adopted land-use classification system (categories and sub-
categories) for inventory estimation. Each land category is further subdivided into:
•
Land remaining in the same category (e.g. forest land remaining forest land)
•
Other land category converted to this land category (e.g. grassland converted
to forest land).
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Broad Approach and Steps in Adopting GPG 2003 (cont.)
• Select appropriate land classification system most relevant to country
• Conduct key source/sink category analysis to identify the key:
•
Land categories and subcategories
•
Non-CO2 gases
•
Carbon pools.
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Steps to Adopting GPG 2003
1. Select appropriate tier level for key land categories and sub-categories, non-CO2
gases and carbon pools, based on key category analysis as well as resources
available for the inventory process.
2. Assemble required AD, depending on tier selected, from regional, national and
global databases.
3. Collect EF/RF, depending on tier selected, from regional, national and global
databases, forest inventories, national greenhouse gas inventory studies, field
experiments and surveys and use of EFDB.
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Steps to Adopting GPG 2003
4. Select method of estimation, based on tier level selected, quantify
emissions/removals for each land-use category, carbon pool and non-CO2 gas.
Adopt default worksheet provided in GPG2003.
5. Estimate uncertainty.
6. Adopt quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC) procedures and report results.
7. Report GHG emissions and removals using the reporting tables.
8. Document and archive all information used.
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Features of Land-category-based Approach – Forest Land
• Estimates carbon stock changes and GHG emissions/removals associated with
changes in biomass and soil organic carbon on forest land and lands converted to
forest land:
•
Forest land remaining forest
•
Land converted to forest
• Provides methodology for five carbon pools
• Links biomass and soil carbon pools for the same land areas (at higher tiers).
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Where:
ΔC FFLB = annual change in carbon stocks in living biomass (includes above- and belowground biomass) in forest land remaining forest land, tonnes C yr-1
C t2 = total carbon in biomass calculated at time t2, tonnes C
C t1 = total carbon in biomass calculated at time t1, tonnes C
V = merchantable volume, m3 ha-1
D = basic wood density, tonnes d.m. m-3 merchantable volume
BEF2 = biomass expansion factor for conversion of merchantable volume to aboveground tree biomass, dimensionless.
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Features of Land-category-based Approach – Cropland
• Provides methods for estimating carbon stock changes in living biomass, mineral
soils and in organic soils
• Provides methods for estimating annual N2O emissions from mineral soils due to
addition of nitogen (in the form of fertilizer, manure and crop residue) and nitrogen
released by soil organic matter mineralization
• These categories are estimated and reported in the agriculture sector in Revised
1996 IPCC Guidelines.
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Features of Land-category-based Approach – Grassland
• Methodology for estimating carbon stock changes in living biomass and soils in
grassland and lands converted to grassland
• Estimates annual change in carbon stocks in living biomass and soil organic carbon
(mineral soils and cultivated organic soils) in grassland remaining grassland and lands
converted to grassland
• Methodology for estimating non-CO2 emissions from vegetation fires based on: area
of grassland burned, mass of available fuel, combustion efficiency and emission factor
for each GHG from grassland remaining grassland and land converted to grassland.
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Features of Land-category-based Approach – Wetlands
• The GHGs estimated include CO2, CH4 and N2O
• Methodology for estimating GHGs for ‘wetlands remaining wetlands’ is given in the
Appendix and for GHGs from ‘lands converted to wetlands’ in the main text
• Estimates changes in carbon stocks in lands converted to wetlands due to peat
extraction and land converted to flooded land
• Estimates N2O emissions from peatland drainage and flooded land and CH4
emissions from flooded land.
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Features of Land-category-based Approach – Settlements and Other Land
Settlements:
•
Provides methodology for estimating CO2 emissions and removals for ‘lands
converted to settlements’ and methodology is given in Appendix for ‘settlements
remaining settlements’
•
Methods for estimating annual change in carbon stocks in living biomass in ‘forest
lands converted to settlements’ based on area of land converted and carbon stock
in living biomass immediately before and after conversion to settlements.
Other land:
•
Changes in carbon stocks and non-CO2 emissions/removals need not be
assessed for category of ‘other land remaining other land’
•
Methodology provided for estimating annual change in carbon stocks in ‘land
converted to other land’ based on estimates of change in carbon stocks in living
biomass and SOC.
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Improvements for the Future
• Non-Annex I Parties may have to:
•
•
Initiate dedicated inventory programmes
Provide infrastructural and technical support for sustained inventory
process.
• This may involve:
• Organizing periodic forest inventories
• Use of satellite or remote-sensing-based land-use maps
• Development of nationally relevant emission/removal factors.
• It is likely that many NAI Parties lack resources needed to initiate satellitebased monitoring:
• Obtain satellite maps from institutions such as FAO, UNEP and NASA
and undertake ground truthing.
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Short-term Strategy…
• Check Revised 1996 IPCC Guidelines, GPG 2003, EFDB and other global sources
and select the closest default values
• Check whether any national forest inventory studies are available (many NAI Parties
have them) and collect the growth rate data
• Review the national and international literature (web sites of FAO, CGIAR centres,
universities, books and reports)
• Compile all the parameter values available from national and international sources for
the disaggregated or stratified forest/plantation types
• Select the most appropriate AGR for each stratum of the forest/plantation types.
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Long-term Strategy for Improving AGR Values
• Initiate national forest inventory studies
• Disaggregate/stratify the forest/plantation types
• Adopt sampling technique as explained in GPG2003 (Chapter 3 and 4)
• Adopt permanent plots with proper boundaries marked for periodic revisits
• Refer to any text book on ‘forest mensuration’ or web sites such as
www.winrock.org, www.cifor.org, etc., for methods of measurement and estimation
• Estimate the standard deviation or variance.
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Comparing Revised 1996 IPCC Guidelines
and GPG 2003
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Comparison of GPG 2003 and the Revised 1996 IPCC Guidelines
GPG2003
i) Land category based approach covering
forest land, cropland, grassland, wetland,
settlement and others
ii) These land categories are further sub
divided into;
 land remaining in the same use
category
1. other land converted to this land
category
iii) Methods given for all carbon pools; AGB,
BGB, dead organic matter and soil carbon
and all non-CO2 gases
iv) Key source/sink category analysis
provided for selecting significant
 land categories
 sub-land categories
 C-pools
 CO2 and non-CO2 gases
v) Three tier structure presented for choice of
methods, Activity Data and Emission Factors
vi) Biomass and soil carbon pools linked
IPCC 1996GL
i) Approach based on four categories namely 5A to 5D (refer to
Section 5.1) All land categories not included such as coffee, tea,
coconut etc. Lack of clarity on agro-forestry
ii) Forest and grassland categories defined in 5A and 5B
iii) Methods provided mainly for aboveground biomass and soil
carbon.
2. Assumes as a default that changes in carbon stocks in
dead organic matter pools are not significant and can
be assumed to be zero, i.e. inputs balance losses.
3. Similarly, belowground biomass increment or changes
are generally assumed to be zero
iv) Key source/sink category analysis not provided
v) Three tier structure approach presented but its application to
choice of methods, AD and EF not provided
vi) Changes in stock of biomass and soil carbon in a given
vegetation or forest type not linked
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Key Activity Data Required for GPG 2003 and Revised 1996 IPCC Guidelines
GPG2003
IPCC 1996GL
FOREST LAND
i) Area of forest land remaining forest land
 Disaggregation according to climatic region,
vegetation type, species, management
system, age etc.
ii) Area of other land category converted to forest
land
 Disaggregation as mentioned above
iii) Forest area affected by disturbances
iv) Forest area undergoing transition from state (i) to
(j)
v) Area of forest burnt
vi) Total afforested land derived from
cropland/grassland
vii) Area of land converted to forest land through
 natural regeneration
 establishment of plantations
CROPLAND, GRASSLAND, WETLAND ETC.
 Similar categorization as above
Category 5A to 5D
i) Area of plantation/forests
ii) Area converted annually
iii) Average area converted (10-year average)
iv) Area abandoned and regenerating
 20-years prior to year of inventory
 20-100 years prior to the year of inventory
v) Area under different land use/management systems and
soil type
 during year-t (inventory year)
 20-years prior to year-t
vi) Area under managed organic soils
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Key Emission Factors Required for GPG 2003 and Revised 1996 IPCC Guidelines
Average annual net increment in volume
suitable for industrial processing
Biomass expansion factor (BEF) for
conversion of annual net increment
(including bark) to above ground tree
biomass increment
Root:shoot ratio appropriate to increment
Biomass expansion factor (BEF) for
converting volumes of extracted
roundwood to total aboveground biomass
(including bark)
Mortality rate in naturally and artificially
regenerated forest
Annual biomass transfer into deadwood
Annual biomass transfer out of deadwood
Litter stock under different management
systems
Soil organic carbon in different
management systems
Mass of biomass fuel present in area
subjected to burning
Emission factors common to both:
Aboveground biomass growth rate, biomass density
 Aboveground biomass stock, soil carbon density
 Fraction of biomass left to decay.

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Conclusion and Strategy for the Future
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Revised 1996 IPCC Guidelines
• NAI experts and compilation and synthesis reports by UNFCCC have identified a
number of issues and problems in using the Revised 1996 IPCC Guidelines,
including:
•
Lack of clarity in the methods and inadequacies of the methods
•
Lack of AD and EF
•
Low quality or reliability of AD and EF
•
High uncertainty of AD and EF, leading to uncertainty in inventory estimates
•
Unsuitability.
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GPG 2003
• GPG 2003 was intended to overcome some of the methodological issues/problems
identified in using the Revised 1996 IPCC Guidelines
a) Suggests methods to reduce uncertainty
b) Suggests an improved land category and full carbon (and non-CO2 gases)
estimation based approach and methods.
• Adoption of GPG 2003 approach will lead to:
•
Full and consistent representation, consideration and reporting of all land
categories
•
Full carbon (all 5 carbon pools) estimation
•
Reduced uncertainty
•
Efficient use of limited inventory resources.
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Thank you!
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