INITIATING A NATIONAL GHG INVENTORY SYSTEM AND MAKING IT SUSTAINABLE: CASE STUDY FROM BRAZIL

MAPT NATIONAL INVENTORY CASE STUDY SERIES

INITIATING A NATIONAL GHG INVENTORY SYSTEM AND MAKING IT SUSTAINABLE: CASE STUDY FROM COLOMBIA

María Margarita Gutiérrez Arias Natalia Gutiérrez Beltrán Adriana Patricia Yepes January 30, 2013

Case study commissioned by the World Resources Institute for the Measurement and Performance Tracking Project. Findings represent the views of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of WRI.

For more information on the national inventory component of the MAPT Project contact: Thomas Damassa at [email protected]

CASE STUDIES AVAILABLE AT: SITES.GOOGLE.COM/SITE/MAPTPARTNERRESEARCH

INITIATING A NATIONAL GHG INVENTORY SYSTEM AND MAKING IT SUSTAINABLE: CASE STUDY FROM COLOMBIA

INTRODUCTION The National Greenhouse Gas Inventory (INGEI) of Colombia has historically been developed by the Institute of Hydrology, Meteorology and Environmental Studies (IDEAM), a research institute under the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development (MADS),1 created by Act 99 of 1993, the country's main environmental law. IDEAM has developed two greenhouse gas (GHG) inventories. The first covered two years: 1990 and 1994 and was published in the first national communication on climate change. The second was developed for 2000 and 2004 and was published in the second national communication.2 However, neither of the two existing inventories was completed using a standard information format or system for reporting GHG emissions. The only information management tool available was the one used for the second national communication. Despite being designed to become a centralized information exchange system, that tool was only employed to archive GHG emissions data in the Environmental Information System of Colombia (SIAC). SIAC is an integrated set of actors, policies, processes, and technologies aimed at facilitating the administration of environmental data at the national level. Funded with both national and international resources, it manages information from the water, biodiversity, forests, soil, and air sectors with the objective of supporting decision

Former Ministry of Environment, Housing and Territorial Development. 2 Currently, existing inventories in Colombia have been developed nationwide, since the breakdown of the activity data does not allow emissions to be estimated across all emission sources at a disaggregated level—i.e. regional or subnational. However, there are already initiatives to calculate GHG emissions by departments and major cities. 1

making and social participation.3 However, in order to become the information exchange system platform for calculating GHG emissions that the country needs, SIAC would have to be strengthened. If properly implemented, such a system requires three key modifications: First, it must become operational for all the sectors included in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) guidelines. Second, it must improve its capacity so that it can archive all inventories across the country. Third, it must adapt to the changes in the IPCC guidelines that require more disaggregated data (tier 1, tier 2, and tier 3). As GHG inventories become more relevant at the national and international level, it is necessary to have a practical, flexible, and consolidated information system that enables decision makers and researchers to identify sectoral emissions using the maximum disaggregation level.

EVOLUTION OF THE NATIONAL GHG INVENTORY SYSTEM IN COLOMBIA Prior to the initiation of a formal national GHG inventory—in the context of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) commitments—the emissions monitoring systems usually monitored nonGHG gases like carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen oxides (NOx), and particles smaller than 10 microns (PPM10). The procedure to execute these types of inventories initiated with the enactment of Decree 2107 of 1995 requiring that “all existing stationary sources in the country that emit pollutants or have activities that generate emissions, subject to control by regulations, shall submit to the competent environmental authority, within the deadlines set by the Ministry of Environment, a statement that will be called "Emission Status Report" (IEFor further information, see: http://www.minambiente.gov.co/contenido/contenid o.aspx?catID=93&conID=4684 3

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INITIATING A NATIONAL GHG INVENTORY SYSTEM AND MAKING IT SUSTAINABLE: CASE STUDY FROM COLOMBIA

1)."4 The law was mandatory for some large industries and a few economic sectors of the country. In 2007, MADS adopted a regulation to include environmental authorities and large urban centers in the “implementation and planning of national inventories” from stationary sources.5 The data collection process was administered by regional environmental authorities that were responsible for monitoring activities of non-GHG and air pollution control. IDEAM was in charge of managing, reviewing, and compiling the information generated. IDEAM’s experience preparing inventories was subsequently used to meet UNFCCC reporting requirements. For the first national inventory, a small group of experts at the Office of Scientific and Technical Cooperation, under IDEAM aegis, carried out the preparation and review of the national GHG inventory process.

institutions.7 IDEAM handles the entire process of selection and recruitment of these consultants for the sectoral calculations. For each sector there are different sources of information. Entities such as the National Administrative Department of Statistics (DANE) and the research institutions within the federal ministries generate activity data that is then used for the calculation of GHG emissions. Sectoral coordinators—appointed by the sectoral lead entities—are responsible for developing the timetable to prepare each one of the sections that comprise the inventory.

For the second inventory, IDEAM followed a different approach that has improved in recent years. Currently, the inventory is developed based on the diagram shown in Figure 1. The IDEAM, as the general coordinator, leads and implements activities related to the review of the IPCC methodologies; it also undertakes tasks pertaining requests for information and the corresponding tabulation of data and delivery of final reports. There are five working groups for each one of the modules defined by the IPCC: energy; industrial processes; agriculture; land use, land-use change and forestry (LULUCF); and waste. Each group is composed of a sectoral coordinator—typically an external consultant hired by IDEAM with Global Environment Facility (GEF) funds6—and a mix of part-time staff from leading

Article 97 of the Decree 2107 of 1995. However, the nation still lacks a consolidated national emissions inventory that includes fixed and mobile sources. 6 GEF’s funds were distributed evenly among the different IPCC sectors, except for the agriculture module, which received a higher proportion of resources. 4 5

For the uncertainty analysis, an external consultant is hired. 7

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INITIATING A NATIONAL GHG INVENTORY SYSTEM AND MAKING IT SUSTAINABLE: CASE STUDY FROM COLOMBIA

FIGURE 1. SCHEMATIC DIAGRAM OF THE NATIONAL GHG INVENTORY PROCESS IN COLOMBIA. (SOURCE: IDEAM 2010)

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INITIATING A NATIONAL GHG INVENTORY SYSTEM AND MAKING IT SUSTAINABLE: CASE STUDY FROM COLOMBIA

GENERAL COORDINATOR INGEI

SECTORAL COORDINATOR Energy

SECTORAL LEADER ENTITY Ministry of Mines and Energy Energy Planning Unit

INTER-AGENCY WORKING GROUP

SECTORAL COORDINATOR IPPU

SECTORAL LEADER ENTITY Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism

INTER-AGENCY WORKING GROUP

SECTORAL COORDINATOR Agriculture

SECTORAL LEADER ENTITY Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development

INTER-AGENCY WORKING GROUP

SECTORAL COORDINATOR LULUCF

SECTORAL LEADER ENTITY Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development

INTER-AGENCY WORKING GROUP

SECTORAL COORDINATOR Waste

SECTORAL LEADER ENTITY Superintendence of Domiciliary Affairs

INTER-AGENCY WORKING GROUP

FIGURE 2. SCHEMATIC DIAGRAM OF THE DISTRIBUTION OF INVENTORY SECTORAL WORKING GROUPS.

CAPACITY-BUILDING EFFORTS After the first national communication, gaps and needs were identified with regard to Colombia’s capacity to prepare a national inventory. These gaps included the absence of sectoral information, incomplete and inconsistent databases, lack of country-specific emission factors, poor data collection methods, and the absence of an information system for GHG emissions. However, because of Colombia’s small share in overall global emissions, the inventory was not a priority for the government in the last decade, even when it was officially recognized that Colombian territory is vulnerable to climate-change impacts. These gaps have been gradually filled and supplied with increasing financial sources and techniques over the last three years. GEF funds, for example, were used to carry out GHG emission calculations in the sectors with the largest share of Colombia’s total GHG

emissions: agriculture, energy, and industry. These activities consisted mostly of holding an initial training workshop for inventory practitioners at IDEAM8 and across all ministries involved in topics related to GHG inventories. The purpose of this exercise was to provide staff with the opportunity to become fully acquainted with the GHG inventory process. In addition, with support of the Dutch Organization for Applied Scientific Research (TNO), the institute developed in the past two years, an emissions baseline for the period 1990 through 2008 for the energy, industrial processes, agriculture, and waste sectors. For the LULUCF sector, a recalculation of emissions was carried out for the years 2005 and 2010, was based on new rates of deforestation and data about the carbon content of Colombian forests derived from the improvement of monitoring mechanisms for Reducing Emissions from At IDEAM, the low turnover rate allows to focus on staff development. 8

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INITIATING A NATIONAL GHG INVENTORY SYSTEM AND MAKING IT SUSTAINABLE: CASE STUDY FROM COLOMBIA

Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) projects.9 In the initial workshops with TNO, the approaches, assumptions, and emission factors as well as the IDEAM’s information system were discussed. So far, this was the only feedback provided by independent professionals. For Colombia, third-party review and training from experts is critical. The National System for Sustainable Management of Greenhouse Gases in the Andes-Amazon Region Workshop10 focused on the key challenges and capacities essential to improve the LULUCF module. Such types of forums are valuable for the country, since new perspectives open up, and contacts may be established with experts for future cooperation. Technical capacities were also strengthened, including data compilation, processing, analysis, and update of methodologies and tools. At the national level, the capacity-building effort also supported the development of new countryspecific emission factors as well as the use of bottom-up approaches. In 2007, IDEAM invested new funds to enhance capacities in both the industrial processes and waste sectors. In particular, there were improvements in activity data and information collection systems, the analysis of key source or key categories under the IPCC guidelines and the creation of the actual workflow for the current inventory. In addition, beginning in 2008 and in preparation for the second national communication, the information system for GHG emissions was moved to an Oracle-based computing platform, which is especially designed for applications that require the input of information from multiple stakeholders. This Mainly supported by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. 10 It was organized by SilvaCarbon, a U.S. government interagency program, and supported by Forest Carbon Markets and Communities and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). It took place in October 2012 in Bogota. 9

system allowed consultants to first populate the database and then compare activity data, emission factors, and other selected information with data generated in the second inventory in order to assess data gaps. Based on these technical improvements; the dynamics of the interagency collaboration; and the increasing interest of both the public and private sectors, through the initial training workshops, in participating in the inventory exercise, the overall process of developing the 1990–2008 baseline significantly improved. Two tasks were particularly highlighted: management of the Collecter tool11 and coordination with the working groups to compile and store the enormous amount of information and activity data that has been collected over the past 18 years.12 After the second inventory submission, relevant gaps were identified in the information system, such as the automatic application of formulas supplemented with internal IDEAM codes to operate the system. Even though these formulas served to produce a successful inventory, they were designed on a temporary project-based approach, and IDEAM ran out of funds to continue expanding them.

MAJOR CHALLENGES IN ENSURING THE NATIONAL INVENTORY’S SUSTAINABILITY In the context of implementing a national GHG Inventory, three challenges can be highlighted: First, there is the development of permanent institutional arrangements—a topic to which the government has paid greater attention in the last Collecter is a tool used in the Netherlands to develop GHG and pollutant inventories. The use of this software presented opportunities but also some difficulties since the structure of the databases for the sectors in several cases did not respond to the information required to calculate emissions. 12 It is expected that in the near future a platform will be created to share information. 11

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INITIATING A NATIONAL GHG INVENTORY SYSTEM AND MAKING IT SUSTAINABLE: CASE STUDY FROM COLOMBIA

three years—in order to facilitate the flow of sectoral information and the consolidation of solid databases to estimate emissions. Although the inventory process has given rise to more dynamic interagency collaboration, including more than 80 institutions now participating in the working groups, there are no legal agreements to ensure consolidation of the information for the national inventory. Therefore, the request for information is solicited by IDEAM each time the country embarks on a new national inventory. This practice could result in a foreseeable significant barrier once the new reporting requirements for non-Annex I countries come into effect with specific periods and tighter time frames. Additionally, the lack of legal agreements between institutions has resulted in a need to hire new sectoral coordinators and technical staff each time Colombia develops a national inventory. This situation results in a high level of staff turnover and also less time devoted to completing the national inventory, since timetables concentrate on the renegotiation of the contracts terms and the restructuring of the working groups. Therefore, there is an urgent need for developing institutional arrangements to avoid delays in compilation of data and quality controls. The second challenge is the absence of the hardware and software technology platforms that are needed to collect information from a variety of institutions located across the country. The deployment of a data capture tool has been a complex, wasteful, and high-priced task because of the numerous activities and subactivities associated with the collection of GHG emissions data, as well as the variability of formats employed by information sources. As a result, the design of an efficient archival system that enables the documentation and continuation of the inventory process has been delayed. Currently, the country does not perform quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC) assessments for the entire inventory process as there is no centralized platform to share and exchange information with other institutions involved in

the process in a timely, efficient, and permanent way. Such a system is necessary to ensure that Colombia can regularly report a comprehensive national GHG inventory. The third challenge is institutional capacity building at IDEAM. Although various institutions, through the working groups, support the inventory process, responsibility for soliciting funds, following timelines, and undertaking overall coordination and recruitment of consultants for each sector is single-handedly managed by one part-time staff member at IDEAM. The climate change coordinator and the assistant director of environmental studies partially support the inventory process as well It is worth highlighting that none of these individuals was involved in the preparation of the first two national GHG inventories. As for the consultants, despite the constant turnover, most of them have been involved in the preparation of the two national communications; and the professionals that actively participated in the generation of emissions data are still closely linked to the institutions involved in the working groups. It is worth noting that IDEAM does not have an incentive scheme or better employment options to retain staff working for the inventory. This is because IDEAM, as a government institution, is not entitled to hire permanent staff for shortterm projects. To begin the development of the national inventory system, IDEAM has prioritized the generation of institutional arrangements that will be arranged between IDEAM, the official coordinator of GHG inventories, and the sectoral entities that generate official information.

FUTURE PRIORITIES In light of the new reporting requirements for non-Annex I countries, calling for more frequent updates, as well as the need to develop a more sustainable inventory system, IDEAM has begun 7

INITIATING A NATIONAL GHG INVENTORY SYSTEM AND MAKING IT SUSTAINABLE: CASE STUDY FROM COLOMBIA

to revise the steps required to successfully compile GHG inventories. This entails the creation of a process that guarantees: 1. 2.

3.

4. 5.

6.

Sustainability and periodicity in the development of inventories Technical capacity regarding new tools and the formulation of strategies to facilitate collection of information across different categories; Development of mechanisms (e.g. collective agreements between participating institutions) and formal institutional arrangements; Review and selection of activity data and emission factors; Detailed analysis of the level of uncertainty and quality control checks; and Improved analysis of data documentation and analysis of results.

As previously mentioned, IDEAM has mainly concentrated on interagency coordination. In addition, the country has developed an information system that, albeit successful, has been weakly implemented. As such, the design of a Web system for data collection with partners should be resumed in order to improve sectoral uncertainty calculations that were not performed in the inventory for the period 1990–2008. It is also important to strengthen the analysis of source categories with the IPCC methodology for the same period and to design the information system platform for information exchange. This system has not been fully established because there is a large supply of information systems for calculation of GHG emissions. Colombia started with the IPCC Excel sheets, which then turned into the information system that currently exists but does not work as a Web platform and has not been integrated into the SIAC. Yet, this necessity became urgent as the working groups become more active. Currently, SIAC is at an early stage. As such, it requires further strengthening and dedicated expert staff. The adequate development of this

tool will enable the proper archival of emissions data in the Environmental Information System of Colombia and not in Excel sheets within computers of officials in charge of the inventory, as is currently the case. This process still requires major investments because the construction and maintenance of a capture tool requires the continuous availability of experts in information systems. Also important is the need to improve human resources capacities at IDEAM and at the working groups in each sector, as validation and input data in the system depend entirely on the time that staff devotes to collect information, manage the coordination of working groups, and make emissions reports. These reasons have prevented IDEAM from developing, validating, and complementing databases in the information system.

In Colombia, national and regional institutions responsible for the supply, collection, analysis, and systematization of the information for different sectors should facilitate the review of the information flow mechanisms in order to improve the quality, frequency, and availability of the reported data. In the future, it would be ideal to implement this practice across the inventory processes, should the country want to prepare a more transparent report and conduct quality self-assessment reports between inventories. This practice would eventually lead to continuous improvement of the process. Presently, and in light of the need to begin preparing the third national communication, Colombia is conducting an assessment on how to improve the information system by assessing what information is effectively included in the database as well as the strengths and weaknesses of the system. The ultimate goal is that the design and construction of a national inventory system be included into the national economic plan, given the country’s knowledge of emissions calculations and databases. This effort will concentrate on five goals: (1) formalization of a national inventory system within the 8

INITIATING A NATIONAL GHG INVENTORY SYSTEM AND MAKING IT SUSTAINABLE: CASE STUDY FROM COLOMBIA

aforementioned scope; (2) completion of a time series of emissions through 2010; (3) update of the LULUCF data; (4) assessment of changes presented in the 2006 IPCC methodology, chiefly the selection of categories that can be calculated under these new guidelines; and (5) generation of a series of indicators that link the inventory results with different economic activities across the country so that decision makers can use the inventory as a tool to design effective climate-change mitigation policies. In Colombia, national and regional institutions responsible for the supply, collection, analysis and systematization of information for different sectors should facilitate the review of the information flow mechanisms in order to improve the quality, frequency and availability of reported data. In the future, it would be ideal to implement this practice across all stages of the inventory, should the country want to prepare a more transparent report and also conduct quality self-assessment reports between inventories. This practice would eventually lead to a continuous improvement process.

CONCLUSIONS The construction of the national GHG inventory system, along with a platform to share data, requires a huge amount of time and effort by experts. Consequently, it is not recommended that the implementation of the system be done while performing the calculation of emissions or it should, at least, be undertaken by full-time staff, especially the system validation. From the Colombian experience, the initiation of a national inventory process should follow three main steps: first, review, collection, and analysis of available information; second, GHG emissions calculations requested by the IPCC; and third, review of the results before public dissemination. To establish an effective system for calculating GHG emissions, beyond the institutional arrangements for the exchange of information, it is also necessary to strengthen methods in data documentation, QA/QC processes, and associated uncertainty analysis.

One of the difficulties presented by the information system created in Colombia is that it responded more to the country's environmental sector than to the existing sectoral databases used by other countries. Given the complexity of calculating emissions for a wide variety of sources, the diversity of emission factors, the number of units used in the calculations, the variety of gases in which calculations are based, and the various categories and subcategories, the country must evaluate all available options— mainly those already used in developed countries (for example, computer tools)—and then determine which are best suited to address Colombia’s needs. There are two key factors to encourage participation in the development of a system for evaluating sectoral GHG emissions: The first one is related to knowledge of and familiarity with databases and methodologies and a detailed explanation of the information provided, the formulas used, and the assumptions that are taken into account for each category and subcategory. This enables transparent participation by sectoral experts who can openly give their opinions. To promote transparency and parallel to the publication of the second national communication, Colombia published an inventory of GHG sources and sinks with detailed technical annexes and emissions figures for each category, the uncertainty estimation, and calculation of the source categories for emissions in the country. The second factor pertains to the engagement of sectoral stakeholders and those entities responsible for the largest share of GHG emissions. It is important that the lead institution undertake a process of engaging universities, citizens, and other related entities to encourage feedback. As a result, and as part of the accounting system for GHG emissions, the information and publication of the inventory will become transparent and accessible. To include more stakeholders, it is very important to present the data in a standard 9

INITIATING A NATIONAL GHG INVENTORY SYSTEM AND MAKING IT SUSTAINABLE: CASE STUDY FROM COLOMBIA

format as well as to provide an analysis of the information linking the economic dynamics with the emissions for each sector. In addition, report data should be presented in a disaggregated format, so that each subsector of the economy is reflected in the inventory.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The authors would like to acknowledge and extend their gratitude to the Institute of Hydrology, Meteorology and Environmental Studies (IDEAM) for their support in the preparation of this case study and their willingness to share and expand relevant information that was used in it. A special thanks to the Department of Environmental Studies, the Department of Ecosystems and Environmental Information - Moore Project, and to the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development (MADS) in Colombia.

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