The challenge
As a non-Annex I Party to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the United Republic of Tanzania is required to submit National Communications (NCs) every four years. Tanzania is also requested to submit Biennial Update Reports (BURs) every two years. Both of these reports require the compilation of a greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions inventory. These reporting obligations can often pose a challenge to developing countries where institutional memory and financial resources are low.
Despite submitting their Second NC in November 2015, information regarding methodologies, data sources and assumptions were not effectively passed from one inventory cycle to the next. Therefore, the knowledge gained during these previous compilation cycles was not fully retained by national institutions, leading to significant difficulties in the effective development of the inventory and projections.
Currently, Tanzania does not have a monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) system with formal institutional arrangements for compiling the national GHG inventory, and relies on external consultants on a project-by-project basis. The aim of this project was to provide the framework by which Tanzania can build a sustainable National GHG inventory management system, and subsequently drive the cycles of the GHG inventory and projections. Lack of financial resources adds greater importance to the need for an MRV system to produce GHG inventories, that enhances institutional arrangements and institutional memory, and adds efficiencies to data gathering, compilation and reporting processes.
The solution
Aether worked with the Vice President’s Office of the United Republic of Tanzania to compile a GHG inventory for the years 1994-2025. The calculations were made in the absence of information from previous inventory compilation cycles. Estimates produced were in line with the 2006 IPCC Guidelines and were, therefore, suitable for international reporting needs. In order to document data and methodologies in a transparent manner, all compilation spreadsheets and underlying data sets were archived on the MRV Portal. The portal, an online, secure and flexible tool developed by Aether, was set-up by the project team. It will continue to be available to the national experts after the project has finished. This is a co-ordination and archiving tool that has been created to support the creation of an MRV System in Tanzania. It contains all elements required to document and manage a sustainable MRV System. During the project, the team uploaded information specific to Tanzania, such as institutional arrangements, data collection processes and inventory compilation spreadsheets. The MRV Portal forms the basis of a comprehensive and transparent MRV system tool for Tanzania, retaining information and processes for use in future years.
Producing the GHG inventory estimates and creating a transparent MRV system tool were useful steps towards a sustainable MRV system. The most important aspect of this project was the training and engagement of national experts and stakeholders. During this project, two training workshops were undertaken to support the development of national expertise. It was imperative that confident ownership of the MRV system was enabled and that knowledge of the inventory compilation process was held within appropriate Tanzanian organisations (institutions, departments, private companies, Universities etc.).
The result
This project delivered the instruments needed for a sustainable MRV system through an MRV Portal, transparent GHG inventory, and tailored recommendations for the effective implementation of an MRV system. It marks the beginning of an enhanced institutional memory for the GHG inventory compilation process in the United Republic of Tanzania, providing the basis for Tanzania to meet its international commitments for years to come.
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