Jamaica GHG inventory review

Aether has been working with the Jamaican Government to compile and improve their national greenhouse gas emissions inventory for their Third National Communication and Biennial Update Report. This has involved extensive stakeholder engagement, capacity building and the hand-over of bespoke tools developed on the project. All sources of the emissions inventory were compiled with local experts, the methods and results being reported in detail in the Biennial Update Report. An important part of the project has been to develop recommendations that comprise a National System. Jamaica has a lot of experts with good technical knowhow, and hence it has been important to present options for a management structure that the national Government can use. Implementation of key elements of the National System will bring improved continuity, and will ensure the on-going development of the emissions inventory.

The challenge

Jamaica is a signatory to the UNFCCC, and is requested to update and report periodically on their GHG emissions.
Jamaica is a Non – Annex 1 Party to the Convention, and is required to submit a Biennial Update Report every two years, with the aims of increasing the transparency of mitigation actions and their effects. Under the UNFCCC, Jamaica is included in the classification “least developed country parties and Small Island Developing States”. There is therefore no specific deadline given for the submission of their Biennial Update Report. Jamaica’s work on emission inventories to date has been project based (being reliant on international funding). It is important that Jamaica is able to move to an emissions inventory programme that operates on a more continuous basis. With no National System currently in place in Jamaica, it was important that this project delivered recommendations that would allow an efficient and effective management structure to be implemented.

The solution

Aether specialises in the planning, preparation, management, reporting and review of emissions inventories. Our team has a wealth of expertise in the compilation and reporting of GHG emission inventories including experts with over 20 years’ experience in this field. As such, we were able to provide Jamaica with an internationally respected emissions inventory expert, who has skills not just in emissions inventory compilation across all sources, but also in the design and development of management systems. As a result we were able to deliver a national emissions inventory, by working alongside local experts, and leave the Government with recommendations that would put in place key elements of a National System that allows Jamaica to move away from the current “start-stop” way of working.

The result

Jamaica now has a fully functioning emissions inventory compilation system. This includes tools and systems that will allow the inventory to be easily updated in future years. Jamaica were also able to compile and report their Third National Communication and their Biennial Update report. The Government has a clear set of recommendations that, if implemented, will allow them to establish an emissions inventory team that works to continually develop the existing emissions inventory

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