Category: National Governments

Rwanda: Review of GHG inventory, mitigation assessments and national reports

Emma Salisbury was contracted as an international expert to support Rwanda’s Greenhouse Gas (GHG) reporting to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

The challenge

Under the UNFCCC, Rwanda is classified as a non-Annex I party, and is required to submit National Communications (NCs) and Biennial Update Reports (BURs) at regular intervals. BURs must be prepared to a high standard ready to undergo an international consultation and analysis (ICA) process which includes a technical analysis on the transparency of mitigation actions and their effects. Rwanda required support during the compilation of its first BUR to ensure that the GHG inventory and mitigation assessments were in line with international best practice.

The solution

As part of the production of the first BUR, a national GHG inventory was compiled and mitigation actions assessed for four sectors in Rwanda; Energy, Industrial Processes and Product Use (IPPU), Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use (AFOLU) and Waste.

Emma collaborated with the national experts that compiled the GHG inventory and mitigation assessments to provide Quality Assurance (QA) in line with international best practice. The mitigation assessments were compared against the ICA criteria to check alignment with reporting expectations. The GHG inventory chapter of the BUR and the accompanying National Inventory Report (NIR) were also reviewed with the benefit of 10+ years of international experience.

The result

Rwanda submitted its first BUR to the UNFCCC in 2021, with its national GHG inventory and mitigation assessments checked in line with international best practice. A NIR containing in depth detail of the GHG inventory compilation process was also checked and submitted. National experts in Rwanda received technical guidance and support through one-to-one discussions and in-depth feedback on documents and calculations.

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Chris Dore

Director

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Testimonial

Don't just take our word for it...

“ A heartfelt thank you to all the Aether team for this very comprehensive review – this is certainly turning out to be one of the most beneficial capacity building projects I have ever been involved in. ”

Saviour Vassallo, Senior Environment Protection Officer, Malta Resources Authority

“ Saint Lucia embraces the professional approach with which this project was undertaken by Aether, particularly their ability to develop mentorship relations with local government experts. This provides a basis for ensuring that the pool of local experts remain engaged and recognized over successive processes. ”

Annette Rattigan-Leo, Chief Sustainable Development and Environment Officer

“ I must congratulate each of you for your professional and tireless efforts. Let me point out that this has been the 'neatest' in-country review expert review team I have coordinated, and it has been a real pleasure. ”

UNFCCC Secretariat

“ It has been a pleasure to work with Chris Dore and Richard Claxton from Aether: they did their job in a very professional and timely manner. The workshop was organized and carried out in a cooperative spirit; the information provided to the workshop participants was complete and clear. ”

Alina Novikova, UN/ECE Secretariat

“ Aether was a great asset in involving/engaging with Member States experts on highly technical subjects regarding GHG reporting. Very clear communication of issues and results. ”

Andreas Pilzecker, DG CLIMA

“ Professional team and very collaborative communication. Effective result in terms of suggestions for improvement in the quality of the inventory and proposals on how to streamline specific topics. ”

Italian Institute for Environmental Protection and Research