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NECD Review Week in Brussels

19 June 2026

Members of the Aether team spent a week at the European Commission in Brussels as part of the review of air pollutant inventories submitted under the EU’s National Emission reduction Ceilings Directive (NECD).

The NECD aims to improve air quality by setting out reporting obligations and defining national emission reduction commitments for five main air pollutants that have a harmful impact on our health and the environment.

In addition to assessing whether Member States are compliant with their emission reduction commitments, the review work also evaluates the quality of the inventories submitted. The centralised review week brought together inventory experts from across Europe to assess the completeness, transparency, consistency and accuracy of national air pollutant inventories.  Working collaboratively across the review teams, Aether staff contributed technical expertise across multiple sectors and led quality assurance and quality control (QAQC) activities, helping to ensure that reported emission estimates are robust, comparable and aligned with the requirements of the NECD.

The review process plays an important role in the continuous improvement of the quality of national emissions inventories. Through detailed technical discussions, reviewers identify opportunities to strengthen methodologies and enhance documentation and make recommendations that support EU Member States in producing increasingly reliable emissions estimates year on year.

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Testimonial

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

“ 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

“ 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

“ 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

“ The support provided by Aether for this project was especially remarkable considering the situation of the COVID-19 pandemic. The tools and methods used in order to engage local stakeholders really added value to the capacity building of the national team. ”

Shanna Emmanuel, Saint Lucia BUR Project Coordinator

“ It is always an absolute pleasure working with Aether. I always know what is expected of me. Their work ethic is of a very high standard and projects are always handled in a very professional manner. I have learnt many skills in terms of project management, quality control and workshop training styles from Aether and I hope to carry these principles forward in my own work. I look forward to collaborating with Aether more in the future. ”

Luanne Stevens, Gondwana

“ Chris was excellent to work with and always very pro active in making suggestions, taking work forward and applying his considerable technical knowledge in effective ways. ”

Robert Vaughan, Defra Air Quality Team

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