February 2013: The first order draft review by experts of the “Draft 2013 Revised Supplementary Methods and Good Practice Guidance Arising from the Kyoto Protocol,” developed by the Task Force on National Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Inventories (TFI) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), ended on 3 February 2013. The guidance is expected to be finalized by October 2013.

In 2012, at its 35th plenary session, the IPCC mandated the TFI to review and update its supplementary guidance on GHG emissions and removals from land use, land use change and forestry (LULUCF) for reporting under the Kyoto Protocol to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). According to the IPCC, estimation of emissions and removals of GHGs is an important basis for climate mitigation, and its work provides de facto international standards for such estimation.

The request to the TFI followed an invitation from the parties to the Kyoto Protocol asking the IPCC to review its Good Practice Guidance for LULUCF, and, if necessary, update this guidance to ensure consistency with decisions adopted in 2011, at the Climate Change Conference in Durban, South Africa.

The initial Guidance was issued in 2003. Under the multi-stage review process of the IPCC, responses to the drafts are made public once the report or guidance is finalized. Following revisions to this first order draft, a second order draft will be presented for review by governments and experts. [IPCC Press Release]