5 November 2014: The UNFCCC Secretariat has published a note containing a draft training programme for review experts for the technical review of information reported under the Convention related to greenhouse gas (GHG) inventories by Annex I Parties included in Annex I to the Convention (FCCC/SBSTA/2014/INF.19).

The Secretariat has prepared the document for consideration by the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA) with the objective of: formalizing the training of review experts of GHG inventories and the subsequent assessment of the qualifications of those experts; and providing additional guidance to the Secretariat on these issues. The document includes background on the training programme, while the training programme itself is contained in an annex.

Currently, national GHG inventories are submitted on an annual basis and reviewed by an expert review team, mostly through in-country review visits and centralized reviews. The review process has contributed significantly to improving the reporting of Annex I Parties, including improvements in the consistency, transparency, comparability, completeness and accuracy of the information. However, the process is very resource-intensive and problems have been identified, such as the shortage of available experts to conduct the reviews and increasing pressure on the Secretariat in providing support. In addition, the volume of work has increased with the recently established international assessment and review (IAR) process, which will require increased resources from and efforts of Parties, experts and the Secretariat.

Training experts will: contribute to an increase in the quality of GHG inventories; enable consistency across reviews; improve efficiency of the review process; and reduce the time needed for each specific review task.

The draft training programme consists of two parts: a general description of the training programme, including its scope, format and examination procedures; and a detailed description of the courses, including the period of implementation, target audience, type of course, and examination requirements and format. [Draft Training Programme for Review Experts]