11–12 April 2005 Wissenschaftszentrum, Bonn, Germany UNFCCC WORKSHOP ON NATIONAL SYSTEMS UNDER ARTICLE 5, PARAGRAPH 1 OF THE KYOTO PROTOCOL Mandate, objectives and proceedings 11–12 April 2005 Wissenschaftszentrum, Bonn, Germany Roberto Acosta Inventories subprogramme Methods, Inventories and Science Programme UNFCCC secretariat racosta@unfccc.int

Mandate The SBSTA, at its nineteenth session, invited Parties to submit to the secretariat, information on national systems under Article 5.1 of the Kyoto Protocol for the preparation of national GHG inventories. It requested the secretariat, subject to availability of resources, to organize a workshop on this topic the first half of 2005.  It requested the secretariat to compile information on national systems for the preparation of national GHG inventories included in national inventory reports and inventory review reports as an input to this workshop, as part of its consideration of Articles 5, 7 and 8 of the Kyoto Protocol.

Background (I) Article 5.1 of the Kyoto Protocol establishes that Annex I Parties to the Protocol shall have in place a a national systems for the estimation of GHG emissions and removals. The guidelines for national systems under Article 5.1 of the Kyoto Protocol were negotiated and recommended for adoption during the twelfth session of the SBSTA in 2000, well before all the other COP/MOP decisions. These guidelines were recommended for adoption, as part of the Marrakech accords, by its decision 20/CP.7

Background (II) Although national systems are only mandatory for Annex I Parties to the Kyoto Protocol, many other Parties have developed national systems for better preparing their national GHG inventories. Article 4 of the Convention states that all Parties shall develop, periodically update, publish and make available to the COP national GHG inventories . Annex I Parties shall prepare annual GHG inventories in accordance with provisions of decision 18/CP.8. Non-Annex I Parties shall include GHG inventories in their national communication in accordance with provisions of decision 17/CP.8.

Objectives (I) Provide Parties with an opportunity to exchange experiences regarding the development and implementation of national systems for the preparation of greenhouse gas inventories. This exchange will be mainly focused on the experience of Annex I Parties. This exchange will cover both general and specific functions of national systems, such as institutional arrangements, QA/QC, and data collection.

Objectives (II) This is an exchange of experiences in a workshop requested by the SBSTA. This is a technical workshop, not a negotiation session: The guidelines of national systems were negotiated and recommended for adoption by the COP to the COP/MOP a long time ago and they are not open to any renegotiation.

Proceedings (I) 69 participants: 64 representatives from 51 Parties 2 representatives from the IPCC 3 representatives from 2 NGOs Non-Annex I Parties whose representatives should be funded were selected by the regional groups in Buenos Aires and by the Chairman of the SBSTA in the case of absence of a regional group. Some additional resources were sought to extend the invitation to the workshop to lead reviewers of non-Annex I Parties who are also representatives of their Parties in the SBs and/or COP, upon approval of their national focal points.

Proceedings (II) Development: Representatives from Parties will make short presentations (25!!!) on their experience with specific or general aspects of their national systems, following a general discussion. Facilitators will chair the sessions, including time control – PLEASE, HELP THEM WITH BRIEF PRESENTATIONS AND INTERVENTIONS – and will present a short summary of the deliberations at the wrap-up session. The facilitators were selected in coordination with the Chairman of the SBSTA. They are: Ms. Maria Paz Cigaran (Peru) and Mr. Art Jaques (Canada)

Proceedings (III) Outcome (1): It is expected that the exchange of the experiences will: assist Parties in the further development of their national systems; facilitate Annex I Parties to the Kyoto Protocol, to fulfill their commitments to have in place national systems, in accordance with the guidelines for national systems under Article 5.1, no later than 1st of January 2007.

Proceedings (IV) Outcome (2): It is expected that this exchange will also indicate the flexibility Parties may have to develop their national systems: each national system of Annex I Parties to the Kyoto Protocol shall perform the mandatory functions requested by the national systems guidelines, and it should perform the other non-mandatory functions described in the guidelines. each of these Parties may choose different ways or institutional arrangements to perform these functions, provided that the prepared and submitted inventories conform with the IPCC Guidelines/good practice guidance, as well as with the UNFCCC reporting guidelines.

Proceedings (V) Outcome (3): The deliberations of this workshop will assist the secretariat to prepare the e-learning training course to review national systems requested by decision 21/CP.9 The secretariat will publish submissions, presentations and papers provided by Parties on its website. The secretariat, with the assistance of the facilitators, will prepare a report of the workshop for the 23th session of the SBSTA.