Quality assurance / Quality control system for the Greek GHG emissions inventory Yannis Sarafidis, Elena Georgopoulou UNFCCC Workshop on National Systems under Article 5.1 of the Kyoto Protocol 11 – 12 April 2005

Structure of presentation  Institutional arrangements & Inventory preparation process  Description of the QA/QC system  Current status of implementation  Planned activities

Institutional arrangements  Ministry for the Environment, Physical Planning and Public Works  Development and implementation of environmental policy  Provision of information concerning the state of the environment  National System arrangements  National Observatory of Athens (NOA) - Technical responsibility  Monitoring committee within the Ministry  Procedures for providing responses to any issues raised by the inventory review process  Development of a QA/QC plan  Detailed official specification of the roles of and the co-operation between government agencies is still ongoing

GHG emissions inventory preparation process National Statistical Service Government Agencies Private Enterprises Data Collection Consistency Check Development / Selection of emission factors Methodological Choice GHG EMISSIONS ESTIMATION Compilation of CRF Tables Draft National Inventory Report COMMENTS Submission to European Commission and UNFCCC Secretariat Final NIR Reliability

Structure and tasks of the inventory team Energy Industrial processes SolventsAgricultureLULUCFWaste Emissions estimation Emissions estimates review Record keeping Data collection Data check Sectoral inventory reports National inventory report Archiving of inventory information Publication of results Web site update CRF compilation CRF check

QA/QC activities up to 2004 submission  Comparison of information from different data sources  Archiving of the emission factors used  Reference vs. Sectoral approach for CO 2 emissions estimates from the energy sector  Assessment of the observed trends  Comments from governmental agencies involved

QA/QC system development(1)  General framework  COP decisions  Compliance under the Kyoto Protocol  Requirements  Production of transparent, consistent, comparable, complete and accurate emissions estimates  Ensure sufficient capacity for the development of an inventory  Task-oriented approach followed  Data collection and processing  Application of methods for calculating / recalculating emissions or removals consistent with the guidelines  Making quantitative estimates of inventory uncertainty  Archiving of information and record keeping  Compilation of national inventory reports

QA/QC system development(2)  External consultant  References  IPCC Good Practice Guidance  ISO 9001:2000  Technical approach followed  Exchange of information  Inventory team activities and requirements (NOA  external consultant)  The principles of the ISO 9001:2000 standard (external consultant  NOA)  Development of draft documents and discussion  Finalisation of the QA/QC system

QA/QC system processes  QA/QC system management  Quality control  Archiving of inventory information  Quality assurance  Estimation of uncertainties  Inventory improvement

QA/QC system procedures

Typical structure of a procedure  Scope of the procedure  Description  Responsibilities  Critical factors for success  Efficiency indicators  Input  Output  Forms to be filled in  Association with other procedures

Examples of forms Personal communication with data provider List of data sources, checks and problems

QA/QC processes and inventory related activities

QA/QC system start-up  April 2004  Documents  Quality management handbook  Policy statement  Quality objectives  QA/QC system manual  Processes - Procedures  Forms  Inventory team organisation chart  Assignment of  QA/QC co-ordinator  File system manager  Training  Internal review

Quality objectives  Compliance with the IPCC guidelines and the UNFCCC reporting guidelines while estimating and reporting emissions / removals  Continuous improvement of GHG emissions / removals estimates  Timely submission of necessary information in compliance with relevant requirements defined in international conventions, protocols and agreements

Ongoing QA/QC activities  Recalculations  ICR of 2004 submission  Key categories analysis  Improved data availability in the framework of the EU-ETS  Emission factors  QC checks for some country-specific emission factors  Documentation of emission factors used  Activity data  References  Trend assessment  Cross-reference of activity data among different sources  Emission estimates  Trend assessment  IEF check

Overview of planned activities  Internal review  Improvement of the archiving of information related to the compilation of the GHG emissions / removals per source / sink category  Specification of procedures for interaction between NOA and governmental agencies related directly or indirectly in the preparation of the inventory  Development of a long term inventory improvement plan

Remarks  Experience from the initial implementation phase  Formalisation and documentation of inventory-related activities  A learning period is necessary for the active involvement of inventory team  Official arrangements for the National System (e.g. better information on QA/QC activities outside the inventory team)  Availability of human resources  Association of data providers with inventory development  Format of available activity data  Timing of availability