Greenhouse Gas Inventory Experts Meeting in Wgtn

23 Febuary 2004
Media Statement

International Greenhouse Gas Inventory Experts Meeting in Wellington this Week

Wellington is hosting a meeting of lead international reviewers for the greenhouse gas inventory review process under the Framework Convention on Climate Change. Organised by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change secretariat in Bonn and the Ministry for the Environment’s Climate Change Office, the meeting is being held in Wellington from 23 to 25 February 2004.

The meeting is co-funded by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change secretariat and the governments of Australia, Canada, and New Zealand. It will be attended by about 30 lead reviewers from a wide range of countries. Officials from New Zealand and Australia involved in greenhouse gas inventory preparation (and who are not lead reviewers) have been invited to attend the meeting as observers.

Ministry for the Environment’s Sustainable Industry and Climate Change Group General Manager, Bill Bayfield, says that hosting the meeting in New Zealand provides a valuable learning opportunity for officials involved in New Zealand’s greenhouse gas inventory preparation by attending the lead reviewers’ meeting as observers.

“This meeting is integral to the success of the inventory review process under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and inventories are the prime means by which success against targets will be measured under the Kyoto Protocol. Good inventories also support New Zealand’s climate change policies which are based on robust emission estimate and land use change information.”

All countries that have signed the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change will take measures to address climate change including greenhouse gas inventories, national or regional programmes and preparation for adaptation to the impacts of climate change. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change took effect on 21 March 1994 and has been signed and ratified by over 189 nations, including New Zealand.

On an annual basis, developed countries greenhouse gas inventories undergo a process of in-depth technical review. These reviews are coordinated by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change secretariat, and involve teams of technical experts who conduct the reviews. Consistency is partly achieved through having an annual meeting of lead reviewers where interpretation of guidelines can be discussed, together with any problems that have arisen through the previous year’s review process.

“The New Zealand delegation will be lead by Helen Plume, New Zealand Climate Change Office’s Science and Inventory Team Manager. Ms Plume was recently elected to the Bureau of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Conference of the Parties for one year. The Bureau serves as the guardian of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change process,” Mr Bayfield said.

Each annual review process involves a total of about 12 review teams with two lead reviewers per team. The first annual lead reviewer’s meeting was held in Bonn in June 2003. The meeting in Wellington is the second annual meeting.

For more information:

See www.climatechange.govt.nz and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change website www.unfccc.int

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