Sources:
UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Secretariat (see: http://unfccc.int)
United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division, World Population Prospects: The 2008 Revision, New York, 2009 (advanced Excel tables).
Definitions & Technical notes:
Greenhouse gases (GHG) are those gaseous constituents of the atmosphere, both natural and anthropogenic, that absorb and emit radiation at specific wavelengths within the spectrum of thermal infrared radiation emitted by the Earth’s surface, the atmosphere itself, and by clouds. This property causes the greenhouse effect. Water vapour (H2O), carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrous oxide (N2O), methane (CH4) and ozone (O3) are the primary greenhouse gases in the Earth’s atmosphere. Moreover, there are a number of entirely human-made greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, such as the halocarbons and other chlorine- and bromine-containing substances, dealt with under the Montreal Protocol. Beside CO2, N2O and CH4, the Kyoto Protocol deals with the greenhouse gases sulphur hexafluoride (SF6), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) and perfluorocarbons (PFCs).
Total GHG emissions including LULUCF/LUCF refer to greenhouse gases emissions including emissions/removals from the forestry sector. The definition is different for Annex I and non-Annex I Parties. For Annex I Parties, the sector is called Land Use, Land-use Change and Forestry (LULUCF) whereas for non-Annex I Parties, it is called Land-use Change and Forestry (LUCF). These two definitions are close but not equivalent. Land use, land use change and forest may have an impact on the surface albedo, evapotranspiration, sources and sinks of greenhouse gases, or other properties of the climate system and may thus have a radioactive forcing and/or other impacts on climate, locally or globally.
Data on greenhouse gas emissions are usually estimated according to international methodologies on the basis of national statistics on energy, industrial and agricultural production, waste management and land use, etc.
The best known and most widely used methodology is the 1996 Guidelines of the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) (see http://www.ipcc-nggip.iges.or.jp/public/gl/invs1.htm) which is the basis for reporting to the UNFCCC. The latest revision and update of this guideline is 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories (see http://www.ipcc-nggip.iges.or.jp/public/2006gl/index.htm).
GHG emissions per capita is calculated by UNSD.
Data Quality:
Countries should report their greenhouse gas emissions to UNFCCC according to the IPCC Guidelines. The quality of data is regularly checked by UNFCCC for the Annex 1 parties to the Convention that report annually. Non-Annex 1 countries do not report on a regular basis and their data are not subject to the same thorough checking. Data quality depends on the quality of statistics underlying the calculations or estimates and is usually the best for energy related emissions; for other sources, the data should be used with caution when comparing countries.
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