Global Protocol for

Community-Scale Greenhouse
Gas Emission Inventories
An Accounting and Reporting Standard for Cities

Lead Authors
Wee Kean Fong
Mary Sotos
Michael Doust
Seth Schultz
Ana Marques
Chang Deng-Beck

World Resources Institute

World Resources Institute
C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group
C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group
ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability
ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability

Contributing Author s
Alex Kovac
Pankaj Bhatia
Brooke Russell
Emily Morris
Maryke van Staden
Yunus Arikan
Amanda Eichel
Jonathan Dickinson
Rishi Desai
Dan Hoornweg

World Resources Institute

World Resources Institute
C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group
C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group
ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability
ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability
Bloomberg Philanthropies
Columbia University
Oliver Wyman
University of Ontario Institute of Technology

Advisory Commit tee

Pankaj Bhatia, Chair
Seth Schultz
Yunus Arikan
Stephen Hammer
Robert Kehew
Soraya Smaoun
Maria Varbeva-Daley
Kyra Appleby and Larissa Bulla
Alvin Meijia
Adam Szolyak
Michael Steinhoff
Junichi Fujino
Kiyoto Tanabe
Yoshiaki Ichikawa
Jan Corfee-Morlot
Christophe Nuttall
Sergey Kononov
Matthew Lynch
Carina Borgstrm-Hansson
Jean-Pierre Tabet
Farhan Helmy
Ragnhild Hammer
Ines Lockhart
Leah Davis
Yuuko Nishida
Victor Hugo Paramo
Amanda Eichel
Shirley Rodrigues
Stefan Denig

World Resources Institute

C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group
ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability
The World Bank
United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT)
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
British Standards Institution (BSI)
CDP
Clean Air Asia
EU Covenant of Mayors
ICLEI Local Governments for Sustainability USA
Institute for Global Environmental Strategies and National
Institute for Environmental Studies (IGES/NIES)
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
International Organization for Standardization (ISO)
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
R20 Regions of Climate Action
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD)
World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)
French Agency for Environment and Energy Management (ADEME)
Indonesia Climate Change Center (ICCC)
City of Arendal, Norway
City of Buenos Aires, Argentina
City of London, UK
City of Tokyo, Japan
Mexico City, Mexico
Bloomberg Philanthropies
Childrens Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF)
Siemens

Tableof Contents
Foreword

Executive Summary

Pa r t I : I n t r o d u c t i o n a n d R e p o r t i n g R e q u i r e m e n t s
1 Introduction
2 Accounting and Reporting Principles
3 Setting the Inventory Boundary
4 Reporting Requirements

Pa r t II : C a lc u l at i o n G u i da n c e by E m i s s i o n S o u rc e
5 Overview of Calculating GHG Emissions
6 Stationary Energy
7 Transportation
8 Waste
9 Industrial Processes and Product Use
10 Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use
Pa r t III : T r ac k i n g C h a n g e s a n d S e t t i n g G oa l s
11 Setting Goals and Tracking Emissions Over Time
12 Managing Inventory Quality and Verification
App e n d i c e s
A Survey of GHG standards and programs
B Inventories for local government operations
C Methodology reference
Abbreviations
Glossary
References
Recognitions

18
24
28
34

46
54
70
84
104
116

136
144

151

157
160
162
163
165
167

Detailed Table of Contents

Foreword

E x e c u t i v e S u m m a ry

Pa r t I :

Introduc tion and
Reporting Requirements
1 I n t r o d u c t i o n
1.1 Cities and climate change
1.2 Purpose of the GPC
1.3 Who should use the GPC
1.4 Using the GPC
1.5 Relationship to other city protocols
and standards
1.6 How this standard was developed
1.7 Local government operations

2 Acc o u n t i n g a n d
R e p o r t i n g P r i n c i pl e s
2.1 Accounting and reporting principles
2.2 Notation keys

17
18
19
20
20
20

5 O v e r v i e w o f C a lc u l at i n g
GHG E m i s s i o n s
5.1 Calculation methodology
5.2 Activity data
5.3 Sourcing activity data
5.4 Emission factors
5.5 Conversion of data to standard units
and CO2 equivalent
5.6 Managing data quality and uncertainty
5.7 Verification

45

46
47
48
48
50
50
52
53

21
22
23

24
25
26

3 Se t ting the In v entory Bou n dary 28

3.1 Geographic boundary
29
3.2 Time period
29
3.3 Greenhouse gases
30
3.4 GHG emission sources
30
3.5 Categorizing emissions by scope
31
3.6 Other scope 3 emissions
33
3.7 Boundaries for mitigation goals
33

4 R e p o r t i n g R e q u i r e m e n t s
4.1 The scopes and city-induced frameworks
4.2 Reporting requirements
4.3 Reporting recommendations
4.4 GPC reporting framework

Pa r t II :

C a lc u l at i o n G u i da n c e
by E m i s s i o n S o u rc e

34
35
38
40
40

6 S tat i o n a ry E n e rg y
6.1 Categorizing stationary energy sector
emissions by scope
6.2 Defining energy source sub-sectors
6.3 Calculating stationary fuel
combustion emissions
6.4 Calculating fugitive emissions from fuels
6.5 Calculating emissions from grid-supplied
energy consumption

54

7 T r a n s p o r tat i o n
7.1 Categorizing transportation emissions
by scope
7.2 Defining transport modes
7.3 Calculating on-road
transportation emissions
7.4 Calculating railway
transportation emissions
7.5 Calculating waterborne
navigation emissions
7.6 Calculating aviation emissions
7.7 Calculating off-road
transportation emissions

70

2 Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories

56
56
57
65
66

71
72
73
79
80
81
82

Detailed Table of Contents

8 Wa s t e
8.1 Categorizing waste
and wastewater emissions
8.2 Defining Solid Waste types
and general calculation procedures
8.3 Calculating emissions
from solid waste disposal
8.4 Calculating emissions
from biological treatment of solid waste
8.5 Calculating emissions
from waste incineration and open burning
8.6 Calculating emissions
from wastewater treatment

9 I n d u s t r i a l P r o c e s s e s
and Produc t Use
9.1 Categorizing IPPU emissions by scope
9.2 Defining industrial processes
and product uses
9.3 Calculation guidance
for industrial processes
9.4 Calculating product use emissions

10 Ag r i c u lt u r e , F o r e s t ry
a n d O t h e r L a n d U s e
10.1 Categorizing AFOLU emissions by scope
10.2 Defining AFOLU activities
10.3 Calculating livestock emissions
10.4 Calculating land use and land-use
change emissions
10.5 Calculating emissions from aggregate
sources and non-CO2 emissions sources
on land

84
85
87
90
94

Pa r t III :

T r ac k i n g C h a n g e s
a n d S e t t i n g G oa l s

135

11 S e t t i n g G oa l s a n d T r ac k i n g
136
Emissions Over Time
11.1 Setting goals and evaluating performance 137
11.2 Aligning goals with the inventory boundary 140
11.3 Tracking emissions over time
141
and recalculating emissions

94
99

104
105
105
106
112

116
117
117
118

12 M a n ag i n g I n v e n t o ry Q ua l i t y
a n d V e r i f i c at i o n
12.1 Managing inventory quality over time
12.2 Verification
12.3 Parameters of verification
12.4 Verification process

144
145
146
148
149

App e n d i c e s
A
Overview of GHG standards and programs
B
Inventories for local government operations
C
Methodology reference

150

Abbreviations

162

Glossary

163

References

165

Recognitions

167

151
157
160

122

124

The term city is used throughout this document to refer

to geographically discernable subnational entities, such
as communities, townships, cities, and neighborhoods.
In this document, city is also used to indicate all
levels of subnational jurisdiction as well as local
government as legal entities of public administration.

List of Tables and Figures

Ta b l e s
Table 1.1

What parts of the GPC should I read?

21

Table 1.2

GPC authors

22

Table 1.3

GPC development process

22

Table 8.3

Table 2.1

Use of notation keys

27

Table 8.4 Default data for CO2 emission factors for

Table 8.2

Comparing Methane Commitment to First

Order Decay method

92

Biological treatment emission factors

95

incineration and open burning

Table 3.1 Sectors and sub-sectors of city

GHG emissions

31

Table 8.5

CH4 emission factors for incineration

Table 3.2

Scopes definitions for city inventories

31

of MSW

Table 4.1

Inventory city information

40

Table 8.6 Default N2O emission factors for different

Table 4.2

GHG Emissions Summary

41

Table 4.3

GHG Emissions Report

42

Table 4.4(a) Scope 2 emissions based

on market-based method

44

Table 4.4(b) Offset credit transactions

44

Table 4.4(c) Renewable energy production

97
98

types of waste and management practices 99

Table 9.1

IPPU Overview

Table 9.2

Example industrial processes

and product uses

106

106

Table 9.3

Calculating mineral industry emissions

107

Table 9.4

Calculating chemical industry emissions

110

Metal industry

111

or investments

44

Table 9.5

Table 5.1

Data collection principles

48

Table 9.6 Non-energy product uses of fuels

Table 5.2

GWP of major GHG gases

51

and other chemical products

112

Table 5.3

Data quality assessment

53

Table 9.7

Non-energy product emissions

113

Table 6.1

Stationary Energy Overview

57

Table 9.8

Calculating emissions

Table 6.2

Definitions of stationary energy

from the electronics industry

source sub-sectors

Table 9.9

Substitutes for ozone depleting substances 115

58

Table 10.1 AFOLU Overview

Table 6.3 Definitions of temporary and permanent

workers quarters

60

industries and construction sub-sector

and corresponding IPCC references

61

off-road transportation activities

Table 10.4 Land use categories

sources on land

63

122
124
125

Table 11.1 Examples of city goal types

Table 6.7 An overview of reporting categorization for

waste-to-energy and bioenergy emissions

corresponding IPCC references

Table 10.5 Aggregate sources and non-CO2 emissions

Table 6.6 Detailed sub-categories of energy

industries sub-sector

119

Table 10.3 Land use categories and

62

118

Table 10.2 Livestock emission sources

Table 6.4  Detailed sub-categories of manufacturing

Table 6.5 Overview of reporting guidance for

114

and inventory need

64

Table 6.8 Reporting guidance for energy sources in

140

Table 11.2 Example of recalculation triggers

143

agriculture, forestry, and fishing activities 65

Table 12.1 Example QA/QC procedures

147

Table 7.1

Transportation Overview

73

Table A.1 Scope definitions for corporate and city

151

Table 7.2

Boundary types and scopes allocation

78

Table A.2 Review of existing standards on GHG

accounting and reporting

Table 7.3 Comparing top-down and bottom-up

154

methodologies for on-road transportation 78

Table A.3 Comparison of emissions sources categories 156

Table 7.4

Railway types

79

Table C.1 Methodology reference

Table 8.1

Waste Overview

87

4 Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories

160

Figures

B ox es

Figure 3.1 Sources and boundaries

Box 2.1 Kampala data challenges

26

32

Box 2.2 Use of notation keysJohannesburg

27

Figure 4.1 Sources and scopes covered by the GPC

37

Box 3.1 Scope 3 sourcesKing County

33

Figure 7.1 ASIF framework

74

Box 4.2 Reporting biogenic CO2 emissions

39

Figure 7.2 Induced activity allocation

76

Box 6.1 The market-based method for

Figure 7.3 Methodology system boundaries

77

scope2 accounting

of city GHG emissions

Box 6.2 Identifying electricity consumption data

Figure 8.1 Boundaries for imported

and exported waste

67

Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality

86

68

Box 6.3 Local electricity grid emission factors

Figure 10.1 Overview of AFOLU emission sources

119

Figure11.1 Example of a base year emissions goal

138

Figure11.2 Example of a fixed-level goal

138

Box 7.1 On-road calculation based on models

Figure11.3 Example of a base year intensity goal

139

Figure11.4 Example of a baseline scenario goal

139

Box 7.2 Reporting emissions from regional

Figure B.1 Major steps for LGO inventories

158

transport hubsLondon

WaterlooRegion

69

North Park

75
83

Box 8.1 Waste and stationary energy emissions

88

Box 8.3 Estimating emissions from wastewater directly

discharged into an open body of water

100

Box 9.1 Calculating emissions from product use

using a consumption-based approach

115

Box 11.1 Setting goals and tracking progress

NewYorkCity

138

Box 11.2 Adjustments to identify energy consumption

emissions net of energy production

142

E quatio n s
Equation 5.1  Emission factor approach for calculating
GHG emissions

Equation 10.6 CO2 emissions from land use

48

and land-use change 123

Equation 5.2

Scaling methodology 49

Equation 10.7 GHG emissions from biomass burning 125

Equation 8.1

Degradable organic carbon (DOC)

Equation 10.8 CO2 emissions from liming

90

estimate for solid waste sent to landfill 93

Equation 8.3 Methane commitment estimate
for solid waste sent to landfill 93
Equation 8.4

Equation 10.10 Direct N2O from managed soils

126

Equation 10.11 Direct N2O-N from managed soils

127

Equation 10.12 Direct N2O-N from managed

inorganic soils 127

Methane generation potential, L0 94

Equation 10.13 Direct N2O-N from urine and dung

Equation 8.5 Direct emissions from biologically

treated solid waste 95

to soils

the incineration of waste 96

Equation 8.7 CH4 emissions from the incineration

Equation 10.16 N in urine and dung deposited

N2O emissions from the incineration

of waste 99

by grazing animals on pasture,

range and paddock
and forage/pasture renewal

treatment 101

as a result of loss of soil C through

change in land use or management

in domestic wastewater 102

Equation 9.1

Calcination example 107

Equation 9.2

Emissions from cement production

108

of N volatilized from managed soils

managed soils in regions where

Equation 9.3

Emissions from lime production

108

leaching/runoff occurs

Emissions from glass production 108

Equation 10.21  Indirect N2O emissions

Equation 9.5 

CO2 emissions from non-energy

manure management
manure management

Equation 10.4 Annual N excretion rates

131

Equation 10.22 N losses due to volatilization

from manure management
Equation 10.23 CH4 emissions from rice cultivation
120

Equation 10.3 N2O emissions from

from manure management

119

Equation 10.2 CH4 emissions from

131

due to volatilization of N
112

Equation 10.1 CH4 emissions from

enteric fermentation

130

Equation 10.20  N2O from leaching/runoff from

Equation 9.4

130

Equation 10.19 N2O from atmospheric deposition

wastewater effluent 103

product uses

129

Equation 10.18 N mineralized in mineral soils

Equation 8.10 Organic content and emission factors

Equation 8.11 Indirect N2O emissions from

129

Equation 10.17  N from crop residues

Equation 8.9 CH4 generation from wastewater

128

Equation 10.15 N from animal manure applied to soils 128

97

Equation 8.8

127

Equation 10.14  N from organic N additions applied

Equation 8.6 Non-biogenic CO2 emissions from

of waste

125

Equation 10.9 CO2 emissions from urea fertilization 126

Equation 8.2 First order of decay (FOD) model

132
133

Equation 10.24 Adjusted daily emission factors 133

Equation 10.25  Adjusted CH4 emission scaling factors

121
121

Equation 10.5  Carbon emissions from land use

and land-use change 122

6 Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories

for organic amendments

134

Foreword
Cities are integral to tackling the global challenge of
climate change, as both a major source of greenhouse
gas emissions, and a major source of innovative climate
solutions. An estimated 70 percent of the worlds energyrelated greenhouse gas emissions come from cities,
a number that is likely to continue to increase as twothirds of all people are expected to live in urban areas
by mid-century. At the same time, cities are designing
and implementing groundbreaking solutions to mitigate
climate change promoting sustainable development and
increasing climate resilience while reducing emissions. In
order to have maximum global impact, however, city leaders
need a standard by which to measure their emissions
and identify the most effective ways to mitigate them.
The Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse
Gas Emission Inventories (GPC) offers cities and local
governments a robust, transparent and globally-accepted
framework to consistently identify, calculate and report on
city greenhouse gases. This includes emissions released
within city boundaries as well as those occurring outside
them as a result of activities taking place within the city.
The GPC establishes credible emissions accounting and
reporting practices that help cities develop an emissions
baseline, set mitigation goals, create more targeted climate
action plans and track progress over time, as well as
strengthen opportunities for cities to partner with other
levels of government and increase access to local and
international climate financing.

Andrew Steer
President and CEO, WRI

The GPC has already been adopted as a central component

of the Compact of Mayors, the worlds largest cooperative
effort among mayors and city officials to reduce greenhouse
gas emissions, track progress and prepare for the impacts of
climate change. Launched in September 2014, the Compact
aims to undertake a transparent and supportive approach to
reduce greenhouse gas emissions and address climate risk,
in a manner consistent with and complementary to the
international climate negotiation process under the United
Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
Urban areas are a logical setting for implementing and
measuring climate action. Local governments can be
more nimble where regional or national governments are
more restricted by bureaucracy. Mayors, local councils and
community leaders understand local needs and constraints,
which often results in bolder, more effective action being
taken. They can track the performance of city services, guide
change in the community and set regulations that govern
land use, building efficiency, and local transportation.
Thousands of cities are already taking action to reduce
emissions and improve climate resilience. With the GPC,
these cities and their advocates have a global standard to
track greenhouse gas performance and lead the way to a
more sustainable future.

Eduardo Paes
C40 Chair and Mayor of Rio de Janeiro

David Cadman
President, ICLEI

Executive Summary

8 Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories

Executive Summary

ities are the global centers of communication, commerce and culture.

They are also a significant, and growing, source of energy consumption
and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. A citys ability to take effective

action on mitigating climate change, and monitor progress, depends on having

access to good quality data on GHG emissions. Planning for climate action begins
with developing a GHG inventory. An inventory enables cities to understand the
emissions contribution of different activities in the community.

Introduction
Inventory methods that cities have used to date vary
significantly. This inconsistency makes comparisons between
cities difficult, raises questions around data quality, and
limits the ability to aggregate local, subnational, and national
government GHG emissions data. To allow for more
credible and meaningful reporting, greater consistency
in GHG accounting is required. The Global Protocol for
Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories
(GPC) responds to this challenge and offers a robust and
clear framework that builds on existing methodologies
for calculating and reporting city-wide GHG emissions.
The GPC requires cities to measure and disclose a
comprehensive inventory of GHG emissions and to total
these emissions using two distinct but complementary
approaches. One captures emissions from both production

and consumption activities taking place within the city

boundary, including some emissions released outside
the city boundary. The other categorizes all emissions
into scopes, depending on where they physically occur.
Separate accounting of emissions physically released
within the city boundary should be used for aggregation of
multiple city inventories in order to avoid double counting.
The GPC is divided into three main parts:

Part I introduces the GPC reporting and accounting

principles, sets out how to define the inventory boundary,
specifies reporting requirements and offers a sample
reporting template

 Part II provides overarching and sector-specific accounting

and reporting guidance for sourcing data and calculating
emissions, including calculation methods and equations

Table 1 Sectors and sub-sectors of city GHG emissions

Sectors and sub-sectors

Part III shows how inventories can be used to set

mitigation goals and track performance over time, and
shows how cities can manage inventory quality
Note, the term city is used throughout this document
to refer to any geographically discernable subnational
entity, such as a community, town, city, or province, and
covers all levels of subnational jurisdiction as well as local
government as legal entities of public administration.

STATIONARY ENERGY

Residential buildings
Commercial and institutional buildings and facilities
Manufacturing industries and construction
Energy industries
Agriculture, forestry, and fishing activities
Non-specified sources

Defining an inventory boundary

and emission sources
To use the GPC, cities must first define an inventory boundary.
This identifies the geographic area, time span, gases, and
emission sources, covered by a GHG inventory. Any geographic
boundary may be used for the GHG inventory. Depending
on the purpose of the inventory, the boundary can align with
the administrative boundary of a local government, a ward or
borough within a city, a combination of administrative divisions,
a metropolitan area, or another geographically identifiable
entity. The GPC is designed to account for GHG emissions in
a single reporting year and covers the seven gases covered by
the Kyoto Protocol (Section 3.3 in the report).
GHG emissions from city activities shall be classified into
six main sectors:

Stationary energy
Transportation
Waste
Industrial processes and product use (IPPU)

Fugitive emissions from mining, processing, storage, and

transportation of coal
Fugitive emissions from oil and natural gas systems
TRANS P ORTATION

On-road
Railways
Waterborne navigation
Aviation
Off-road
WASTE

Solid waste disposal

Biological treatment of waste
Incineration and open burning
Wastewater treatment and discharge
INDUSTRIA L P RO C ESSES AND P RODU C T USE ( I P P U )

Industrial processes
Product use
AGRICULTURE, FORESTRY AND OTHER LAND USE (AFOLU)

Agriculture, forestry, and other land use (AFOLU)

Livestock

Any other emissions occurring outside the geographic

Land

boundary as a result of city activities. These emissions

are not covered in this version of the GPC but may be
reported separately

Aggregate sources and non-CO2 emission sources on land

OTHER S C O P E 3

Table 1 breaks these six sectors down by sub-sector.

10 Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories

Executive Summary

Categorizing emissions

Table 2 Scopes definitions for city inventories

Activities taking place within a city can generate GHG

emissions that occur inside the city boundary as well as
outside the city boundary. To distinguish among them,
the GPC groups emissions into three categories based on
where they occur: scope 1, scope 2 or scope 3 emissions.
Definitions are provided in Table 2, based on an adapted
application of the scopes framework used in the GHG
Protocol Corporate Standard.
The scopes framework helps to differentiate emissions
occurring physically within the city (scope 1), from those
occurring outside the city (scope 3) and from the use
of electricity, steam, and/or heating/cooling supplied by
grids which may or may not cross city boundaries (scope
2). Scope 1 emissions may also be termed territorial
emissions because they occur discretely within the territory
defined by the geographic boundary. Figure 1 illustrates

Scope

Definition

Scope 1

GHG emissions from sources located within

the city boundary

Scope 2

GHG emissions occurring as a consequence

of the use of grid-supplied electricity, heat,
steam and/or cooling within the city boundary

Scope 3

All other GHG emissions that occur outside

the city boundary as a result of activities taking
place within the city boundary

which emission sources occur solely within the geographic

boundary established for the inventory, which occur outside
the geographic boundary, and which may occur across the
geographic boundary.

Figure 1 Sources and boundaries of city GHG emissions

Scope 3

Scope 1

in-boundary
waste &
wastewater

agriculture,
forestry & other
land use

out-of-boundary
waste &
wastewater

Scope 2

other indirect
emissions

stationary fuel
combustion

industrial
processes &
product use

grid-supplied
energy

in-boundary
transportation

Inventory boundary (including scopes 1, 2 and 3)

Geographic city boundary (including scope 1)

transmission &
distribution

out-of-boundary
transportation

Grid-supplied energy from a regional grid (scope 2)

11

Aggregating city inventories

The GPC has been designed to allow city inventories to be
aggregated at subnational and national levels in order to:

Improve the data quality of a national inventory,

particularly where major cities inventories are reported;

Measure the contribution of city mitigation actions to

regional or national GHG emission reduction targets;

And identify innovative transboundary and crosssectorial strategies for GHG mitigation.
Aggregation of multiple city inventories can be accomplished
by combining the scope 1 (territorial) emissions of cities
whose inventory boundaries do not overlap geographically.

Reporting requirements
The GPC requires cities to report their emissions by gas,
scope, sector and subsector, and to add up emissions
using two distinct but complementary approaches:

Scopes framework: This totals all emissions by scope

1, 2 and 3. Scope 1 (or territorial emissions) allows
for the separate accounting of all GHG emissions
produced within the geographic boundary of the
city, consistent with national-level GHG reporting.

City-induced framework: This totals GHG emissions

attributable to activities taking place within the
geographic boundary of the city. It covers selected
scope 1, 2 and 3 emission sources representing the key
emitting sources occurring in almost all cities, and for
which standardized methods are generally available.
Chapter 4 of the GPC sets out reporting requirements
and explains how to add up emission totals. Cities
may also report emissions based on relevant local
or program-specific requirements in addition to the
requirements of the GPC. GHG inventories should be
updated on a regular basis using the most recent data
available. The GPC recommends that cities update their
inventory on an annual basis, as it provides frequent
and timely progress on overall GHG emissions.

Table 3 summarizes the emissions sources and scopes

covered by the GPC for both city-level and territorial
reporting. Cities should aim to cover all emissions for
which reliable data are available. To accommodate
limitations in data availability and differences in emission
sources between cities, the GPC requires the use of
notation keys, as recommended in IPCC Guidelines,
and an accompanying explanation to justify exclusion or
partial accounting of GHG emission source categories.
The city-induced framework gives cities the option of
selecting between two reporting levels: BASIC or BASIC+.
The BASIC level covers scope 1 and scope 2 emissions
from stationary energy and transportation, as well as
scope 1 and scope 3 emissions from waste. BASIC+
involves more challenging data collection and calculation
processes, and additionally includes emissions from IPPU
and AFOLU and transboundary transportation. Therefore,
where these sources are significant and relevant for a
city, the city should aim to report according to BASIC+.
The sources covered in BASIC+ also align with sources
required for national reporting in IPCC guidelines.
Tick marks in Table 3 indicate which emissions sources
are covered by the GPC, and cells are colored to indicate
their inclusion in city-level BASIC or BASIC+ totals and the
territorial total. Rows written in italics represent
sub-sector emissions required for territorial emission
totals but not BASIC/BASIC+. Gray cells in the scope
2 column indicate emission sources that do not have
applicable GHG emissions in that scope category. Emission
sources corresponding to the blank boxes in the scope
3 column are not required for reporting, but may be
identified and disclosed separately under Other Scope 3.
The GPC provides a sample reporting template that covers
all reporting requirements. Cities may report GHG emissions
in a variety of additional formats depending on purpose and
audience, and may also disaggregate emissions by fuel type,
municipal operations within each sector or sub-sector, etc.

12 Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories

Executive Summary

Figure 2 Sources and scopes covered by the GPC

Sectors and sub-sectors

Scope 1

Scope 2

Scope 3

Residential buildings

Commercial and institutional buildings and facilities

Manufacturing industries and construction

Energy industries

Energy generation supplied to the grid

Agriculture, forestry, and fishing activities

Non-specified sources

Fugitive emissions from mining, processing, storage, and transportation of coal

Fugitive emissions from oil and natural gas systems

S tat i o n a r y E n e r g y

TRANS P ORTATION

On-road

Railways

Waterborne navigation

Aviation

Off-road

WASTE

Disposal of solid waste generated in the city

Disposal of solid waste generated outside the city

Biological treatment of waste generated in the city

Biological treatment of waste generated outside the city

Incineration and open burning of waste generated in the city

Incineration and open burning of waste generated outside the city

Wastewater generated in the city

Wastewater generated outside the city

INDUSTRIA L P RO C ESSES AND P RODU C T USE ( I P P U )

Industrial processes

Product use

AGRI C U LTURE , FORESTRY AND O t h e r L AND USE ( AFO L U )

Livestock

Land

Aggregate sources and non-CO2 emission sources on land

OTHER S C O P E 3

Other Scope 3

 Sources covered by the GPC

+

Sources required for BASIC+ reporting

Sources included in Other Scope 3

S ources required for BASIC reporting

 
Sources required for territorial total but not for BASIC/BASIC+ reporting (italics)
N
 on-applicable emissions

13

Calculating GHG emissions

Part II of the GPC provides overarching and sector-specific
reporting guidance for sourcing data and calculating
emissions. Cities should select the most appropriate
methodologies based on the purpose of their inventory,
availability of data, and consistency with their countrys
national inventory and/or other measurement and
reporting programs in which they participate. The GPC
does not require specific methodologies to be used to
produce emissions data; rather it specifies the principles
and rules for compiling a city-wide GHG emissions
inventory. Where relevant, the GPC recommends
using methodologies aligned with the 2006 IPCC
Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories.
For most emission sources, cities will need to estimate
GHG emissions by multiplying activity data by an emission
factor associated with the activity being measured. Activity
data is a quantitative measure of a level of activity that
results in GHG emissions taking place during a given
period of time (e.g., volume of gas used, kilometers driven,
tonnes of waste sent to landfill, etc.). An emission factor
is a measure of the mass of GHG emissions relative to
a unit of activity. For example, estimating CO2 emissions
from the use of electricity involves multiplying data on
kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity used by the emission
factor (kgCO2/kWh) for electricity, which will depend on
the technology and type of fuel used to generate the
electricity. GHG emissions data shall be reported as metric
tonnes of each GHG as well as CO2 equivalents (CO2e).
Data can be gathered from a variety of sources, including
government departments and statistics agencies, a countrys
national GHG inventory report, universities and research
institutes, scientific and technical articles in environmental
books, journals and reports, and sector experts/stakeholder
organizations. In general, it is preferable to use local and
national data over international data, and data from publiclyavailable, peer-reviewed and reputable sources, often
available through government publications. Where the best
available activity data do not align with the geographical
boundary of the city or the time period of the assessment,
the data can be adapted to meet the inventory boundary
by adjusting for changes in activity using a scaling factor.

Emission factors should be relevant to the inventory

boundary and specific to the activity being measured.

Tracking progress and setting goals

Inventories can be used as the basis for setting mitigation
goals and tracking performance over time. For many
cities with existing climate action plans and targets, the
mitigation goal boundary used will be different to the
inventory boundary outlined above or will apply to a subset
of the GHGs, scopes, or emission sources set out in the
GPC. Cities are encouraged to align their mitigation goal
boundary to the GPC inventory boundary, but where the
mitigation goal boundary remains different from the GPC
inventory boundary, cities should explain the differences,
and reason for the differences, to avoid any confusion.

Managing inventory
quality and verification
The GPC does not require that cities verify their inventory
results, but recommends that cities choose the level and
type of verification that meets their needs and capacity.
To manage inventory quality over time, cities should
establish a management plan for the inventory process.
The design of an inventory management plan should provide
for the selection, application, and updating of inventory
methodologies as new data and research become available.
Verification involves an assessment of the completeness
and accuracy of reported data. Cities may choose to
verify their data to demonstrate that their calculations
are in accordance with the requirements of the GPC
and provide confidence to users that the reported GHG
emissions are a fair reflection of a citys activities. This
can be used to increase credibility of publicly reported
emissions information with external audiences and increase
confidence in the data used to develop climate action
plans, set GHG targets and track progress. Verification
can be performed by the same organization that
conducted the GPC assessment (self-verification), or by
an independent organization (third-party verification).

14 Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories

Executive Summary

Figure 3 Emission source sectors

Sectors in the GPC

S tat i o n a r y E n e r g y

Stationary energy sources are one of the largest contributors to a citys GHG emissions.
These emissions come from the combustion of fuel in residential, commercial and
institutional buildings and facilities and manufacturing industries and construction, as well
as power plants to generate grid-supplied energy. This sector also includes fugitive
emissions, which typically occur during extraction, transformation, and transportation of
primary fossil fuels.
T r a n s p o r tat i o n

Transportation covers all journeys by road, rail, water and air, including inter-city and
international travel. GHG emissions are produced directly by the combustion of fuel or
indirectly by the use of grid-supplied electricity. Collecting accurate data for transportation
activities, calculating emissions and allocating these emissions to cities can be a particularly
challenging process. To accommodate variations in data availability, existing transportation
models, and inventory purposes, the GPC offers additional flexibility in calculating emissions
from transportation.
Wa ste

Waste disposal and treatment produces GHG emissions through aerobic or anaerobic
decomposition, or incineration. GHG emissions from solid waste shall be calculated by disposal
route, namely landfill, biological treatment and incineration and open burning. If methane is
recovered from solid waste or wastewater treatment facilities as an energy source, it shall be
reported under Stationary Energy. Similarly, emissions from incineration with energy recovery
are reported under Stationary Energy.
Industrial Processes and Product Use (IPPU)

GHG emissions are produced from a wide variety of non-energy related industrial activities.
The main emission sources are releases from industrial processes that chemically or physically
transform materials (e.g., the blast furnace in the iron and steel industry, and ammonia and
other chemical products manufactured from fossil fuels and used as chemical feedstock).
During these processes many different GHGs can be produced. In addition, certain products
used by industry and end-consumers, such as refrigerants, foams or aerosol cans, also contain
GHGs which can be released during use and disposal.
A g r i c u lt u r e , F o r e s t r y a n d O t h e r L a n d U s e ( AFO L U )

Emissions from the Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use (AFOLU) sector are produced
through a variety of pathways, including livestock (enteric fermentation and manure
management), land use and land use change (e.g., forested land being cleared for cropland
or settlements), and aggregate sources and non-CO2 emission sources on land (e.g., fertilizer
application and rice cultivation). Given the highly variable nature of land-use and agricultural
activity across geographies, GHG emissions from AFOLU are amongst the most complex
categories for GHG accounting.

15

If we want to turn the tide against climate change, cities will need to lead the
way. Compact and efficient cities can dramatically reduce emissions and will drive
innovation and sustained economic growth. Until recently there has been no consistent
way to measure city-level emissions. Now, that has changed. We now have a common
international standard to inform strategies to cut emissions and create better, more
livable cities.
Andrew Steer, President and CEO, WRI

As C40 Chair and Mayor of Rio de Janeiro, I know that building a greenhouse gas
emissions inventory enables city leaders to manage their emissions reduction efforts,
allocate resources and develop comprehensive climate action plans. With the launch
of the GPC, cities now have a consistent, transparent and internationally recognized
approach to measuring and reporting citywide emissions, allowing for credible
comparison and aggregation across timescales and geographies. On behalf of C40,
I would like to thank WRI and ICLEI for their partnership in building this powerful standard
that will benefit cities across the globe. I strongly encourage other cities around the world
to take up this new standard as a key step in the global fight against climate change.
Eduardo Paes, C40 Chair and Mayor of Rio de Janeiro

With the launch of the GPC, we now have the most comprehensive greenhouse
gas accounting and reporting framework for cities worldwide. Drafting and piloting
since 2012, the GPC marks a historic international consensus on GHG accounting and
reporting emissions, allowing local governments to measure and track their performances
in a consistent standard, guided by international best practices. This published version
would not have been possible without the excellent cooperation between WRI, C40 and
ICLEI, as well as the practical insight and valuable feedback provided by the 35 pilot cities
that tested earlier versions in their cities. ICLEI wants to thank these partners and cities
for their indispensable contribution to this game-changing Protocol.
David Cadman, President, ICLEI

16 Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories

Part I

Introduction and
Reporting Requirements

Introduction

ities are the global centers of communication, commerce and culture. They
are also a significant, and growing, source of energy consumption and
account for a large percentage of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

With a majority of the worlds urban areas situated on coastlines, cities are also
particularly vulnerable to global environmental change, such as rising sea levels
and coastal storms. Therefore, cities play a key role in tackling climate change and
responding to climate impacts.

1.1

Cities and climate change

A citys ability to take effective action on mitigating climate

change, and monitor progress, depends on having access to
good quality data on GHG emissions. Planning for climate
action begins with developing a GHG inventory. An inventory
enables cities to understand the emissions contribution
of different activities in the community. It allows cities to
determine where to best direct mitigation efforts, create a
strategy to reduce GHG emissions, and track their progress.
Many cities have already developed GHG inventories,
and use them to set emission reduction targets, inform
their climate action plans, and track their performance.
In addition, a city-wide GHG inventory can help cities
meet legal and voluntary requirements to measure and
report GHG emissions data. A growing number of cities

are choosing to disclose GHG emissions data through

voluntary reporting platforms, such as the carbonn
Climate Registry and CDP to enhance transparency
and give stakeholders easier access to their results.
Furthermore, it is often a requirement or prerequisite
from city project funders and donors that cities measure
their GHG emissions using best practice standards.
However, the inventory methods that cities have used to
date vary in terms of what emission sources and GHGs
are included in the inventory; how emissions sources are
defined and categorized; and how transboundary emissions
are treated. This inconsistency makes comparisons
between cities difficult, raises questions around data
quality, and limits the ability to aggregate local, subnational,
and national government GHG emissions data.

19

To allow for more credible reporting, meaningful

benchmarking and aggregation of climate data, greater
consistency in GHG accounting is required. This Global
Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emission
Inventories (GPC) responds to this challenge, offering
a robust and clear framework that builds on existing
methodologies for calculating and reporting city-wide
GHG emissions.

wards within a city, towns, districts, counties, prefectures,

provinces, and states. In this document, the term city is
used to refer to all of these jurisdictions, unless otherwise
specified. However, the GPC does not define what
geographic boundary constitutes a city. Similarly, the
terms community-scale is used to refer to inventories
encompassing any of these geographic designations, and
is used interchangeably with city-scale or city-wide
inventories.

1.2

Policy makers at the regional or national level can also

use this standard to understand how to aggregate
multiple cities emissions together to improve national
inventory data, to inform mitigation goals or policies, or
to track city emission trends. 2

Purpose of the GPC

The GPC sets out requirements and provides guidance

for calculating and reporting city-wide GHG emissions,
consistent with the 2006 IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel
on Climate Change) Guidelines for National Greenhouse
Gas Inventories (also referred to as just IPCC Guidelines
throughout this report). The GPC seeks to:

Help cities develop a comprehensive and robust GHG

inventory in order to support climate action planning.

Help cities establish a base year emissions inventory, set

reduction targets, and track their performance.

Ensure consistent and transparent measurement and

reporting of GHG emissions between cities, following
internationally recognized GHG accounting and reporting
principles.
Enable city inventories to be aggregated at subnational
and national levels.1
Demonstrate the important role that cities play in
tackling climate change, and facilitate insight through
benchmarkingand aggregationof comparable data.

1.4

Using the GPC

The GPC provides a robust framework for accounting and

reporting city-wide GHG emissions. It requires cities to
measure and disclose a comprehensive inventory of GHG
emissions and to aggregate these using two distinct but
complementary frameworks: one focusing on geographically
defined emissions, the other on city-induced emissions.
The former allows for the aggregation of multiple city
inventories while avoiding double counting. The GPC
includes guidance on compiling city-wide GHG inventories
and also offers a sample reporting template (see Table4.3).

The GPC can be used by anyone assessing the GHG

emissions of a geographically defined, subnational area.
Although the GPC is primarily designed for cities, the
accounting framework can also be used for boroughs or

Specific methodology guidance for each sector is provided

in PART II (Chapters 610). These chapters identify
calculation methods and data options, and provide
calculation equations or procedures where relevant.
The GPC also references IPCC Guidelines and other
resources to assist cities in completing these calculations
and sourcing relevant data. Cities can implement the
requirements of the GPC using a variety of local, national
or default data depending on what is available. See
Table1.1 to identify key chapter themes and questions.

1. Aggregation of multiple city inventories can be used to: improve the

data quality of a national inventory, particularly where major cities
inventories are reported; measure the contribution of city-wide
mitigation actions. to regional or national GHG emission reduction
targets; and identify innovative transboundary and cross-sectorial
strategies for GHG mitigation.

2. Individual businesses, residents or institutions in a city can use

this standard to understand the overall performance of the city,
but should not calculate their individual footprint by taking GPC
reported emissions divided by the population of the city. Instead,
individuals or organizations should use corporate or institutionbased methods for their own inventories.

1.3

Who should use the GPC

20 Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories

CHAPTER 1 Introduction

1.4.1 Shall, Should and May Terminology

The GPC uses precise language to indicate which
provisions of the standard are requirements, which are
recommendations, and which are permissible or allowable
options that cities may choose to follow.

The term shall is used throughout this standard to

indicate what is required in order for a GHG inventory
to be in compliance with the GPC.
The term should is used to indicate a recommendation,
but not a requirement.

The term may is used to indicate an option that is

permissible or allowable.

1.5

Relationship to other city

protocols and standards

The GPC builds upon the knowledge, experiences, and

practices of existing standards used by cities to measure citywide GHG emissions. An overview of these and how their
requirements and boundaries relate to the GPC is provided
in Appendix A. Upon publication, the GPC will supersede

Table 1.1 What parts of the GPC should I read?

Type of accounting

Purpose

How does the GPC compare to other inventory methods used by cities?

Ch. 1 and Appendix A

What are the key principles to follow in creating a GHG inventory?

Ch. 2

What are notation keys, and how should they be used?

Ch. 2 and Ch. 4

What activities should I include in my GHG inventory? What gases? What time frame?

Ch. 3

How do I distinguish emissions occurring within the geographic boundary of the inventory, vs.
those outside of the boundary?

Ch. 3

What are the reporting requirements for a city-wide GHG inventory?

Ch. 4

How do I collect data for the inventory?

Ch. 5

How do I calculate emissions from stationary energy production and use?

Ch. 6

How do I calculate emissions from transportation?

Ch. 7

How do I calculate emissions from waste treatment?

Ch. 8

How do I calculate emissions from industrial processes and product use?

Ch. 9

How do I calculate emissions from agriculture, forestry and other land use?

Ch. 10

How do I set a base year, set GHG emission reduction targets, and track emissions over time?

Ch. 11

How do I ensure inventory quality over time, and prepare for verification?

Ch. 12

How should I report emissions from local government operations?

Appendix B

Where do I find a quick overview of methodologies in the GPC?

Appendix C

21

the provisions related to community GHG emissions of the

International Local Government Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Analysis Protocol (developed by ICLEI), and the International
Standard for Determining Greenhouse Gas Emissions for
Cities (developed by The World Bank, United Nations
Environment Programme (UNEP), and UN-HABITAT).

1.6

How this standard was developed

The GPC is the result of a collaborative effort between

the GHG Protocol at World Resources Institute (WRI),
C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group (C40), and
ICLEILocal Governments for Sustainability (ICLEI). See
Table1.2 for a short description of each organization.
Development of the GPC began in So Paulo in June 2011
as a result of a Memorandum of Understanding between
C40 and ICLEI. In 2012, the partnership expanded to
include WRI and the Joint Work Programme of the Cities
Alliance between the World Bank, UNEP, and UN-HABITAT.
An early draft (Version 0.9) was released in March 2012 for
public comment. The GPC was then updated (Pilot Version
1.0) and tested with 35 cities worldwide. Based on the pilot
testing feedback, the GPC was revised and issued for a
second public comment (Version 2.0) in July-August 2014.

Table 1.3 GPC development process

Date
2011

Milestone
June

Memorandum of Understanding
between C40 and ICLEI

March

GPC Draft Pilot (Version 0.9)

released for public comment

May

GPC Draft Pilot (Version 1.0)

released

2012

Pilot testing with 35 cities

worldwide

2013

July

GPC Draft (Version 2.0)

released for public comment

December

Final GPC published

2014

In 2015 the GPC authors will begin developing an expanded

version, which will provide additional guidance on identifying
and quantifying GHG emissions occurring outside the
city boundary associated with cities activities (scope 3
emissions). This will allow cities to take a broader and more

Table 1.2 GPC authors

Organization

Description

WRI is a global research organization that works closely with leaders to turn big ideas into action to
WRI and
the GHG Protocol

sustain a healthy environmentthe foundation of economic opportunity and human well-being. The
GHG Protocol is a partnership of businesses, non-governmental organizations, governments, and
others convened by WRI and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development to develop
internationally-accepted GHG accounting and reporting standards and tools.

C40 is a network of the worlds megacities committed to addressing climate change both locally and
C40

globally. Established in 2005, C40 is comprised of 70 cities from around the world and offers an
effective forum where cities can collaborate, share knowledge and drive meaningful, measurable and
sustainable action on climate change.

ICLEI is a leading association of cities and local governments dedicated to sustainable development.
ICLEI

ICLEI represents a movement of over 1,000 cities and towns in 88 countries. ICLEI promotes local
action for global sustainability and supports cities to become sustainable, resilient, resource-efficient,
biodiverse, and low-carbon.

22 Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories

CHAPTER 1 Introduction

holistic approach to measuring their GHG impact, as well

as identify opportunities for realizing more efficient urban
supply chains.

1.7

Local government operations

In addition to compiling a city-wide GHG inventory,

local governments may also want to measure GHG
emissions from their own municipal operations via a local
government operations (LGO) inventory. An LGO inventory
allows local governments to identify GHG reduction
opportunities across their jurisdiction and demonstrate

leadership in taking action. While this is not a requirement

of the GPC, LGO data may also be useful in compiling
information for a city-wide inventory. For example, activity
data from city-owned or operated buildings, facilities,
landfills or land can be more precise than estimating
activity data from those sectors based on scaled regional
or national data. Appendix B provides further information
on developing an LGO inventory.

23

Accounting and
Reporting Principles

his chapter outlines the accounting and reporting principles for city-wide
GHG emissions inventories. It also introduces notation keys, a disclosure
practice which can help cities fulfill these principles.

Requirements in this chapter

A city GHG inventory shall follow the
principles of relevance, completeness,
consistency, transparency and accuracy.

2.1

Accounting and
reporting principles

Accounting and reporting for city-wide GHG emissions

is based on the following principles adapted from
the GHG Protocol Corporate Standard3 in order to
represent a fair and true account of emissions:
Relevance: The reported GHG emissions shall
appropriately reflect emissions occurring as a result of
activities and consumption patterns of the city. The
3. See GHG Protocol Corporate Standard, 2004.

inventory will also serve the decision-making needs of the

city, taking into consideration relevant local, subnational,
and national regulations. The principle of relevance
applies when selecting data sources, and determining
and prioritizing data collection improvements.
Completeness: Cities shall account for all required
emissions sources within the inventory boundary. Any
exclusion of emission sources shall be justified and clearly
explained. Notation keys shall be used when an emission
source is excluded, and/or not occurring (see Section 2.2).
Consistency: Emissions calculations shall be consistent in
approach, boundary, and methodology. Using consistent
methodologies for calculating GHG emissions enables
meaningful documentation of emission changes over
time, trend analysis, and comparisons between cities.
Calculating emissions should follow the methodological
approaches provided by the GPC. Any deviation from the
preferred methodologies shall be disclosed and justified.
Transparency: Activity data, emission sources, emission
factors, and accounting methodologies require adequate

25

documentation and disclosure to enable verification.

The information should be sufficient to allow individuals
outside of the inventory process to use the same
source data and derive the same results. All exclusions
shall be clearly identified, disclosed and justified.
Accuracy: The calculation of GHG emissions shall
not systematically overstate or understate actual GHG
emissions. Accuracy should be sufficient enough
to give decision makers and the public reasonable
assurance of the integrity of the reported information.
Uncertainties in the quantification process shall be
reduced to the extent that it is possible and practical.
Guidance on using principles: Within the requirements
of this standard, a city will need to make important
decisions in terms of setting the inventory boundary,
choosing calculation methods, deciding whether to include
additional scope 3 sources, etc. Tradeoffs between the
five principles above may be required based on the
objectives or needs of the city. For example, achieving a
complete inventory may at times require using less accurate
data (see Box2.1). Over time, as both the accuracy and
completeness of GHG data increase, the need for tradeoffs
between these accounting principles will likely diminish.

Box 2.1 Kampala data challenges

Data limitations created a challenge for the city of Kampala,

Uganda when it undertook its first GHG inventory in 2013.4
Data from different years and sources were scaled or
combined in order to complete the inventory. For instance,
2004 data from the Uganda Bureau of Statistics were
scaled using a 2009 demographic and health survey from
the same bureau. Commercial activities were estimated
based on highly disaggregated data from a 2005 business
register, while residential data were based on a household
survey from the inventory year. In this instance Kampala
decided to trade data accuracy for a broader data set to
meet their objective of completing a city-wide inventory
covering all relevant sectors.

2.2

Notation keys

Data collection is an integral part of developing and updating

a GHG inventory. Data will likely come from a variety of
sources and will vary in quality, format, and completeness.
In many cases, it will need to be adapted for the purposes
of the inventory. The GPC recognizes these challenges
and sets out data collection principles and approaches in
Chapter 5, and overall inventory quality methods in Chapter
12. It also provides guidance on gathering existing data,
generating new data, and adapting data for inventory use.
To accommodate limitations in data availability and
differences in emission sources between cities, the GPC
requires the use of notation keys, as recommended in
IPCC Guidelines. Where notation keys are used, cities shall
provide an accompanying explanation to justify exclusions
or partial accounting of GHG emission source categories.

4. Makerere University. Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory for

Kampala City and Metropolitan Region, 2013. [Link]
[Link]/downloads/docs/12220_1_595178.pdf

26 Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories

CHAPTER 2 Accounting and Reporting Principles

Table 2.1 Use of notation keys5

Notation key

Definition

Explanation

IE

Included Elsewhere

GHG emissions for this activity are estimated and presented in another category
of the inventory. That category shall be noted in the explanation.

NE

Not Estimated

Emissions occur but have not been estimated or reported; justification for
exclusion shall be noted in the explanation.

NO

Not Occurring

An activity or process does not occur or exist within the city.

Confidential

GHG emissions which could lead to the disclosure of confidential

information and can therefore not be reported.

When collecting emissions data, the first step is identifying

whether or not an activity occurs in a city. If it does not, the
notation key NO is used for the relevant GHG emission
source category. For example, a landlocked city with no
transport by water would use the notation key NO to
indicate that GHG emissions from water transport do not
occur. If the activity does occur in the cityand data are
availablethen the emissions should be reported. However,
if the data are also included in another emissions source
category or cannot be disaggregated, the notation key
IE shall be used with appropriate explanation in order
to avoid double counting, and the category in which they
are included should be identified. For example, emissions
from waste incineration would use IE if these emissions
were also reported under generation of energy for use in
buildings. If the data are available but cannot be reported
for reasons of data confidentiality and cannot be included
in another emissions source category, the notation key C
would be used. For instance, certain military operations or
industrial facilities may not permit public data disclosure
where this impacts security. Finally, if the data are not
available and, therefore, the emissions are not estimated,

the notation key NE would be used. The latter should

be avoided by exploring multiple methodologies and data
sources to estimate emissions. See Box2.2 for an example
of notation key usage in an inventory.

Box 2.2 Use of notation keysJohannesburg

Johannesburg, South Africa, completed its first GHG

inventory in 2014, and used notation keys to explain where
emissions data are missing for the sources listed in the
GPC accounting and reporting framework. Owing to a
lack of good quality data, the city was unable to estimate
emissions from two sectorsIndustrial Processes and
Product Use (IPPU) and Agriculture, Forestry and Other
Land Use (AFOLU). The notation key NE was used to
indicate this. Furthermore, being a landlocked city with
no major river or other waterway, there are no emissions
from water-borne navigation and thus the notation key NO
was used. Finally, grid-supplied energy data were available
but only disaggregated by residential and non-residential
buildings. Emissions from the use of grid-supplied energy
in manufacturing industry and construction were therefore

5. 2006 IPCC Guidelines also includes the notation key NANot

Applicable for activities that occur but do not result in specific
GHG emissions. For the purposes of the GPC, the notation key
NA does not apply because the use of notation keys in the GPC
is focused on GHG emission source categories, rather than specific
gases, and does not require the same level of disaggregation as
national inventories.

included in the total use of grid-supplied energy in

commercial and institutional buildings and facilities. The
city used notation key IE to indicate this and explain why
no emissions were reported for grid-supplied energy use in
manufacturing industry and construction.

27

Setting the Inventory Boundary

n inventory boundary identifies the gases, emission sources, geographic

area, and time span covered by a GHG inventory. The inventory boundary is
designed to provide a city with a comprehensive understanding of where

emissions are coming from as well as an indication of where it can take action or
influence change.

Requirements in this chapter

The assessment boundary shall include all seven Kyoto Protocol GHGs occurring within the
geographic boundary of the city, as well as specified emissions occurring out-of-boundary as a
result of city activities. The inventory shall cover a continuous 12-month period.

3.1

Geographic boundary

Cities shall establish a geographic boundary that identifies

the spatial dimension or physical perimeter of the inventorys
boundary. Any geographic boundary may be used for the
GHG inventory, and cities shall maintain the same boundary
for consistent inventory comparison over time (see Chapter
11 for information about recalculating base years to reflect
structural changes). Depending on the purpose of the
inventory, the boundary can align with the administrative
boundary of a local government, a ward or borough within a
city, a combination of administrative divisions, a metropolitan

area, or another geographically identifiable entity. The

boundary should be chosen independently of the location
of any buildings or facilities under municipalor other
governmentcontrol, such as power generation facilities
or landfill sites outside of the citys geographic boundary.

3.2

Time period

The GPC is designed to account for city GHG emissions

within a single reporting year. The inventory shall cover
a continuous period of 12 months, ideally aligning to

29

either a calendar year or a financial year, consistent with

the time periods most commonly used by the city.
Calculation methodologies in the GPC generally quantify
emissions released during the reporting year. In certain
casesin the Waste sector, for instancethe available or
nationally-consistent methodologies may also estimate the
future emissions that result from activities conducted within the
reporting year (see waste emissions accounting in Chapter 8).

3.3

Greenhouse gases

Cities shall account for emissions of the seven gases

currently required for most national GHG inventory reporting
under the Kyoto Protocol: carbon dioxide (CO2), methane
(CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs),
perfluorocarbons (PFCs), sulfur hexafluoride (SF6), and
nitrogen trifluoride (NF3).6

3.4

GHG emission sources

GHG emissions from city activities shall be classified into six

main sectors, including:

Stationary energy
Transportation
6. NF3 is the seventh GHG to be added to the international accounting
and reporting rules under the UNFCCC/Kyoto Protocol. NF3 was
added to the second compliance period of the Kyoto Protocol,
beginning in 2012 and ending in either 2017 or 2020.

Waste
Industrial processes and product use (IPPU)
Agriculture, forestry, and other land use (AFOLU)
Any other emissions occurring outside the geographic
boundary as a result of city activities (collectively
referred to as Other Scope 3). These emissions are not
covered in this version of the GPC: see Section 3.6.

Emissions from these sectors shall be sub-divided into subsectors and may be further sub-divided into sub-categories.
These designations include7:

Sectors, for GPC purposes, define the topmost

categorization of city-wide GHG sources, distinct from
one another, that together make up the citys GHG
emission sources activities.
Sub-sectors are divisions that make up a sector (e.g.,
waste treatment methods, or transport modes such as
aviation or on-road).
Sub-categories are used to denote an additional level
of categorization, such as vehicle types within the
sub-sector of each transport mode, or building types
within the stationary energy sector. Sub-categories provide
opportunities to use disaggregated data, improve inventory
detail, and help identify mitigation actions and policies.
Table3.1 lists the six sectors and sub-sectors.

7. 2006 IPCC Guidelines include similar sector breakdowns, described

in Volume 1, Chapter 8, Section 8.2.4, Sectors and Categories.
Available at: [Link]/public/2006gl/vol1

30 Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories

CHAPTER 3 Setting the Inventory Boundary

Table 3.1 Sectors and sub-sectors of city GHG emissions

Sectors and sub-sectors

STATIONARY ENERGY

Residential buildings
Commercial and institutional buildings and facilities
Manufacturing industries and construction
Energy industries
Agriculture, forestry, and fishing activities
Non-specified sources
Fugitive emissions from mining, processing, storage, and
transportation of coal
Fugitive emissions from oil and natural gas systems
TRANS P ORTATION

On-road
Railways
Waterborne navigation
Aviation

3.5

Categorizing emissions by scope

Activities taking place within a city can generate GHG

emissions that occur inside the city boundary as well as
outside the city boundary. To distinguish between these,
the GPC groups emissions into three categories based on
where they occur: scope1, scope2 or scope 3 emissions.
Definitions are provided in Table3.2, based on an adapted
application of the scopes framework used in the GHG
Protocol Corporate Standard.8
The GPC distinguishes between emissions that physically
occur within the city (scope1), from those that occur outside
the city but are driven by activities taking place within the
citys boundaries (scope 3), from those that occur from the
use of electricity, steam, and/or heating/cooling supplied by
grids which may or may not cross city boundaries (scope2).,
Scope 1 emissions may also be termed territorial emissions,
because they are produced solely within the territory defined
by the geographic boundary.
Figure3.1 illustrates which emission sources occur solely
within the geographic boundary established for the
inventory, which occur outside the geographic boundary,
and which may occur across the geographic boundary.

Off-road
WASTE

Solid waste disposal

Biological treatment of waste

Table 3.2 Scopes definitions for city inventories

Scope

Definition

Scope 1

GHG emissions from sources located within

the city boundary.

Scope 2

GHG emissions occurring as a consequence of

the use of grid-supplied electricity, heat, steam
and/or cooling within the city boundary.

Scope 3

All other GHG emissions that occur outside

the city boundary as a result of activities
taking place within the city boundary.

Incineration and open burning

Wastewater treatment and discharge
INDUSTRIA L P RO C ESSES AND P RODU C T USE ( I P P U )

Industrial processes
Product use
AGRICULTURE, FORESTRY AND Other LAND USE (AFOLU)

Livestock
Land
Aggregate sources and non-CO2 emission sources on land
OTHER S C O P E 3

8. The scopes framework is derived from the GHG Protocol Corporate

Standard, where the scopes are considered to be operational
boundaries based on an inventory boundary established by
the companys chosen consolidation approach. In the GPC, the
geographic boundary serves as the boundary. See Appendix A for
a comparison of how the scopes framework is applied in corporate
GHG inventories compared to city GHG inventories.

31

Chapters 6 to 10 provide additional guidance on how

to categorize emissions into scopes and sub-sectors
and sub-categories.

3.5.1 Aggregating city inventories

In addition, the GPC has been designed to allow city
inventories to be aggregated at subnational and national
levels in order to:

For policy makers or other national authorities, multiple

city inventory aggregation is accomplished by combining
only the scope1 emissions reported by cities. This is also
termed territorial accounting. Aggregating only scope1
emissions from cities without overlapping geographic
boundaries ensures that the aggregated results will not
double count any emission sources, since emissions
can only be physically generated in one location.9

Improve the data quality of a national inventory,

particularly where major cities inventories are reported;
Measure the contribution of city mitigation actions to
regional or national GHG emission reduction targets; and
Identify innovative transboundary and cross-sectorial
strategies for GHG mitigation.

9. For the transportation sector in particular, policy makers should

seek to collect emissions data from cities based on comparable
methods. For instance, the fuel sales method relies on discrete
points of fuel sales located within city geographic boundaries and
can more easily be aggregated together without double counting.

Figure 3.1 Sources and boundaries of city GHG emissions

Scope 3

Scope 1

out-of-boundary
waste &
wastewater

in-boundary
waste &
wastewater

agriculture,
forestry & other
land use

Scope 2

other indirect
emissions

stationary fuel
combustion

industrial
processes &
product use

grid-supplied
energy

in-boundary
transportation

Inventory boundary (including scopes 1, 2 and 3)

Geographic city boundary (including scope 1)

32 Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories

transmission &
distribution

out-of-boundary
transportation

Grid-supplied energy from a regional grid (scope 2)

CHAPTER 3 Setting the Inventory Boundary

3.6

Other scope 3 emissions

Cities, by virtue of their size and connectivity, inevitably give

rise to GHG emissions beyond their boundaries. Measuring
these emissions allows cities to take a more holistic approach
to tackling climate change by assessing the GHG impact
of their supply chains, and identifying areas of shared
responsibility for upstream and downstream GHG emissions.
The GPC includes scope 3 accounting for a limited number
of emission sources, including transmission and distribution
losses associated with grid-supplied energy, and waste
disposal and treatment outside the city boundary and
transboundary transportation.
Cities may optionally report Other Scope 3 sources associated
with activity in a citysuch as GHG emissions embodied in
fuels, water, food and construction materials. To support cities
in measuring these and other scope 3 emissions in a robust
and consistent manner, the GPC authors anticipate providing
additional guidance on estimating emissions from key goods
and services produced outside the city boundary.
Consumption-based accounting is an alternative to the
sector-based approach to measuring city emissions adopted
by the GPC. This focuses on the consumption of all goods
and services by residents of a city, and GHG emissions are
reported by consumption category rather than the emission
source categories set out in the GPC. The consumption-based
approach allocates GHG emissions to the final consumers
of goods and services, rather than to the original producers
of those GHG emissions. As such GHG emissions from
visitor activities and the production of goods and services
within the city boundary that are exported for consumption
outside the city boundary are excluded. Consumption-based
inventories typically use an input-output model, which links
household consumption patterns and trade flows to energy
use and GHG emissions, and their categories cut across
those set out in the GPC. This approach is complementary
to the GPC and provides a different insight into a citys
GHG emissions profile (see Box3.1). Please see Appendix
A for references to existing methodologies used by cities.

3.7

Boundaries for mitigation goals

For many cities with existing climate action plans and

targets, the mitigation goal boundary used can be different

to the inventory boundary outlined above. However, cities

are encouraged to align their mitigation goal boundary
with the GPC inventory boundary. Mitigation goals can
apply to a citys overall emissions or to a subset of the
GHGs, scopes, or emission sources set out in the GPC.
Where the mitigation goal boundary differs from the GPC
inventory boundary, cities should explain the differences,
and reason for the differences, to avoid any confusion. See
Chapter 4 for how cities can report offsetting measures,
and Chapter 11 for how to set reduction targets.

Box 3.1 Scope 3 sourcesKing County

King County in the U.S. state of Washington carried out a

study published in 201210 using 2008 data to estimate the
emissions associated with all goods and services consumed
by the regions two million residents, regardless of where the
emissions were produced. This kind of consumption-based
GHG inventory provides an additional view of a communitys
contribution to climate change. The consumption-based
inventory used economic data on purchasing behaviors and
input-output analysis to estimate the emissions released to
produce, transport, sell, use and dispose of all the materials,
goods, and services consumed by the region. Total emissions
were estimated at 55 million MTCO2e, over a quarter of
which were released outside the United States. Overall,
emissions associated with local consumption by residents,
governments and businesses, including from the production
of goods, food and services from outside the County, were
more than twice as high as emissions that occurred inside
the Countys borders. King Countys geographic-plus based
inventory separately estimated regional emissions at 23
million MTCO2e using a methodology similar to the GPC. The
difference in emissions reflects the different sources covered
by the two methodologies. Note, some sources are included
in both inventories and therefore the results should not be
added together.

10. Source: King County and SEI (2012) Greenhouse Gas Emissions
in King County: An updated Geographic-plus inventory, a
Consumption-based Inventory, and an Ongoing Tracking
Framework. [Link]

33

Reporting Requirements

he GPC provides a robust and transparent accounting and reporting system

for city-wide GHG emissions.

The GPC requires cities to report their emissions

using two distinct but complementary approaches:

The scopes framework allows cities to

comprehensively report all GHG emissions attributable
to activities taking place within the geographic boundary
of the city by categorizing the emission sources into inboundary sources (scope1, or territorial), grid-supplied
energy sources (scope2), and out-of-boundary sources
(scope 3). Scope 1 allows for a territorial approach to
aggregating multiple cities inventories, consistent with
national-level GHG reporting.
The city-induced framework measures GHG
emissions attributable to activities taking place
within the geographic boundary of the city. This
covers selected scope1, 2 and 3 emission sources.
It provides two reporting levels demonstrating
different levels of completeness. The BASIC level
covers emission sources that occur in almost all cities
(Stationary Energy, in-boundary transportation, and
in-boundary generated waste) and the calculation
methodologies and data are more readily available.
The BASIC+ level has a more comprehensive
coverage of emissions sources (BASIC sources plus
IPPU, AFOLU, transboundary transportation, and energy
transmission and distribution losses) and reflects more
challenging data collection and calculation procedures.

This chapter sets out reporting requirements and explains

how to aggregate emission totals for both frameworks.
Cities may also report emissions based on relevant local
or program-specific requirements in addition to the
requirements of the GPC.
GHG inventories should be updated on a regular basis using
the most recent data available. The GPC recommends cities
update their inventory on an annual basis, as it provides
frequent and timely progress on overall GHG emissions
reduction efforts.

4.1

The scopes and cityinduced frameworks

Figure4.1 provides an overview of the above-mentioned

scopes and BASIC/BASIC+ frameworks as well as breakdowns
by sector and sub-sector. Cities should aim to cover all
emissions for which reliable data are available. Notation keys
shall be used to indicate any data gaps.
The GPC requires reporting for one of two reporting levels:
BASIC and BASIC+. BASIC covers scope1 and scope2
emissions from Stationary Energy and Transportation,
as well as in-boundary generated waste. BASIC+ reflects
more challenging data collection and calculation processes,
and additionally includes emissions from IPPU, AFOLU,

35

transboundary transportation, and energy transmission and

distribution losses. Where these sources are significant
and relevant for a city, the city should aim to report
according to BASIC+. The sources covered in BASIC+ also
align with sources required for national reporting in IPCC
Guidelines. Cities shall indicate the reporting level chosen
for their inventory. A city choosing BASIC+ shall have no
emissions from BASIC sources that are Not Estimated.
Cities reporting additional scope 3 sources beyond the
requirements of BASIC+ should classify these as Other
Scope 3 and document the methods they have used
to estimate these emissions. These shall be reported
separately from the BASIC/BASIC+ totals.
Note, for the BASIC and BASIC+ reporting levels, emissions
from grid-supplied energy are calculated at the point of
energy consumption and emissions from waste at the point
of waste generation. For territorial (scope1) accounting,
emissions from grid-supplied energy are calculated at the
point of energy generation and emissions from waste at

the point of waste disposed. Box4.1 below articulates the

emission sources and scopes included in each reporting level.
Tick marks in Figure4.1 indicate which emission sources
are covered by the GPC, and cells are colored to indicate
their inclusion in the BASIC or BASIC+ totals and the
territorial (scope1) total. Rows written in italics represent
sub-sector emissions required for territorial emission totals
but not BASIC/BASIC+. Gray cells in the scope2 and scope
3 columns indicate emission sources that do not have
applicable GHG emissions in that scope category. Emission
sources corresponding to the orange boxes in the scope 3
column are not required for reporting, but may be identified
and disclosed separately under Other Scope 3. In the case
of Waste, IPPU or AFOLU, facilities in these sectors will likely
use grid-supplied energy, but these emissions are reported

Box4.1 Emission sources and scopes in BASIC and BASIC+

Emission sources and scopes included in BASIC totals:

All scope1 emissions from Stationary Energy sources

(excluding energy production supplied to the grid,
which shall be reported in the scope1 total)

All scope1 emissions from Transportation sources

All scope1 emissions from Waste sources (excluding
emissions from imported waste, which shall be
reported in the scope1 total)

All scope2 emissions from Stationary Energy sources

and transportation

Scope 3 emissions from treatment of exported waste

BASIC+ totals include all BASIC sources, plus:

All scope1 emissions from IPPU

All scope1 emissions from AFOLU
Scope 3 emissions from Stationary Energy sources
(only transmission and distribution losses), and
from Transportation

36 Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories

CHAPTER 4 Reporting Requirements

Figure 4.1 Sources and scopes covered by the GPC

Sectors and sub-sectors

Scope 1

Scope 2

Scope 3

Residential buildings

Commercial and institutional buildings and facilities

Manufacturing industries and construction

Energy industries

Energy generation supplied to the grid

Agriculture, forestry, and fishing activities

Non-specified sources

Fugitive emissions from mining, processing, storage, and transportation of coal

Fugitive emissions from oil and natural gas systems

S tat i o n a r y E n e r g y

TRANS P ORTATION

On-road

Railways

Waterborne navigation

Aviation

Off-road

WASTE

Disposal of solid waste generated in the city

Disposal of solid waste generated outside the city

Biological treatment of waste generated in the city

Biological treatment of waste generated outside the city

Incineration and open burning of waste generated in the city

Incineration and open burning of waste generated outside the city

Wastewater generated in the city

Wastewater generated outside the city

INDUSTRIA L P RO C ESSES AND P RODU C T USE ( I P P U )

Industrial processes

Product use

AGRI C U LTURE , FORESTRY AND O t h e r L AND USE ( AFO L U )

Livestock

Land

Aggregate sources and non-CO2 emission sources on land

OTHER S C O P E 3

Other Scope 3

 Sources covered by the GPC

+

Sources required for BASIC+ reporting

Sources included in Other Scope 3

S ources required for BASIC reporting

 
Sources required for territorial total but not for BASIC/BASIC+ reporting (italics)
N
 on-applicable emissions

37

by commercial and institutional buildings and facilities subsector under Stationary Energy.
Chapters 6 to 10 provide additional guidance on how to
categorize emissions from these sectors and sub-sectors
into scopes.

4.2

Reporting requirements

City GHG inventories shall report the following information:

4.2.1 Description of the inventory boundary

A description of the geographic boundary. Cities
should include a map of the geographic boundary that
includes a depiction of the region, and rationale used for
selecting the geographic boundary.

An outline of the activities included in the inventory,

and if other scope 3 are included, a list specifying which

types of activities are covered.
Any specific exclusion of required sources, facilities, and/
or operations. These shall be identified using notation
keys (see Section 2.2), along with a clear justification for
their exclusion.
The continuous 12-month reporting period covered.
The reporting level chosen (BASIC or BASIC+).
An overview of the reporting city, including total
geographic land area, resident population, and GDP.
Cities should also include other information, such as
an indication of the number of commuters in the city
who are not residents, the composition of the economy,
climate, and land use activities (accompanied by a
land use map). This background can help cities report
relevant ratio indicators about performance, such as
emissions per geographic area, person, GDP, etc.

38 Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories

CHAPTER 4 Reporting Requirements

4.2.2 Information on emissions

Table4.3 provides a sample reporting structure that
covers all of these reporting requirements outlined above.
Cities may report GHG emissions in a variety of additional
formats depending on purpose and audience, and may
also disaggregate emissions by fuel type, municipal
operations within each sector or sub-sector, etc. However,
they shall comply with the following requirements:

Emissions by sector: GHG emissions shall be reported

for each sector and sub-sector. Emissions sequestered
by CO2 capture and storage systems shall be excluded
from emission totals for applicable sectors. However,
cities may report these separately.

Box 4.2 Reporting biogenic CO2 emissions

Biogenic emissions are those that result from the
combustion of biomass materials that naturally sequester
CO2, including materials used to make biofuels (e.g. crops,
vegetable oils, or animal fats). For the purposes of nationallevel GHG inventories, land-use activities are recorded
as both sinks and sources of CO2 emissions. Reporting
emissions from combusting these biogenic fuels would
result in double counting on a national level. The GPC also
records land-use changes, and combusted biofuels may be
linked to land-use changes in its own inventory, or other
cities inventories.

Emissions by scope: GHG emissions shall be reported

by scope1, scope2, and scope 3 separately. These scope
totals shall be independent of any GHG trades such as
sales, purchases, transfers, or banking of allowances.

Emissions by gas: GHG emissions shall be reported

in metric tonnes and expressed by gas (CO2, CH4, N2O,
HFCs, PFCs, SF6, and NF3) and by CO2 equivalent (CO2e).
CO2 equivalent can be determined by multiplying each
gas by its respective global warming potential (GWP), as
described in Chapter 5.

Emissions by total: GHG emissions shall be

aggregated according to the scopes framework and the
city-induced framework (BASIC+ or BASIC, based on the
reporting level chosen).

Emissions from biogenic origin: CO2 emissions

from combustion of materials of biogenic origin (e.g.,
biomass, biofuel, etc.) shall be reported separately from
the scopes and other gases. For reference, this should
be under column CO2(b) in the reporting framework
(Table4.3), but not counted in emissions totals. See
Box4.2 for more on biogenic reporting.

4.2.3 Information on methodologies

and data quality
For methodologies used to calculate or measure
emissions, cities shall provide a reference or link to
any calculation tools used. For each emission source
sector, cities shall provide a description of the types and
sources of data, including activity data, emission factors,
and global warming potential (GWP) values used to
calculate emissions.
Cities shall provide an assessment of data quality for
activity data and emission factors used in quantification,
following a High-Medium-Low rating (see Section 5.6).
For reference, these are noted in Table4.3 as Activity
Data (AD) and Emission Factor (EF), respectively, under
the data quality columns.

4.2.4 Information on emission changes

If a city has set a mitigation goal, it shall identify the year
chosen as the base year and report base year emissions.
If the city is using an inventory to track progress toward
a mitigation goal, the city shall identify a significance
threshold that triggers base year emissions recalculation
(such as acquisition of existing neighboring communities,
changes in reporting boundaries or calculation
methodologies, etc.). See Chapter 11 for choosing a base
year and recalculation procedures. Cities should explain
measures taken to ensure consistency when there is a
change in methodologies (e.g., change in data collection
method or calculation method).

39

4.3

Reporting recommendations

Table 4.1 Inventory city information

Where relevant, cities should also provide in the inventory:

Scope 2 emissions based on a market-based

method calculation (Table4.4(a)). This reflects any
electricity products or programs that city consumers
participate in, generally provided by the electricity
supplier serving the city. See Chapter 6 for a description
on how to report this.
Offset credit transactions (Table4.4(b)). If offset
credits are generated in the geographic boundary and
sold, these should be documented separately from
emissions reporting. In addition, any offsets purchased
from outside the geographic boundary should be
separately reported and not netted or deducted from
the reported inventory results.
Renewable energy generation (in MWh or KWh)
produced within the geographic boundary, or
reflecting an investment by the city (Table4.4(c)).
This information can help a city identify renewable
production that otherwise only indirectly impacts
scope2 emissions (through a lower grid average
emission factor) and that would not be visible in
scope1 emissions for energy generation (due to its zero
emissions profile).

4.4

Inventory boundary
Name of city
Country
Inventory year
Geographic boundary
Land area (km2)
Resident population
GDP (US$)
Composition of economy
Climate
Other information

GPC reporting framework

The following tables highlight key reporting requirements

and recommendations of the GPC and together represent
the larger reporting framework. With the help of notation
keys, a city shall report all of the required information in
Table4.1, Table4.2, and Table4.3. Alternative reporting
formats may be used depending on inventory purpose. A
city may also report data required in Tables4.4, where such
information is relevant and available.

40 Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories

City Information

CHAPTER 4 Reporting Requirements

Table 4.2 GHG Emissions Summary

Total by city-induced
reporting level (tCO2e)

Total by scope (tCO2e)

Sector
Scope 1

Scope 2

(Territorial)

Stationary
Energy

Scope 3
included
in BASIC/
BASIC+

Other
Scope
3

BASIC

BASIC+

(All BASIC
emissions)

(All BASIC
& BASIC+
emissions)

Energy use (all I emissions

except I.4.4)
Energy generation
supplied to the grid (I.4.4)

Transportation (all II emissions)

Waste

Generated in the city

(all III.X.1 and III.X.2).
Generated outside city
(all III.X.3 )

IPPU (all IV emissions)

AFOLU (all V emissions)

Total
 S ources required for BASIC reporting
+

Sources required for BASIC+ reporting

(All
territorial
emissions)

 
Sources required for territorial total but not for BASIC/BASIC+ reporting (italics)
N
 on-applicable emissions

Sources included in Other Scope 3

Table 4.2 summarizes the emission required for scopes totals and for the city-induced frameworks BASIC/BASIC+ reporting
levels. It references the line numbers and coloring from the detailed Table4.3. Note: Aggregation of multiple city inventories is
accomplished by combining the scope 1 (territorial) emissions of cities whose inventory boundaries do not overlap geographically.

41

Table 4.3 GHG Emissions Report

GPC
ref No.

Scope

GHG Emissions Source (By Sector and Sub-sector)

STATIONARY ENERGY

Residential buildings

I.1
I.1.1

Emissions from fuel combustion within the city boundary

I.1.2

Emissions from grid-supplied energy consumed within the city boundary

I.1.3

Emissions from transmission and distribution losses from grid-supplied energy consumption
Commercial and institutional buildings and facilities

I.2
I.2.1

Emissions from fuel combustion within the city boundary

I.2.2

Emissions from grid-supplied energy consumed within the city boundary

I.2.3

Emissions from transmission and distribution losses from grid-supplied energy consumption
Manufacturing industries and construction

I.3
I.3.1

Emissions from fuel combustion within the city boundary

I.3.2

Emissions from grid-supplied energy consumed within the city boundary

I.3.3

Emissions from transmission and distribution losses from grid-supplied energy consumption
Energy industries

I.4
I.4.1

Emissions from energy used in power plant auxiliary operations within the city boundary

I.4.2

Emissions from grid-supplied energy consumed in power plant auxiliary operations within the city boundary

I.4.3

Emissions from transmission and distribution losses from grid-supplied energy consumption in power plant auxiliary operations

I.4.4

Emissions from energy generation supplied to the grid

Agriculture, forestry and fishing activities

I.5
I.5.1

Emissions from fuel combustion within the city boundary

I.5.2

Emissions from grid-supplied energy consumed within the city boundary

I.5.3

Emissions from transmission and distribution losses from grid-supplied energy consumption
Non-specified sources

I.6
I.6.1

Emissions from fuel combustion within the city boundary

I.6.2

Emissions from grid-supplied energy consumed within the city boundary

I.6.3

I.7.1

Emissions from fugitive emissions within the city boundary

Fugitive emissions from oil and natural gas systems

I.8
I.8.1

Emissions from transmission and distribution losses from grid-supplied energy consumption
Fugitive emissions from mining, processing, storage, and transportation of coal

I.7

Emissions from fugitive emissions within the city boundary

TRANSPORTATION

II

On-road transportation

II.1
II.1.1

Emissions from fuel combustion on-road transportation occurring within the city boundary

II.1.2

Emissions from grid-supplied energy consumed within the city boundary for on-road transportation

II.1.3

Emissions from portion of transboundary journeys occurring outside the city boundary, and transmission and distribution losses from grid-supplied energy consumption
Railways

II.2
II.2.1

Emissions from fuel combustion for railway transportation occurring within the city boundary

II.2.2

Emissions from grid-supplied energy consumed within the city boundary for railways

II.2.3

Emissions from portion of transboundary journeys occurring outside the city boundary, and transmission and distribution losses from grid-supplied energy consumption
Waterborne navigation

II.3
II.3.1

Emissions from fuel combustion for waterborne navigation occurring within the city boundary

II.3.2

Emissions from grid-supplied energy consumed within the city boundary for waterborne navigation

II.3.3

Emissions from portion of transboundary journeys occurring outside the city boundary, and transmission and distribution losses from grid-supplied energy consumption
Aviation

II.4
II.4.1

Emissions from fuel combustion for aviation occurring within the city boundary

II.4.2

Emissions from grid-supplied energy consumed within the city boundary for aviation

II.4.3

Emissions from portion of transboundary journeys occurring outside the city boundary, and transmission and distribution losses from grid-supplied energy consumption
Off-road transportation

II.5
II.5.1

Emissions from fuel combustion for off-road transportation occurring within the city boundary

II.5.2

Emissions from grid-supplied energy consumed within the city boundary for off-road transportation
WASTE

III

Solid waste disposal

III.1
III.1.1

Emissions from solid waste generated within the city boundary and disposed in landfills or open dumps within the city boundary

III.1.2

Emissions from solid waste generated within the city boundary but disposed in landfills or open dumps outside the city boundary

III.1.3

Emissions from waste generated outside the city boundary and disposed in landfills or open dumps within the city boundary
Biological treatment of waste

III.2
III.2.1

Emissions from solid waste generated within the city boundary that is treated biologically within the city boundary

III.2.2

Emissions from solid waste generated within the city boundary but treated biologically outside of the city boundary

III.2.3

Emissions from waste generated outside the city boundary but treated biologically within the city boundary
Incineration and open burning

III.3
III.3.1

Emissions from solid waste generated and treated within the city boundary

III.3.2

Emissions from solid waste generated within the city boundary but treated outside of the city boundary

III.3.3

Emissions from waste generated outside the city boundary but treated within the city boundary
Wastewater treatment and discharge

III.4
III.4.1

Emissions from wastewater generated and treated within the city boundary

III.4.2

Emissions from wastewater generated within the city boundary but treated outside of the city boundary

III.4.3

Emissions from wastewater generated outside the city boundary but treated within the city boundary
INDUSTRIAL PROCESSES and PRODUCT USES (IPPU)

IV
IV.1

Emissions from industrial processes occurring within the city boundary

IV.2

Emissions from product use occurring within the city boundary

V.1

Emissions from livestock within the city boundary

V.2

Emissions from land within the city boundary

V.3

AGRICULTURE, FORESTRY and OTHER LAND USE (AFOLU)

Emissions from aggregate sources and non-CO2 emission sources on land within the city boundary
OTHER SCOPE 3

VI
VI.1

Other Scope 3

42 Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories

Notation keys

Gases (in tonnes)

CO2

CH4

Data Quality
N2O

HFC

PFC

S ources required for BASIC reporting

+

Sources required for BASIC+ reporting

Sources included in Other Scope 3

SF6

NF3

Total CO2e

CO2(b)

AD

EF

Explanatory comments (i.e. description

of methods or notation keys used)


Sources required for territorial total but not for BASIC/BASIC+ reporting (italics)
N
 on-applicable emissions

43

Optional information items

Table 4.4(a) Scope 2 emissions based on market-based method
Contractual instrument
or program type

Quantity of energy
(kWh, MWh, BTU, etc.)

Emission factor conveyed

by the instrument

Total GHG emissions (tCO2e)

TOTAL market-based scope 2 emissions (in tCO2e)

Table 4.4(b) Offset credit transactions

Offset credits generated within the geographic boundary and sold

Total GHG emissions (tCO2e)

Offset credits purchased from outside the geographic boundary (e.g., to

meet a city reduction goal)

Total GHG emissions (tCO2e)

Table 4.4(c) Renewable energy production or investments

Technology
type

Total annual production

of grid-delivered energy

Located in geographic
boundary?

44 Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories

If outside boundary, percentage

of ownership by city?

Part II

Calculation Guidance
by Emission Source

Overview of Calculating
GHG Emissions

he GPC specifies the principles and rules for compiling a city-wide GHG
emissions inventory; it does not require specific methodologies to be used
to produce emissions data. This chapter provides overarching guidance for

sourcing activity data and calculating emission factors. It also sets out guidance for
calculating GHG emissions consistent with the requirements set out in Chapters 6
to 10.

5.1

Calculation methodology

Emission calculation methodologies define the calculation

formulas and necessary activity data and emission factors
to determine total emissions from specified activities.
Cities should select the most appropriate methodologies
based on the purpose of their inventory, availability of data,
and consistency with their countrys national inventory
and/or other measurement and reporting programs in
which they participate. An overview of methodologies
outlined in the GPC is provided in Appendix C.

5.1.1 IPCC Guidelines and methodology tiers

Unless stated otherwise, calculation methodologies
referenced in the GPC are consistent with the IPCC
Guidelines. Where different methodologies are used, cities
should ensure they meet the requirements of the GPC
and document the methodologies they have used in their
inventory report.

In IPCC Guidelines, three hierarchical tiers are used to

categorize the methodological complexity of emissions
factors and activity data. Tier 1 uses default data and simple
equations, while Tiers 2 and 3 are each more demanding
in terms of complexity and data requirements. Tier 2
methodologies typically use country-specific emission
factors. These tiers, if properly implemented, successively
reduce uncertainty and increase accuracy. The GPC
does not use tiers to define methodologies but makes
references to them when referring to IPCC Guidelines.

5.1.2 Calculation overview

For some activities, cities will be able to use direct
measurements of GHG emissions (e.g., through use
of continuous emissions monitoring systems at power
stations). However, for most emission sources, cities will
need to estimate GHG emissions by multiplying activity
data by an emission factor associated with the activity being
measured (see Equation5.1).

47

Equation 5.1 Emission factor approach for calculating

Table 5.1 Data collection principles11

GHG emissions
GHG emissions =

Data collection principles

Activity data Emission factor

Establish collection processes that lead to continuous

improvement of the data sets used in the inventory (resource
prioritization, planning, implementation, documentation, etc.)

Activity data is a quantitative measure of a level of activity

that results in GHG emissions taking place during a given
period of time (e.g., volume of gas used, kilometers driven,
tonnes of solid waste sent to landfill, etc.). An emission
factor is a measure of the mass of GHG emissions relative
to a unit of activity. For example, estimating CO2 emissions
from the use of electricity involves multiplying data on
kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity used by the emission
factor (kgCO2/kWh) for electricity, which will depend on the
technology and type of fuel used to generate the electricity.

Prioritize improvements on the collection of data needed

to improve estimates of key categories which are the largest,
have the greatest potential to change, or have the greatest
uncertainty

5.2

Activity data

Data collection is an integral part of developing and updating

a GHG inventory. This includes gathering existing data,
generating new data, and adapting data for inventory use.
Table5.1 sets out the methodological principles of data
collection that underpin good practice.

5.3

Sourcing activity data

It is good practice to start data collection activities with an

initial screening of available data sources. This will be an
iterative process to improve the quality of data used and
should be driven by two primary considerations:

Data should be from reliable and robust sources

Data should be time- and geographically-specific to
the inventory boundary, and technology-specific to the
activity being measured
Data can be gathered from a variety of sources, including
government departments and statistics agencies, a countrys
national GHG inventory report, universities and research
institutes, scientific and technical articles in environmental
books, journals and reports, and sector experts/stakeholder

Review data collection activities and methodological

needs on a regular basis to guide progressive, and efficient,
inventory improvement
Work with data suppliers to support consistent and
continuing information flows

organizations. In general, it is preferable to use local

and national data over international data, and data from
publicly-available, peer-reviewed and reputable sources,
often available through government publications.
The following information should be requested and
recorded when sourcing data:

Definition and description of the data set: time series,

sector breakdown, units, assumptions, uncertainties
and known gaps
Frequency and timescales for data collection
and publication
Contact name and organization(s)
It may be necessary to generate new data if the required
activity data does not exist or cannot be estimated
from existing sources. This could involve physical
measurement12, sampling activities, or surveys. Surveys
may be the best option for most emission sources, given
the tailored data needs of city-wide GHG inventories,
11. Adapted from 2006 IPCC Guidelines, Chapter 2.
12. For example, direct measurement of point source GHG emissions
from an industrial or waste treatment facility.

48 Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories

CHAPTER 5 Overview of Calculating GHG Emissions

although they can be relatively expensive and timeconsuming without proper guidance.13

Equation 5.2 Scaling methodology

Inventory data =

5.3.1 Adapting data for inventory

use (scaling data)
Where the best available activity data do not align with
the geographical boundary of the city or the time period
of the assessment, the data can be adapted to meet the
inventory boundary by adjusting for changes in activity
using a scaling factor. The scaling factor represents
the ratio between the available data and the required
inventory data, and should reflect a high degree of
correlation to variations in the data. Scaled data can be
useful and relevant where data for the inventory year, or
city-specific data, are unavailable or incomplete.14, 15
Cities should use calendar year data whenever available in
conformance with national inventory practices. However,
if calendar year data are unavailable, then other types of
annual year data (e.g., non-calendar fiscal year data, April
March) may be used, provided the collection periods are
well-documented and used consistently over time to avoid
bias in the trend. These do not need to be adjusted.
The general formula for scaling data is found in Equation 5.2.
References are made throughout Chapters 610 on how
to scale data from a national or regional level to the city for
different emission sectors. Recommended scaling factors
are also provided, including how to account for energy use

13. Volume 1, Chapter 2: Approaches to Data Collection, Annex 2A.2

of the 2006 IPCC Guidelines provides more general guidance on
performing surveys. Specific guidance on conducting surveys in
developing countries can be found in United Nations, Household
Sample Surveys in Developing and Transition Countries (New York,
2005). Available at: [Link]/unsd/HHsurveys/part1_new.htm
14. For example: gaps in periodic data; recent data are not yet available;
only regional or national data are available; data do not align with
the geographical boundary of the city; or data are only available for
part of the city or part of the year.
15. The scaling factor methodology is also applicable to data collected
using surveys of a representative sample-set, and can be used to
scale-up real data to represent activity of the entire city.

Factor Inventory data

Factor Available data

Available data

Available data

Activity (or emissions) data available

which needs to be scaled to align with the
inventory boundary

Inventory data Activity (or emissions) data total for the city
FactorInventory

Scaling factor data point for the inventory

FactorAvailable data

Scaling factor data point for the original data

Population is one of the most common factors used to

scale data because, in the absence of major technological
and behavioral changes, the number of people is a key
driver of GHG emissions, particularly in the residential
sector. For example, the following equation may be
used for adjusting household waste data if data for the
inventory year are not available:
City household waste data 2014 =
City Population2014
City Population2013

City household waste data 2013

Other scaling factors, such as GDP or industry yield

or turnover, may be more suitable to scale data for
economicactivities.

changes based on weather.16 If a city chooses a different

scaling factor than the one recommended, the relationship
between the alternate scaling factor and activity data
for the emissions source should be documented in the
16. For example, where energy use from a previous year is to be
adjusted, variations in weather will also need to be considered. This
is due to the high correlation between temperature and energy
use to heat or cool buildings. The adjustment is made using a
regression analysis of energy use from a previous year against a
combination of heating degree-days (HDD) or cooling degree-days
(CDD), as appropriate. The inventory-year CDD and HDD are then
used to estimate weather-adjusted inventory-year energy use data.
This should only be carried out where energy use data can clearly
be allocated to heating or cooling. Where this allocation is not clear,
no weather correction should be made.

49

inventory report. In all cases the original data, scaling factor

data points, and data sources should be documented.

5.4

Emission factors

Emission factors convert activity data into a mass of GHG

emissions; tonnes of CO2 released per kilometer travelled,
for example, or the ratio of CH4 emissions produced to
amount of waste landfilled. Emission factors should be
relevant to the inventory boundary, specific to the activity
being measured, and sourced from credible government,
industry, or academic sources.
If no local, regional, or country-specific sources are available,
cities should use IPCC default factors or data from the
Emission Factor Database (EFDB)17, or other standard values
from international bodies that reflect national circumstances.18

17. The EFDB is a continuously revised web-based information

exchange forum for EFs and other parameters relevant for the
estimation of emissions or removals of GHGs at national level. The
database can be queried over the internet at [Link].
[Link]/EFDB/[Link].

5.5

Conversion of data to standard

units and CO2 equivalent

The International System of Units (SI units) should be

used for measurement and reporting of activity data,
and all GHG emissions data shall be reported as metric
tonnes of each GHG as indicated in Table4.3, as well as
CO2 equivalents (CO2e). Where only the latter is available,
this shall be clearly identified and justified in order to be
in conformance with the GPC. The same applies where
emission factors or emissions data are unavailable for
specific gases. CO2e is a universal unit of measurement
that accounts for the global warming potential (GWP) when
measuring and comparing GHG emissions from different
gases. Individual GHGs should be converted into CO2e by
multiplying by the 100-year GWP coefficients in the latest
version of the IPCC Guidelines or the version used by the
countrys national inventory body (see Table5.2). Where
this is not possible (e.g., when the best available emission
factors are expressed only in CO2e and not listed separately
by gas), an accompanying explanation should be provided.
Any changes in GWP values used should be reflected in
the citys historical emissions profile (see Section 11.3).

18. Volume 1, Chapter 2: Approaches to Data Collection, Section 2.2.4,

Table2.2 of the 2006 IPCC Guidelines provides a comprehensive
guide to identifying potential sources of emission factors.

50 Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories

CHAPTER 5 Overview of Calculating GHG Emissions

Table 5.2 GWP of major GHG gases

GWP values in
IPCC Second
Assessment
Report19(CO2e)

GWP values
in IPCC Third
Assessment
Report 20(CO2e)

GWP values
in IPCC Fourth
Assessment
Report 21(CO2e)

GWP values
in IPCC Fifth
Assessment
Report 22(CO2e)

Name

Formula

Carbon dioxide

CO2

Methane

CH4

21

23

25

28

Nitrous oxide

N2O

310

296

298

265

Sulfur hexafluoride

SF6

23,900

22,200

22,800

23,500

Carbon tetrafluoride

CF4

6,500

5,700

7,390

6,630

Hexafluoroethane

C2F6

9,200

11,900

12,200

11,100

HFC-23

CHF3

11,700

12,000

14,800

12,400

HFC-32

CH2F2

650

550

675

677

HFC-41

CH3F

150

97

92

116

HFC-125

C2HF5

2,800

3,400

3,500

3,170

HFC-134

C2H2F4

1,000

1,100

1,100

1,120

HFC-134a

CH2FCF3

1,300

1,300

14,300

1,300

HFC-143

C2H3F3

300

330

353

328

HFC-143a

C2H3F3

3,800

4,300

4,470

4,800

HFC-152a

C2H4F2

140

120

124

138

HFC-227ea

C3HF7

2,900

3,500

3,220

3,350

HFC-236fa

C3H2F6

6,300

9,400

9,810

8,060

HFC-245ca

C3H3F5

560

950

1,030

716

Nitrogen trifluoride

NF3

17,200

16,100

19. IPCC. 1995, IPCC Second Assessment Report: Climate Change 1995
20. IPCC. 2001, IPCC Third Assessment Report: Climate Change 2001
21. IPCC. 2007, IPCC Fourth Assessment Report: Climate Change 2007
22. IPCC. 2013, IPCC Fifth Assessment Report: Climate Change 2013

51

5.6

Managing data quality

and uncertainty

All data sources used and assumptions made when

estimating GHG emissions, whether through scaling,
extrapolation, or models, will need to be referenced to
ensure full transparency. The IPCC uses tiers to rank
methodology, and increasing accuracy in methodology
often requires more detailed or higher quality data. In the
GPC, where relevant, references are provided within each
emission source category chapter (Chapters 610) to the
corresponding IPCC methodology tiers and methods.

In addition to identifying the method used to calculate

emissions, cities shall also evaluate the quality of both
the activity data and the emission factors used. Each of
these shall be assessed as high, medium or low, based
on the degree to which data reflect the geographical
location of the activity, the time or age of the activity and
any technologies used, the assessment boundary and
emission source, and whether data have been obtained
from reliable and verifiable sources. See Table5.3 for
an overview of these overall quality indicators.

52 Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories

CHAPTER 5 Overview of Calculating GHG Emissions

Table 5.3 Data quality assessment

Data quality

Activity data

Emission factor

High (H)

Detailed activity data

Specific emission factors

Medium (M)

Modeled activity data using robust assumptions

More general emission factors

Low (L)

Highly-modeled or uncertain activity data

Default emission factors

5.7

Verification

Verification involves an assessment of the completeness

and accuracy of reported data. Cities may choose to
verify their data to demonstrate that their calculations
are in accordance with the requirements of the GPC
and provide confidence to users that the reported
GHG emissions are a fair reflection of a citys activities.
Verification can be performed by the same organization
that conducted the GPC assessment (self-verification), or
by an independent organization (third-party verification).
Guidance on verification is provided in Chapter 12.

53

Stationary Energy

tationary energy sources are one of the largest contributors to a citys GHG
emissions. These emissions come from fuel combustion, as well as fugitive
emissions released in the process of generating, delivering, and consuming

useful forms of energy (such as electricity or heat).

Requirements in this chapter

For BASIC:
Cities shall report all GHG emissions from Stationary Energy sources and fugitive emissions in
scope1, and those from use of grid-supplied electricity, steam, heating, and cooling in scope2.
For BASIC+:
Cities shall report all BASIC sources and scope 3 GHG emissions associated with transmission
and distribution (T&D) losses from grid-supplied electricity, steam, heating, and cooling.
Emissions from energy generation supplied to the grid shall be reported as part of total scope1
emissions, but not included in BASIC/BASIC+ totals.

55

6.1

Categorizing stationary energy

sector emissions by scope

Scope 1: Emissions from fuel combustion and fugitive

emissions in the city
Scope 1 includes emissions from the combustion of fuels23
in buildings, industries, and from the conversion of primary
energy sources in refineries and power plants located
within the city boundary. Fossil resource exploration and
refinement, including any offshore exploration that occurs
within the city boundary, is also included in scope1.
The inventory boundary of certain cities may contain nonurban areas that include agricultural, forestry, and fishing
activities. Emissions from stationary fuel combustion from
these activities, such as portable generators, shall be
reported as scope1 emissions.
Scope 2: Emissions from the consumption of
grid-supplied electricity, steam, heating and cooling
in the city
Electricity consumption is typically the largest source of
scope2 emissions. It occurs when buildings and facilities in
the city consume electricity from local, regional or national
electric grids. Grid-distributed steam, heat and cooling rely
on smaller-scale distribution infrastructure, but may still
cross city boundaries.
For scope2 reporting, cities shall report emissions from
all grid-supplied energy consumption within the boundary,
regardless of where the energy is produced. Cities that set
GHG targets related to energy consumption net of energy
produced within the city should report these emissions
separately as an information item.
Scope 3: Distribution losses from grid-supplied
electricity, steam, heating and cooling in the city
Scope 3 emissions include transmission and distribution
losses from the use of grid-supplied electricity, steam,
heating and cooling in a city. Other upstream emissions
from electricity supply may be reported in Other Scope 3.

23. Non-energy uses of fossil fuel are reported under the IPPU sector.
To differentiate energy and non-energy use of fossil fuel, please
see Chapter 9.

There may also be out-of-boundary energy use associated

with activities occurring in the city (e.g., electricity used
by a neighboring city to treat wastewater produced by the
reporting city), but these are not required for reporting under
BASIC or BASIC+, but may be reported in Other Scope 3.
These emission sources and their scope categorization are
summarized in Table6.1.

6.2

Defining energy source sub-sectors

The Stationary Energy sector can be divided into nine

sub-sectors. Seven of these nine produce emissions
from both energy production and consumption, while
the remaining two relate to fugitive emissions from fuelrelated activities. Table6.2 below provides detailed
descriptions of Stationary Energy source sub-sectors.
Cities may adopt additional city- or country-specific
categories where data allows, but should clearly describe
the differences and assumptions in inventories. Cities may
further subdivide these sub-sectors into sub-categories
that are more useful for mitigation action planning.

56 Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories

CHAPTER 6 Stationary Energy

Table 6.1 Stationary Energy Overview

GHG Emission Source

Scope 1

Scope 2

Scope 3

STATIONARY ENERGY

Emissions from fuel

combustion and
fugitive emissions
within the city
boundary

Emissions from
consumption of
grid-supplied energy
consumed within
the city boundary

Transmission and
distribution losses
from the use of gridsupplied energy

Residential buildings

I.1.1

I.1.2

I.1.3

Commercial and institutional buildings and facilities

I.2.1

I.2.2

I.2.3

Manufacturing industries and construction

I.3.1

I.3.2

I.3.3

Energy industries

I.4.1

I.4.2

I.4.3

Energy generation supplied to the grid

I.4.4

Agriculture, forestry and fishing activities

I.5.1

I.5.2

I.5.3

Non-specified sources

I.6.1

I.6.2

I.6.3

Fugitive emissions from mining, processing,

storage and transportation of coal

I.7.1

Fugitive emissions from oil and natural gas systems

 S ources required for BASIC reporting
+

Sources required for BASIC+ reporting

I.8.1
 
Sources required for territorial total but not for BASIC/BASIC+ reporting (italics)
N
 on-applicable emissions

Sources included in Other Scope 3

6.3

Calculating stationary fuel

combustion emissions

Emissions from Stationary Energy sources are calculated

by multiplying fuel consumption (activity data) by
the corresponding emission factors for each fuel, by
gas. For activity data, cities should aim to obtain:

Real consumption data for each fuel type,

disaggregated by sub-sector. This information
is typically monitored at the point of fuel use or fuel
sale, and should ideally be obtained from utility or fuel
providers. Depending on the type of fuel dispensary,
fuel sales may be for Stationary Energy sources or for
mobile Transportation sources. Cities should ensure sales
information is disaggregated between these two sectors.
A representative sample set of real consumption
data from surveys. While surveying for fuel
consumption for each sub-sector, determine the built

space (i.e., square meters of office space and other

building characteristics) of the surveyed buildings for
scaling factor.
Modeled energy consumption data. Determine
energy intensity, by building and/or facility type, expressed
as energy used per square meter (e.g., GJ/m2/year) or per
unit of output.
Incomplete or aggregate real consumption data:
Where fuel consumption data by sub-sector are
unavailable, but data are available for total emissions
from stationary sources within the city, apportion by
total built space for each sub-sector or building type.
Where data are only available for a few of the total
number of fuel suppliers, determine the population
(or other indicators such as industrial output, floor
space, etc.) served by real data to scale-up the partial
data for total city-wide energy consumption.

57

 Where data are only available for one building type,

determine a stationary combustion energy intensity
figure by using built space of that building type, and
use as a scaling factor with built space for the other
building types.
Regional or national fuel consumption data
scaled down using population or other indicators.

The rest of Section 6.3 applies this emissions calculation

method to each energy sub-sector, identifying further
sub-categories and clarifying where emissions from multifunctional buildings or related sectoral operations should
bereported.

Table 6.2 Definitions of stationary energy source sub-sectors

Sub-sectors
Emissions from stationary
energy production and use
I.1 Residential buildings

Definition
Emissions from the intentional oxidation of materials within a stationary apparatus that is
designed to raise heat and provide it either as heat or as mechanical work to a process, or for
use away from the apparatus
All emissions from energy use in households

I.2

C
 ommercial buildings
and facilities

All emissions from energy use in commercial buildings and facilities

I.2

Institutional buildings
and facilities

All emissions from energy use in public buildings such as schools, hospitals, government offices,
highway street lighting, and other public facilities

I.3

M
 anufacturing industries
and construction

All emissions from energy use in industrial facilities and construction activities, except those
included in energy industries sub-sector. This also includes combustion for the generation of
electricity and heat for own use in these industries.

I.4

Energy industries

All emissions from energy production and energy use in energy industries

1.4.4 Energy generation

supplied to the grid

All emissions from the generation of energy for grid-distributed electricity, steam, heat and cooling

I.5

A
 griculture, forestry,
and fishing activities

All emissions from energy use in agriculture, forestry, and fishing activities

I.6

Non-specified sources

All remaining emissions from facilities producing or consuming energy not specified elsewhere

Fugitive emissions
from fuel

Includes all intentional and unintentional emissions from the extraction, processing, storage and
transport of fuel to the point of final use
Note: Some product uses may also give rise to emissions termed as fugitive, such as the release of
refrigerants and fire suppressants. These shall be reported in IPPU.

I.7 M
 ining, processing,
storage, and
transportation of coal

Includes all intentional and unintentional emissions from the extraction, processing, storage and
transport of fuel in the city

I.8  Oil and natural gas

systems

Fugitive emissions from all oil and natural gas activities occurring in the city. The primary sources
of these emissions may include fugitive equipment leaks, evaporation losses, venting, flaring and
accidental releases

58 Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories

CHAPTER 6 Stationary Energy

6.3.1 Residential, commercial, and

institutional buildings and facilities
Commercial and institutional buildings and facilities (e.g.
public or government-owned facilities) provide public
services for community needs, including safety, security,
communications, recreation, sport, education, health,
public administration, religious, cultural and social.24 This
includes commercial buildings and establishments, such
as retail outlets, shopping complexes, office buildings;
institutional buildings, such as schools, hospitals, police
stations, government offices; and facilities, such as street
lighting on highways, secondary roads and pedestrian
areas, parking, mass transit, docks, navigation aids, fire
and police protection, water supply, waste collection and
treatment (including drainage), and public recreation areas.
While the GPC recommends that cities report building
emissions in relevant sub-sectors, cities may further
subdivide these into more detailed sub-categories. For
example, residential buildings can be divided into high-rise
buildings and landed buildings; commercial buildings may
be divided into different sizes and/or types of activities
such as retail, office, etc.; and institutional buildings may
be divided into different uses, including schools, hospitals,
and government offices. Cities may also further divide the
emissions into different energy usages such as cooking,
heating, and hot water in residential buildings. Detailed,
disaggregated data helps cities identify emissions hotspots
more precisely and design more specific mitigation actions.
Emissions from energy used in informal settlements or
social housing shall be reported in the residential sub-sector,
even if the settlements local government pays for that
energy use.
Multi-function uses for buildings and facilities

A city may identify multiple functional uses for buildings,

which complicates sub-sector classification. In these cases,
cities can either subdivide mixed use buildings based on
square meters of a building (and subdivide the activity
data and resulting emissions), categorize buildings according
to their designated usages, or categorize the entire building

24. The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research. Guidelines for
Human Settlement Planning and Design. 2000: Chapter 5.5.
Online at [Link]/Built_environment/RedBook.

under one of the sub-categories and provide justification.

Possible scenarios include:

Mixed use buildings

Some buildings may include residential units, ground
floor commercial space, and offices. In the absence
of floor-by-floor information and activity data, a GHG
inventory team may conduct a specific survey to identify
such information. In some countries, energy tariffs
and billing are different for residential and commercial
purposes, so the energy use activity data may be more
easily identified.

Office buildings in industrial establishments

Cities may have one or more office buildings attached
to an industrial complex. When industry is the main
activity at the site and the property is designated for
industrial use, the attached office building should
be categorized as part of the industrial complex and
emissions reported under the manufacturing industries
and construction sub-sector or energy industries subsector, as appropriate. Where countries or regions have
specific regulations defining these office buildings as
commercial buildings, cities should apply the relevance
principle outlined in Section 2.1 and allocate emissions
to the locally appropriate sub-sector.

Workers quarters in industrial establishments

In instances where there are permanent workers
quarters within the compounds of an industrial site,
cities should categorize emissions from buildings based
on their designated usages. Whenever possible, cities
should report the GHG emissions from these workers
quarters in the residential buildings sub-sector when
their main purpose is to provide residence. Cities should
conduct a survey to identify these workers quarters and
count their associated GHG emissions in the residential
buildings sub-sector. In the absence of such data, cities
may report these emissions as part of the emissions
from the industrial site.
In the case of temporary workers quarters, such as those
at construction sites, if cities find it difficult to obtain
specific energy consumption information, cities may
continue to report them with the associated industrial or
constructionactivities.

59

The GPC does not provide specific definitions for

permanent and temporary workers quarters. Cities should
adopt the definitions used in their local regulations. In
the absence of local definitions, workers quarters for
construction activities should be considered as temporary,
considering that the nature of construction activity itself
is temporary. If workers quarters in an industrial site are
built and demolished within a period shorter than a GHG
inventory cycle, it should be considered temporary (see
Table6.3 for suggested definitions).

Residential units in agricultural farms

When the jurisdictions of cities cover rural areas, there
may be individual residential units in agricultural farms.
GHG emissions from household activities such as
heating and cooking in these individual units should be
included in residential buildings. However, emissions
from activities related to agricultural activities, such
as portable generators for lighting of livestock farms
and water pumps in aquaculture farms, should be
categorized as agriculture, forestry, and fishing activities.
If only total consumption for the farm area is available,
cities can subdivide this based on average household
energy use or average farm equipment usage.

6.3.2 Manufacturing industries

and construction
This sub-sector includes energy use in manufacturing
industries and construction activities. Fuel combustion
occurs in stationary equipment, including boilers, furnaces,
burners, turbines, heaters, incinerators, engines, flares, etc.
Where data are available, GHG emissions from relevant subcategories should be reported using the 13 sub-categories
identified in the IPCC Guidelines under the manufacturing
industries and construction sub-sectors (see Table6.4).

Cities should apply these sub-categories to ensure

consistency with national GHG inventories, as appropriate.
Industrial facilities may incur emissions that are included
in other sectors of the GPC. Cities should distinguish
between the following when classifying emissions:

Relationship between manufacture of transport

equipment and Transportation sector
Cities should not double count emissions from transport
equipment manufacturing and the Transportation sector
(Chapter 7). Transport equipment manufacturing refers
to GHG emissions from the manufacture of motor
vehicles, ships, boats, railway and tramway locomotives,
and aircraft and spacecraft, while the Transportation
sector refers to the GHG emissions from the use of
thesevehicles.

Relationship between on-road

and off-road transportation
GHG emissions from all on-road transportation activities
by industries that occur outside the industrial sitee.g.,
delivery of raw materials, products, and services
and employee travelsshall be reported under the
Transportation sector (Chapter 7).
Off-road transportation activities should be categorized
according to the area where they occur. For instance,
GHG emissions of off-road transportation activities
(vehicle and mobile machinery) occurring within
industrial premises should be reported under either
the manufacturing industries and construction subsector, or energy industries sub-sector. Table6.5
provides an overview of reporting guidance for off-road
transportation related to the manufacturing industries
and construction sub-sector, energy industries sub-

Table 6.3 Definitions of temporary and permanent workers quarters

Type of premises

Temporary

Permanent

Industries

Quarters built and demolished within a period

shorter than 12 months (an inventory cycle)

Quarters that exist for more than 12 months

Construction

All workers quarters for construction activities

should be considered temporary

Not applicable unless otherwise specified in

local regulations

60 Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories

CHAPTER 6 Stationary Energy

Table 6.4 Detailed sub-categories of manufacturing industries and construction sub-sector, from the International
Standard Industrial Classification (ISIC)25
Sub-categories26

ISIC
Classification

Description

Iron and steel

ISIC Group 271

and Class 2731

Manufacture of primary iron and steel products, including the operation of blast
furnaces, steel converters, rolling and finishing mills, and casting

Non-ferrous metals

ISIC Group 272

and Class 2732

Production, smelting, and refinement of precious metals and other non-ferrous

metals from ore or scrap

Chemicals

ISIC Division 24

The manufacture of basic chemicals, fertilizer and nitrogen compounds,

plastics, synthetic rubber, agro-chemical products, paints and coatings,
pharmaceuticals, cleaning agents, synthetic fibers, and other chemical products

Pulp, paper
and print

ISIC Divisions 21
and 22

Pulp, paper, paperboard, paper products; publishing and reproduction of

recorded media

Food processing,
beverages,
and tobacco

ISIC Divisions 15
and 16

Production, processing, and preservation of food and food products, beverages,

and tobacco products

Non-metallic
minerals

ISIC Division 26

Manufacture and production of glass and glass products, ceramics, cements,

plasters, and stone

Transport
equipment

ISIC Divisions 34
and 35

Motor vehicles, trailers, accessories and components, sea vessels, railway

vehicles, aircraft and spacecraft, and cycles

Machinery

ISIC Divisions 28,

29, 30, 31, 32

Fabricated metal products, machinery and equipment, electrical machinery

and apparatuses, communications equipment, and associated goods

Mining (excluding
fuels) and quarrying

ISIC Divisions 13
and 14

Mining of iron, non-ferrous ores, salt, and other minerals; quarrying of stone,
sand, and clay

Wood and
wood products

ISIC Division 20

Sawmilling and planning of wood; the production of wood products and cork,
straw, and other wood-based materials

Construction

ISIC Division 45

Site preparation, construction installation, building completion, and construction

equipment

Textile and leather

ISIC Division 17,

18, 19

Spinning, weaving, dyeing, of textiles and manufacture of apparel, tanning and

manufacture of leather and footwear

Non-specific
industries

Activities not
included above

Any manufacturing industry/construction not included above, including water

collection, treatment, supply; wastewater treatment and disposal; and waste
collection, treatment, and disposal

sector, agriculture, forestry, and fishing activities

sub-sector, non-specified sub-sector, and off-road
transportation sub-sector (under Transportation sector).

25. Further descriptions of each subcategory can be found in the

International Standard Industrial Classification (ISIC) of All
Economic Activities, Revision 3.
26. 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories

61

Table 6.5 Overview of reporting guidance for off-road transportation activities

Type of off-road activities

Reporting guidance

Off-road vehicle and mobile machinery within industrial

premises and construction sites

Report as a Stationary Energy source under manufacturing

industries and construction sub-sector or energy industries subsector as appropriate

Off-road vehicle and mobile machinery within agriculture

farms, forests, and aquaculture farms

Report as a Stationary Energy source under agriculture, forestry,

and fishing activities sub-sector

Off-road vehicle and mobile machinery within the

transportation facility premises such as airports, harbors, bus
terminals, and train stations

Report as a Transportation source under off-road transportation

sub-sector

Off-road vehicle and mobile machinery within military premises

Report as a Stationary Energy source under unidentified

activities sub-sector

Relationship between water supply system,

solid waste, and wastewater treatment and
disposal facilities
Most cities operate solid waste and wastewater
treatment and disposal facilities. These facilities
produce methane (CH4) from decay of solid wastes
and anaerobic degradation of wastewater, which shall
be reported under Waste sector. Wastewater collection,
treatment, and supply systems consume energy to
power water pumps, boilers, mechanical separation
equipment at material recovery facilities, water treatment
facilities, and other equipment. GHG emissions from
energy use for these operations should be reported
under institutional (public facility) or industrial (private
industrial facility) sub-sectors. If the energy use is from
on-site fuel combustion, these emissions are reported
as scope1. Electricity use in these facilities is reported
as scope2 emissions.
This also applies to direct fuel combustion for operating
off-road vehicles, machinery, and buildings within the
waste facility (which should be reported as scope1
emissions). Typical off-road machinery includes
compactors and bulldozers, which spread and compact
solid waste on the working surface of landfills. However,
off-road vehicles and machinery do not include on-road
transportation of wastes, which shall be reported under
Transportation sector (Chapter 7).

6.3.3 Energy industries

Energy industries include three basic types of activities27:

Primary fuel production (e.g., coal mining, and oil and

gas extraction)
Fuel processing and conversion (e.g., crude oil to
petroleum products in refineries, coal to coke and coke
oven gas in coke ovens)
Energy production supplied to a grid (e.g., electricity
generation and district heating) or used on-site for
auxiliary energy use
Where applicable and possible, cities should follow
IPCC Guidelines and disaggregate accounting and
reporting of energy industries sub-sector into
different sub-categories as detailed in Table6.6.
Emissions from the following energy generation
types may be classified and reported as follows:

Cogeneration and tri-generation

Cogeneration, or combined heat and power (CHP),
is the use of power plant or heat engine systems to
simultaneously generate electricity and useful heat.
Tri-generation, or combined cooling, heat and power
(CCHP), refers to the simultaneous generation of
electricity, heat, and cooling. GHG emissions from these
facilities should be calculated based on the quantity of
fuel combusted. Emissions from this combustion shall
27. 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories

62 Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories

CHAPTER 6 Stationary Energy

Table 6.6 Detailed sub-categories of energy industries sub-sector28

Subcategories

Energy,
including
electricity,
steam, heat/
cooling

Petroleum
refining

Manufacture of
solid fuels and
other energy
industries

Descriptions

Detailed breakdown

Emissions from main activity

producers of electricity generation,
combined heat and power
generation, and heat plants. Main
activity producers (often termed
public utilities) are defined as
those whose primary activity is to
supply energy to the public, but the
organization may be under public
or private ownership. Emissions
from on-site use of fuel should be
included.

Energy generation sold and distributed comprises emissions

from all fuel use for electricity generation from main activity
producers (reported under I.4.4) except those from combined
heat and power plants (see CHP below). This includes emissions
from the incineration of waste or waste byproducts for the purpose
of generating electricity. This subcategory is required for scope 1
(territorial) reporting, but not BASIC/BASIC+.

However, emissions from autoproducers (which generate

electricity/heat wholly or partly for
their own use, as an activity that
supports their primary activity)
should be assigned to the sector
where they were generated (such
as industrial, or institutional). Autoproducers may be under public or
private ownership.
All combustion activities supporting
the refining of petroleum products
including on-site combustion for
the generation of electricity and
heat for own use.

This includes combustion

emissions from fuel use during
the manufacture of secondary and
tertiary products from solid fuels
including production of charcoal.
Emissions from own on-site fuel
use should be included. Also
includes combustion for the
generation of electricity and heat
for own use in these industries.

Auxiliary energy use on the site of energy production facilities

(e.g., a small administrative office adjacent to a power plant). Energy
produced at power plants is used on-site for auxiliary operations
before being sold and distributed to a grid (reported under I.4.1). It
is therefore not grid-distributed energy consumption. Auxiliary energy
use and sold/distributed energy should together add up to total
emissions from fuel combusted for energy generation.
Combined heat and power generation (CHP)
Emissions from production of both heat and electrical power from
main activity producers for sale to the public, at a single CHP facility.
Heat plants
Production of heat for city-wide district heating or industrial usage.
Distributed by pipe network.

N/A

Manufacture of solid fuels

Emissions arising from fuel combustion for the production of coke,
brown coal briquettes and patent fuel.
Other energy industries
Combustion emissions arising from the energy-producing industries
own (on-site) energy use not mentioned above or for which
separate data are not available. This includes emissions from onsite energy use for the production of charcoal, bagasse, saw dust,
cotton stalks and carbonizing of biofuels as well as fuel used for coal
mining, oil and gas extraction and the processing and upgrading
of natural gas. This category also includes emissions from precombustion processing for CO2 capture and storage.

28. 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories

63

be reported in scope1 for grid-supplied energy

production (1.4.4), and for added transparency,
cities can identify the portion of those scope1
emissions attributable to heat/steam vs. electricity
production.29 This allocation can be performed using
the percentage of each energy output (% of total
MMBUT or GJ from electricity and from heat).

corresponding land use change or carbon stock change).

If waste decomposition or treatment is not used for
energy generation, emissions are reported in scope1 in
the Waste sector (see Chapter 8).
Table6.7 provides an overview of principles to help
avoid double counting between Waste, Stationary
Energy, and AFOLU sectors.

Waste-to-energy and bioenergy

Where waste is used to generate energy, emissions are
counted as Stationary Energy sources. This includes
energy recovered from landfill gas or waste combustion.
When a power plant is generating electricity from
biomass fuels, the resulting CH4 and N2O emissions shall
be reported under scope1 in energy industries subsector while biogenic CO2 shall be reported separately
from the scopes (CO2 emissions are effectively
reported in AFOLU, as the biofuel usage is linked to
29. Different methods may be used to perform this allocation, see
GHG Protocol methodology [Link]/files/ghgp/tools/
CHP_guidance_v1.[Link]

6.3.4 Agriculture, forestry,

and fishing activities
This sub-sector covers GHG emissions from direct fuel
combustion in agricultural activities, including plant and
animal cultivation, afforestation and reforestation activities,
and fishery activities (e.g., fishing and aquaculture).
These emissions are typically from the operation of
farm vehicles and machinery, generators to power lights,
pumps, heaters, coolers, and others. In order to avoid
double counting with other sectors and sub-sectors,
Table6.8 provides reporting guidance for typical emissions
sources in agriculture, forestry, and fishing activities.

Table 6.7 An overview of reporting categorization for waste-to-energy and bioenergy emissions

Activity

Landfill gas
combustion

Purpose

CO2

CH4 and N2O

As part of waste
disposal process

Report biogenic CO2 emissions under Waste sector

(separately from any fossil CO2 emissions)

Report emissions under

Waste sector

Energy generation

Report biogenic CO2 under Stationary Energy sector

(separately from any fossil CO2 emissions)

Report emissions under

Stationary Energy sector

Waste disposal (no

energy recovery)

Report CO2 emissions under Waste sector (with

biogenic CO2 reported separately from any fossil CO2
emissions)

Report emissions as Waste

sector

Energy generation

Report CO2 emissions under Stationary Energy sector

(with biogenic CO2 reported separately from any
fossil CO2 emissions)

Report emissions under

Stationary Energy sector

Waste disposal

Report biogenic CO2 emissions under Waste sector

(separately from any fossil CO2 emissions)

Report emissions under

Waste sector

Energy generation

Report biogenic CO2 emissions under Stationary

Energy sector (separately from any fossil CO2
emissions)

Report emissions under

Stationary Energy sector

Waste
incineration

Biomass
incineration

64 Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories

CHAPTER 6 Stationary Energy

Table 6.8 Reporting guidance for energy sources in agriculture, forestry, and fishing activities
Sources of emission

Reporting guidance

Off-road vehicles and machinery (stationary and mobile) used

for agriculture, forestry, and fishing activities

Report as a Stationary Energy source under agriculture, forestry,

and fishing activities sub-sector

On-road transportation to and from the locations of agriculture,

forestry, and fishing activities

Report under Transportation sector

Burning of agricultural residues

Report under AFOLU sector

Enteric fermentation and manure management

Report under AFOLU sector

6.3.5 Non-specified sources

This subcategory includes all remaining emissions
from Stationary Energy sources that are not specified
elsewhere, including emissions from direct fuel combustion
for stationary units in military establishments.

6.4

Calculating fugitive
emissions from fuels

A small portion of emissions from the energy sector

frequently arises as fugitive emissions, which typically
occur during extraction, transformation, and transportation
of primary fossil fuels. Where applicable, cities should
account for fugitive emissions from the following subsectors: 1) mining, processing, storage, and transportation
of coal; and 2) oil and natural gas systems. When
calculating fugitive emissions, cities should take into
account any fugitive emission removals or sequestration
that may be required by law.

6.4.1 Mining, processing, storage,

and transportation of coal
The geological processes of coal formation produce CH4
and CO4, collectively known as seam gas. It is trapped
in the coal seam until the coal is exposed and broken
during mining or post-mining operations, which can
include handling, processing, and transportation of coal,
low temperature oxidation of coal, and uncontrolled
combustion of coal. At these points, the emitted gases
are termed fugitive emissions. When accounting for and

reporting fugitive emissions from coal mines, cities should

categorize the emissions as mining and post-mining
(handling) for both underground mines and surface mines.

Methane recovery and utilization

Fugitive methane emissions may be recovered for direct
utilization as a natural gas resource or by flaring to
produce CO2 that has a lower global warming potential.
When recovered methane is utilized as an energy
source, the associated emissions should be
accounted for under Stationary Energy.
When recovered methane is fed into a gas
distribution system and used as a natural gas, the
associated fugitive emissions should be reported
under oil and natural gas systems sub-sector.
When it is flared, the associated emissions should
be reported under mining, processing, storage, and
transportation of coal sub-sector.

Time period of inventory

All fugitive emissions should be accounted for based on
the emissions and recovery operations that occur during
the assessment period of the inventory, regardless of
when the coal seam is mined through.
Cities can determine coal production at surface and
underground mines within the city boundary by inquiring
with mining companies, mine owners, or coal mining
regulators. Cities should separate data by average
overburden depth for surface mines and average mining
depth for underground mines, and then apply emission

65

factors per unit of production for mining and post-mining

fugitive emissions.30

Fugitive emissions from waste disposal activities that

occur outside of the oil and gas industry, which are
reported under Waste sector.

6.4.2 Oil and natural gas systems

Fugitive emissions from oil and natural gas systems include
GHG emissions from all operations to produce, collect,
process or refine, and deliver natural gas and petroleum
products to market. Specific sources include, but are not
limited to, equipment leaks, evaporation and flashing
losses, venting, flaring, incineration, and accidental releases.
Cities should also include emissions from all offshore
operations that fall within the inventory boundary.
The following emissions are not included in this category:

Fugitive emissions from carbon capture and

storage projects

Fugitive emissions that occur at industrial facilities other

than oil and gas facilities, or those associated with the
end use of oil and gas products at anything other than oil
and gas facilities, which are reported under IPPU sector
30. IPCC default values can be found in the 2006 IPCC Guidelines,
Volume 2, Chapter 4, Fugitive Emissions. Available at: [Link]/public/2006gl/vol2

6.5

Calculating emissions from gridsupplied energy consumption

Scope 2 represents all grid-supplied electricity, steam,

heating and cooling consumed within the city boundary.
Electricity is the most common form of grid-supplied
energy, used in almost all homes, offices, other buildings,
and outdoor lighting. Grid-supplied energy in the form of
direct steam (heating) and/or chilled water (cooling) is
typically provided by district energy systems, which may
cover a smaller geographic area than electricity grids,
which are typically regional. In all cases, using grid-supplied
energy entails emissions produced at generation facilities
off-site from the consumption facilities. Depending on the
city and the structure of the grid, these energy generators
can be located outside the geographic boundary at
various locations tied to or exporting to the regional grid,
or from generators located within the city boundary.

66 Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories

CHAPTER 6 Stationary Energy

6.5.1 Location-based and marketbased calculation methods

With regional grid networks, energy consumers can assess
emissions from their consumption based on two methods:
a location-based method or a market-based method.
Both methods serve to allocate emissions from the point
of generation to their final point of use. A location-based
method is based on average energy generation emission
factors for defined locations, including local, sub-national
or national boundaries. It yields a grid average emission
factor representing the energy produced in a region,
and allocates that to energy consumers in that region.
Cities shall use the location-based method for scope2
calculations in the GPC, and may separately document
emissions from the market-based method (see Box6.1).
The supplemental market-based figure can help cities
understand the choices of individual consumers,
businesses and institutions, growing the market demand
for low-carbon energy.

Box 6.1 The market-based method for scope2 accounting

As described in the GHG Protocol Scope 2 Guidance,

the market-based method for scope2 based on allocating
emissions from energy generators to consumers based
on contractual instruments such as utility-specific
emission factors, energy attribute certificates, or other
contracts. In many countries, energy suppliers or
utilities can provide consumers with emissions factors
for either their standard portfolio or for any low-carbon
or renewable energy consumer labels, tariffs, or other
programs. The method reflects contractual relationships
between energy suppliers and customers, so a city-wide
market-based scope2 total would reflect emissions from
only those resources that individual consumers have
matched with contractual instruments.
If these instruments follow the GHG Protocol Scope2
Guidance requirements on Quality Criteria, marketbased scope2 accounting can provide an indication

6.5.2 Relationship between energy

generation (scope1) and energy
consumption (scope2)

of the emissions from energy choices that businesses,

Cities may have energy generation facilities located inside

the geographic boundary for the inventory, but in most
instances a city cannot prove that its energy consumption
is supplied by the resources located within the boundary.
While it is generally the case that a citys aggregate
energy demand will be met with a set of relatively local
generation resources, cities cannot assume that their
aggregate electricity consumption from regional electricity
grids is met in full or in part by energy produced within
the city boundary. This is not possible to guarantee due
to fluctuating regional demand at any given moment, grid
constraints, exports and other contractual arrangements.31

carbon energy.

Therefore, cities shall report scope2 emissions from all

grid-supplied energy consumed in the city. Cities may also
separately report this total energy consumption in MWh/
kWh/BTU, etc. for added transparency.

institutions, or residential consumers have made, and

provide an incentive for the market to create more low-

BASIC/BASIC+ reporting avoids double counting by

excluding scope1 emissions from energy generation
supplied to the grid. Cities shall report scope1 and
scope2 separately and not sum them together (see
Section 3.5).

6.5.3 Calculating grid-supplied

electricity emissions
Electricity is the most common form of grid-supplied
energy, used in almost all homes, offices, other buildings,
and outdoor lighting. This section provides guidance on
calculating scope2 emissions from each sector and subsector, which are mainly based on bottom-up methods
using activity data of each source. To calculate scope2
emissions, cities should obtain activity data following the
list of preferred data here:

31. See NERC website, Understanding the Grid: [Link]

com/[Link]?cid=1|15

67

 Real consumption data from utility providers,

disaggregated by building type or non-building
facility for Stationary Energy:
Where consumption data by building type
is unavailable, but total community energy
consumption data for buildings are available by
energy type, apportion by total built space for each
building type.
Where data are only available for a few of the total
number of energy utilities, determine the population
served by real data to scale-up for total city-wide
energy consumption. Alternately use built space as
the scaling factor.
Where data are only available for one building type,
determine an energy end-use intensity figure by using
built space of that building type, and use as a scaling
factor with total built space for the other building
types. However, it should be noted that different
building uses have very different energy intensity
values, particularly when comparing commercial and
institutional buildings with residential uses.

Box 6.2 Identifying electricity consumption data

Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality

Representative sample sets of real consumption

data from surveys scaled up for total city-wide fuel
consumption and based on the total built space for each
building type.

Modeled energy consumption data by building and/

or facility type, adjusted for inventory-year consumption
data by weather.

Regional or national consumption data scaled

down using population, adjusted for inventory-year
consumption data by weather.
For an example of identifying electricity consumption
data from tariff codes, see Box6.2.
Cities should use regional or sub-national grid average
emissions factors. If these are not available, national
electricity production emission factors may be used.

Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality in South Africa used

tariff codes associated with end users to disaggregate
2011 electricity use by sector.32 Electricity in Ekurhuleni
is delivered by Eskom, a public utility and electricity
producer, and then redistributed by the municipality to the
relevant end users. Some of the tariff descriptions enabled
Ekurhuleni to categorize electricity consumption into
residential, commercial, or industrial sub-sectors. However,
some of the tariff descriptions did not provide adequate
information for categorization. To allocate emissions to
some of the end users lacking tariff code data, Ekurhuleni
classified high voltage, large energy consumers as industrial
users, and classified low-voltage, small energy consumers
as residential.

32. ICLEIAfrica. Local Renewables: South-south cooperation

between cities in India, Indonesiaand South Africa, 2013. Online
at: [Link]
EMM_Energy%20Urban%20Profile_Final%20Draft_5April2013_
stdPDF_09.pdf

68 Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories

CHAPTER 6 Stationary Energy

Box 6.3 Local electricity grid emission factors

WaterlooRegion

The Waterloo Region of Canada used provincial

emission factors for Ontario to determine emissions
from electricity consumption in the community. 34
Canadas national electricity consumption emission
factor in 2010 was 0.21 kg CO2e/kWh, but
provincial data are available. Therefore, Waterloo
Region used the most recent provincial emission
factors provided by Environment Canadas Annual
National Inventory Report. The emission factor for
electricity consumed in the province of Ontario was
estimated to be 0.15 kg CO2e/kWh. The provincial
level emission factor is a more accurate reflection
of the energy mix supplying Waterloo Region.

See Box6.3 for an example of the application of subnational location-based emission factors.

6.5.4 Calculating grid-supplied steam,

heating and cooling emissions
Many cities consume energy through district steam,
heating and/or cooling systems. GHG emissions from the
steam/heat/cooling consumed in city shall be counted
as scope2 emissions, categorized by the sub-sector
consuming the energy (see Section 6.3.3). The emission
factors should reflect the average emissions rate for the
energy generation facilities supplying the district steam,
heating and/or cooling systems, which should be available
through the local energy utility or district grid operator.33

6.6

Calculating transmission
and distribution loss emissions

During the transmission and distribution of electricity,

steam, heating and cooling on a grid, some of the
energy produced at the power station is lost during
33. See footnote 26.

delivery to end consumers. Emissions associated with

these transmission and distribution losses are reported
in scope 3 as part of out-of-boundary emissions
associated with city activities. Calculating these emissions
requires a grid loss factor, 35 which is usually provided
by local utility or government publications. Multiplying
total consumption for each grid-supplied energy type
(activity data for scope2) by their corresponding
loss factor yields the activity data for transmission
and distribution (T&D) losses. This figure is then
multiplied by the grid average emissions factors.

34. The Climate Collaborative. Discussion Paper: Community GHG

Inventory and Forecast for Waterloo Region, May 2012. Online
at: [Link]
resources/CommunityGHGInventoryForecastforWaterlooRegion_
DiscussionPaper_May2012.pdf
35. Transmission and distribution losses vary by location, see The
World Banks World Development Indicators (WDI) for an indication
of national transmission and distribution losses as a percent of
output, see: [Link]

69

Transportation

ity transportation systems are designed to move people and goods within
and beyond city borders. Transport vehicles and mobile equipment or
machinery produce GHG emissions directly by combusting fuel or indirectly

by consuming grid-delivered electricity.

Requirements in this chapter:

For BASIC:
Cities shall report all GHG emissions from combustion of fuels in transportation occurring
within the city boundary in scope1, and GHG emissions from grid-supplied electricity used for
transportation within the city boundary for transportation in scope2.
For BASIC+:
Cities shall report all BASIC sources and scope 3 GHG emissions associated with transboundary
transportation.

7.1

Categorizing transportation
emissions by scope

City transit via road, rail, water or air can either be wholly
contained within the city boundary (e.g., a city-only bus
route) or, more often, will cross city boundaries into
neighboring communities. There are typically four types of
transboundary trips:

1.
Trips that originate in the city and terminate outside
the city
2.
Trips that originate outside the city and terminate in
the city
3.
Regional transit (typically buses and trains) with an
intermediate stop (or multiple stops) within the city
4.
Trips that pass through the city, with both origin and
destination outside the city

71

Unlike stationary emission sectors, transit by definition

is mobile and can pose challenges in both accurately
calculating emissions and allocating them to the cities
linked to the transit activity. But a transportation sector
GHG inventory can be a vital metric that shows the
impact of transportation policies and mitigation projects
over time. While cities have varying levels of control
or influence over regional transportation policies and
infrastructure decisions that affect the transit routes of
their city, a transportation inventory should inform and
support actions that can influence emission reductions.
Depending on the available data and objectives of the
inventory, different methods can be used to quantify and
allocate transportation emissions. The methods most
commonly used for transportation modeling and planning
vary in terms of their system boundaries, or how the
resulting data can be attributable to a citys geographic
boundary and thus the GPC scopes framework. The GPC
does not require a specific calculation method for each
transport mode, and therefore the emissions reported
in each scope will likely vary by method. As with other
GPC emissions sectors, reporting transport emissions in
either scope1 or 3 should only reflect emissions from
combustion-only emissions. The upstream emissions from
fuels used (including exploration of mineral oil, refinery
processes, etc.) may be reported in Other Scope 3.
Transportation emissions accounting should reflect the
followingscopes:

Scope 3: Emissions from the portion of

transboundary journeys occurring outside the city,
and transmission and distribution losses from
grid-supplied energy from electric vehicle use
This includes the out-of-city portion of all transboundary
GHG emissions from trips that either originate or
terminate within the city boundaries. This may include
the out-of-city portion of on-road transit that burns
fuel, or any out-of-city stops for an electric railway.
The transportation emissions from large regional transit
hubs (e.g., airports or seaports) serving the city, but outside
of the geographic boundary, should be counted in scope
3. These emissions are driven by activities within the city
and should be included to provide a more holistic view
of the citys transportation sector. Emissions from energy
use at buildings or facilities related to transportation,
such as docks, mass transit stations, airports and marine
ports, should be reported in Stationary Energy sector.
These emission sources and their scope categorization are
summarized in Table7.1.

7.2

The GPC categorizes emission sources in the transportation

sector by transit mode, including:

On-road transportation, including electric and fuel

Scope 1: Emissions from transportation occurring

in the city
Scope 1 includes all GHG emissions from the transport
of people and freight occurring within the city boundary.
Scope 2: Emissions from grid-supplied
electricity used in the city for transportation
Scope 2 includes all GHG emissions from the generation
of grid-supplied electricity used for electric-powered
vehicles. The amount of electricity used should be assessed
at the point of consumption within the city boundary.

Defining transport modes

powered cars, taxis, buses, etc.

Railway, including trams, urban railway subway
systems, regional (inter-city) commuter rail transport,
national rail system, and international rail systems, etc.
Water-borne transportation, including sightseeing
ferries, domestic inter-city vehicles, or international
waterborne vehicles.
Aviation, including helicopters, domestic inter-city
flights, and international flights, etc.
Off-road transportation, including airport ground
support equipment, agricultural tractors, chain saws,
forklifts, snowmobiles, etc.

Cities should identify the applicable sub-categories within

each transit mode, and report emissions for these subcategories as well as sub-sectors if data is available.

72 Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories

CHAPTER 7 Transportation

Table 7.1 Transportation Overview

GHG Emission Source

Scope 1

Scope 2

Scope 3

TRANSPORTATION

Emissions from
fuel combustion
for transportation
occurring in the city

Emissions from
consumption of gridsupplied energy for inboundary transportation

Emissions from portion of transboundary

journeys occurring outside the city, and
transmission and distribution losses from
grid-supplied energy

On-road transportation

II.1.1

II.1.2

II.1.3

Railways

II.2.1

II.2.2

II.2.3

Water transport

II.3.1

II.3.2

II.3.3

Aviation

II.4.1

II.4.2

II.4.3

Off-road transportation

II.5.1

II.5.2

 S ources required for BASIC reporting

+

7.3

Sources included in Other Scope 3

Sources required for BASIC+ reporting

Calculating on-road
transportation emissions

On-road vehicles are designed for transporting people,

property or material on common or public roads,
thoroughfares, or highways. This category includes vehicles
such as buses, cars, trucks, motorcycles, on-road waste
collection and transportation vehicles (e.g. compactor
trucks), etc. Most vehicles burn liquid or gaseous fuel in
internal combustion engines. The combustion of these
fuels produces CO2, CH4, and N2O, often referred to
collectively as tailpipe emissions. Increasingly, electric or
hybrid vehicles can also be charged at stations within or
outside the city. The methodology chosen for calculating
on-road transportation emissions from fuel combustion will
impact how scope1 and scope 3 emissions are allocated
for transboundary journeys. Scope 2 emissions should
be calculated based on consumption at charging stations
in the city boundary, regardless of the trip destination.
Charging stations might be at homes or workplaces that
are already included in the Stationary Energy sector.
Cities should ensure that energy used for electric vehicle
charging is separate from, and not double counted with,
energy used in these other Stationary Energy sub-sectors.

7.3.1 Transportation methodology options

The GPC does not prescribe a specific method for
calculating on-road emissions due to variations in
data availability, existing transportation models, and
inventory purposes. However, cities should calculate
and report emissions based on one of four common
methods36 identified in Figure7.3 and described in
Table7.2, and shall clearly document the methods
used in the inventory reports. The GPC recommends
cities use the induced activity approach, as it provides
results more suited to local policy making.
The methodologies for estimating transport emissions can be
broadly categorized as top-down and bottom-up approaches.

Top-down approaches start with fuel consumption as a

proxy for travel behavior. Here, emissions are the result
of total fuel sold multiplied by a GHG emission factor for
each fuel.
Bottom-up approaches begin with detailed activity
data. Bottom-up approaches generally rely on an
ASIF framework for determining total emissions (see
Figure7.1).
36. GIZ. Balancing Transport Greenhouse Gas Emissions in CitiesA
Review of Practices in Germany. 2012.

73

The ASIF framework relates travel activity, the mode share,

energy intensity of each mode, fuel, and vehicle type, and
carbon content of each fuel to total emissions. The amount
of Activity (A) is often measured as VKT (vehicle kilometers
traveled), which reflects the number and length of trips.
Mode share (S) describes the portion of trips taken by
different modes (e.g., walking, biking, public transport, private
car) and vehicle types (e.g., motorcycle, car, bus, truck).
Energy Intensity (I) by mode, often simplified as energy
consumed per vehicle kilometer, is a function of vehicle types,
characteristics (e.g., the occupancy or load factor, represented
as passengers per km or tonnes cargo per km) and driving
conditions (e.g., often shown in drive cycles, a series of data
points showing the vehicle speed over time). Carbon content
of the fuel, or Fuel factor (F), is primarily based on the
composition of the local fuel stock.37, 38
Most cities start with top-down approaches and progress
towards more detailed bottom-up methodologies that
enable more effective emissions mitigation assessments
and transportation planning. A robust inventory can use data
under each approach to validate results and improve reliability.

Figure7.3 illustrates which type of transportation activity

is reflected in each method. Table7.3 further shows how
to allocate these activity emissions in scopes 1, 2 and 3.
Fuel sales method

This method calculates on-road transportation emissions

based on the total fuel sold within the city boundary.
In theory, this approach treats sold fuel as a proxy for
transportation activity. The activity data on the volume of
fuel sold within the city boundary can be obtained from
fuel dispensing facilities and/or distributors, or fuel sales
tax receipts. If a strictly in-boundary fuel sales figure is
unavailable, data may still be available at the regional scale
(through distributors). This data should be scaled-down
using vehicle ownership data or other appropriate scaling
factors. Calculating fuel sales emissions requires multiplying
activity data (quantity of fuel sold) by the GHG-content of
the fuel by gas (CO2, CH4, N2O).
To allocate total fuel sales by on-road vehicle sub-category,
apportioning factors can be determined based on
vehicle registration by vehicle class (starting with vehicle

Figure 7.1 ASIF framework39

emissions

Activity

total transport activity

mode Share

Intensity

emissions per unit of

energy or volume for
each fuel and mode

veh-km/pass-km by
mode

occupancy/load factor

modal intensity

vehicle fuel intensity

vehicle characteristics

37. Cooper, E., Jiang X., Fong W. K., Schmied M., and GIZ. Scoping
Study on Developing a Preferred Methodology and Tool to
Estimate Citywide Transport Greenhouse Gas Emissions,
unpublished, 2013
38. Schipper, L., Fabian, H., & Leather, J. Transport and Carbon Dioxide
Emissions: Forecasts, Options Analysis, and Evaluation. 2009.
39. Ibid

74 Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories

Fuel

real drive cycles

technological efficiency

CHAPTER 7 Transportation

registrations within the city, then state or region, and finally

national), survey or other methods.
All fuel sales from in-boundary fuel dispensaries should
be accounted for in scope1, even though fuel purchases
may be for transboundary trips. Maintaining all fuel sales
emissions in scope1 also enables more effective multi-city
aggregation. However, cities may conduct surveys or use
other methods to allocate total fuel sales into scope1 and
scope 3 emissions.
Induced activity method

This method seeks to quantify transportation emissions

induced by the city, including trips that begin, end, or
are fully contained within the city (usually excluding
pass-through trips). The method relies on models or
surveys to assess the number and length of all on-road
trips occurringboth transboundary and in-boundary
only. This yields a vehicle kilometers traveled (VKT)
figure for each identified vehicle class. It also requires
information on vehicle fuel intensity (or efficiency) and
fuel emission factors.
These models are more common in U.S. cities40, and
identify the origin and destination of each trip assessed.
To reflect the responsibility shared by both cities inducing
these trips, cities can use an origin-destination allocation
in two ways:
1.
Reporting 50% of transboundary trips (and
excluding pass-through trips). Of that 50%,
the portion that occurs within the city boundary is
reported in scope1, while the remaining percent
that occurs outside the boundary is reported in
scope 3. If 50% of the trip is entirely within the
city boundary (e.g., a trip that just passes the city
boundary), then the entire 50% should be in
scope1. One hundred percent of all in-boundary
trips that begin and end in the same city are
included, but pass-through trips are excluded from
scope1 even though they represent in-boundary
traffic (since they are not induced by the city). One
challenge of this approach is that due to differences
in traffic models, there may be portions of a trip that
40. Ibid

occur in the city boundary but are not reflected in

scope1. As illustrated in Figure7.2, Section A may
include in-boundary emissions that are not tracked in
scope1. Cities can disclose these omissions if they
are identified by the model. See Box7.1 for one citys
application of a travel demand model.
2.
Reporting departing on-road trips only. For
simplicity, cities may account for only departing
on-road trips. Here, 100% of the trip is counted, with
in-boundary section as scope1 and out-of-boundary
section as scope 3.

Box 7.1 On-road calculation based on

modelsNorth Park

The community of North Park in San Diego, California, was

chosen as the study area to test methodology for generating
VMT (vehicle miles traveled) data from a regional travel
demand model. The San Diego Association of Regional
Governments (SANDAG) developed an approach for
using traffic modeling software to generate VMT data
disaggregated into trip types compatible with the origindestination approach. Emissions from trips that start and
end in the study area (internal-internal) are fully allocated to
the city. Emissions from trips that have one trip-end within
the study area (internal-external and external-internal) are
allocated to the city at 50%. Pass-through trips (externalexternal) are excluded from the analysis.41

Geographic or territorial method

This method quantifies emissions from transportation

activity occurring solely within city boundaries, regardless
of the trips origin or destination. Some European traffic
demand models42 quantify these emissions primarily for

41. For more information, see the technical white paper Vehicle Mile
Traveled Calculations Using SANDAG Regional Travel Demand
Model [pdf]: [Link]
publicationid_1795_16802.pdf
42. Ibid Schipper, L., Fabian, H., & Leather, J. Transport and Carbon Dioxide
Emissions: Forecasts, Options Analysis, and Evaluation. 2009.

75

Figure 7.2 Induced activity allocation

50% of

trip distance

city boundary

scope 1

50% of

trip distance

scope 3

Section
A

scope 1

not counted

local air pollution estimates or traffic pricing, but GHG

emissions can be quantified based on the same ASIF model,
limiting VKT to in-city travel.
This model aligns with scope1 emissions, as all in-boundary
transportation is included. Although no out-of-boundary
trips are assessed or quantified, additional surveys could
be combined in order to report scope 3 emissions as the
portion of out-of-boundary transit.
Resident activity method

This method quantifies emissions from transportation

activity undertaken by city residents only. It requires
information on resident VKT, from vehicle registration
records and surveys on resident travels. While these
kinds of surveys may be more manageable and costeffective than traffic models, their limitation to resident
activity overlooks the impact of non-city resident
traffic by commuters, tourists, logistics providers,
and other travelers. Here, an inventory could apply
the origin-destination allocation approach to allocate
emissions from resident travel over scope1 and 3.

76 Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories

not counted

CHAPTER 7 Transportation

Figure 7.3 Methodology system boundaries

city boundary

Fuel sales: the volume of fuel purchased within the city

boundary.
Typical geographic coverage for activity data from fuel distributors,
fuel sales tax receipts, and city-wide fuel statistics.

Induced activity: in-boundary trips and 50% of transboundary trips

that originate or terminate within the city boundary.
Typical geographic coverage for some U.S. travel demand models.

Geographic: all on-road travel occuring within the geographic boundary.

Typical geographic coverage for city border VKT surveys and some European
travel demand models.

Resident activity: a measurement of the transport activities of

city residents.
Typical geographic coverage for household surveys, vehicle registration data
(city or regional), and vehicle inspections (e.g., sample odometer readings).

accounted
unaccounted

7.3.2 How to select on-road

calculation methodologies
To determine which methodologies to use for on-road
transportation, cities should first consult any transport
models developed by city transportation planners. In the
absence of a transportation model, cities can use the fuel
sales method.
The scale of differences in emission results based on
these methods may be significant. Cities should decide
which methodology and boundaries to use based on

the quality and availability of data, regional practices, and

the objectives of the inventory. For instance, fuel sales
can be more accurate to show overall reductions in fuel
consumption, while models and surveys can give detailed
information on how specific transportation sectors are
evolving and help prioritize mitigation actions. See Table7.3
for a comparison of these approaches. Cities should seek
consistent methods over time or document when methods
have changed (see base year recalculation in Chapter 11).

77

Table 7.2 Boundary types and scopes allocation

Method

Allocation
principle

Scope 1

Fuel Sales
Approach

Not applicable
unless additional
steps taken

All emission from fuel sold

within boundary

Not applicable unless fuel

sales allocated between scope
1 and 3 by specified method

In-boundary trips and inboundary portion of 50% of

transboundary trips (passthrough trips excluded)

Out-of-boundary portion of
50% of transboundary trip

City-induced
Activity (e.g. US
demand models)

Scope 2

Origin-Destination

Any electric
charging
station in the
city boundary

In-boundary trips and

in-boundary portion of all
departing transboundary trips
(pass-through trips excluded)

Scope 3

Out-of-boundary portion of all

departing transboundary trips

Geographic/
Territorial
(e.g., European
demand models)

Not applicable

All traffic occurring within city

boundaries, regardless of
origin or destination

Not applicable unless

additional steps taken

Resident
Activity

Options

Either resident activity is

all scope 1, or use origindestination

N/A or origin-destination used

Table 7.3 Comparing top-down and bottom-up methodologies for on-road transportation
Methodology

Advantages

More consistent with national inventory

Fuel sales

VKT and modelbased (induced

activity, territorial,
resident activity)

practices
Well suited to aggregation with other citys
transportation inventories if all fuel sold in
boundary is classified as scope 1.
Less costly
Less time-consuming to conduct
Do not require high level of technical
capacity

Can produce detailed and more

actionable data for transportation planning

Integrates better with existing city
transport models and planning processes

Disadvantages

Does not capture all on-road travel, as vehicles

may be fueled at locations outside the city

boundary but driven within the city
Does not disaggregate the reasons for travel
emissions, e.g., origin, destination, vehicle
efficiency changes, modal shift, etc.
Does not comprehensively demonstrate
mitigation potential
Does not allow for allocating emissions by scope
(unless additional steps are taken)

More expensive, time consuming, and less

78 Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories

comparable between cities due to variation in

models used

CHAPTER 7 Transportation

7.3.3 Changing transportation

methodologies over time
Over time, cities may be able to obtain more accurate or
relevant data using new technologies, methods, or models.
As new means for improving the accuracy of activity data
and emission factors become available, cities may switch
the methodology in the inventory and should clearly indicate
the method used.
Changing methodologies can pose challenges for cities
using base year inventory results to track progress toward
implementing goals. Cities should follow base year
recalculation procedures described in Chapter 11, disclosing
the reason for recalculation. Alternatively, if recalculated
base year emissions are not possible to develop due to
limitations on historic data or limitations in modeling, cities
may continue to report transportation emissions over time
with methods used in the base year.

7.4

Calculating railway
transportation emissions

Railways can be used to transport people and goods, and

are powered by a locomotive, which typically uses energy
through combustion of diesel fuels or electricity (known
as electric traction). Rail transit can be further divided into
four sub-categories, as shown with examples in Table7.4.
Each can be further classified as passenger or freight.
The allocation principle for railway broadly reflects an
assessment of induced activity, but reports all in-city
railway travel as scope1 while the out-of-boundary portion
of transboundary railway journeys can be apportioned on
the basis of city passengers or goods.

7.4.1 Calculating scope1 emissions

Scope 1 emissions include emissions from direct
combustion of fossil fuels incurred during the length of
railway transit within the city boundary for railway lines
that have stops in the city boundary. Based on available
data and local circumstances, cities may either include or
omit emissions from pass-through rail trips that do not
stop in the city boundary. Whichever the case, cities shall
transparently report the adopted approach for estimating
railway emissions and indicate whether it covers passthrough rail transit.

Table 7.4 Railway types

Railway type

Examples

Urban train/subway
systems

Tokyo transit system

Regional (intercity) commuter rail

transport

Tokyo subway/train systems that

connect to the adjacent cities like
Yokohama, Tsukuba, and Chiba

National rail

Japan national railway system

operated by the Japanese Rail

International rail
systems

Trans-Europe rail systems such as

Eurostar

Rail fuel combustion is typically diesel, but may also use

natural gas or coal, or include compressed natural gas (CNG)
or biofuels.43 Cities should obtain fuel consumption data
from the railway operator(s) by fuel types and by application
(e.g., transit system, freight, etc.) for the distance covered
within the city boundary (scope1) and the lines extension
outside the city (see scope 3).
Where detailed activity data are unavailable, cities can also:

Use rail company queries or surveys

Survey rail companies for real fuel consumption and
amount of goods or people moved (movement driver).

Calculate real fuel consumption per tonne of freight

and/or per person (e.g., gallons of diesel per person).

Scale up incomplete transportation activity data

(e.g., tonnes freight and/or people movement). Total
city activity may be determined through local, state, or
national statistics or transportation agencies for the city.
Scale down regional transit system fuel consumption
based on:
Population served by the regions model and the
population of the city, to derive an in-boundary number.
Share of transit revenue service miles served by the
region (utilize data on scheduled stops and length of
the railway) and the number of miles that are within
the citys geopolitical boundary.
Scale down national railway fuel consumption based on
city population or other indicators.
43. Diesel locomotives also consume lubricant oils, emissions from
which are included in IPPU.
79

7.4.2 Calculating scope2 emissions

Grid-supplied electricity used to power rail-based
transportation systems is accounted for at points of supply
(where the electricity is being supplied to the railway
system), regardless of trip origin or destination. Therefore,
all electricity charged for railway vehicle travel within the city
boundary shall be accounted for under scope2 emissions.
Cities can seek this data from the railway operator, utility
provider, or scale down regional or national statistics.

7.4.3 Calculating scope 3 emissions

Transboundary railway emissions (from either direct
fuel combustion or grid-supplied electricity charged
outside the city) can be allocated based on type of
railway service and geographic range. For instance:

For urban transit systems, lines may extend outside city

boundaries into suburbs within a metro area geographic
range. Here, all out-of-boundary emissions could be
recorded in scope 3.
For inter-city, national or international railway travel,
a city can allocate based on:
Resident travel, where the number of city residents
disembarking at each out-of-boundary stop (relative to the
total riders on the out-of-boundary stops) can be used
to scale down total emissions from the out-of-boundary
stops. Cities can determine this based on surveys.

Freight quantity (weight or volume), where the freight

quantity coming from the city (relative to the total freight
on the out-of-boundary stops) can be used to scale
down total emissions from out-of-boundary stops.

7.5

Calculating waterborne
navigation emissions

Water transportation includes ships, ferries, and other boats

operating within the city boundary, as well as marine-vessels
whose journeys originate or end at ports within the citys
boundary but travel to destinations outside of the city. While
water transportation can be a significant source of emissions
globally, most emissions occur during oceanic journeys
outside of the boundaries of a port city.
IPCC Guidelines allow for exclusion of international
waterborne navigation and air travel, but these journeys
and their associated emissions can be useful for a city to
understand the full impact of the transit connecting through
the city. The GPC requires water transportation wholly
occurring within a city to be reported in scope1 for BASIC,
while emissions from all departing ships for inter-city/
national/international trips shall be reported in scope 3
under BASIC+.

80 Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories

CHAPTER 7 Transportation

7.5.1 Calculating scope1 emissions

of passengers and cargo traveling from the city, using

official records, manifests, or surveys to determine the
apportionment. Emissions from transboundary trips can be
calculated based on:

Scope 1 includes emissions from direct combustion of

fossil fuels for all trips that originate and terminate within
the city boundary. This includes all riverine trips within
the city boundary as well as marine ferries and boats that
travel between seaports within the city boundary (including
sightseeing ferries that depart from and return to the same
seaport within the city boundary). To calculate scope1
emissions, cities can:

VKT, or the distance travelled from the seaport within

Obtain total real fuel sales estimates of fuel loaded onto

Cities shall transparently document the methods used in the

inventory reports.

marine vessels by inquiring with shipping companies,

fuel suppliers (e.g., quantity of fuels delivered to port
facilities), or individual port and marine authorities,
separated by geographic scale of activity.
Where a representative sampling survey is used,
identify the driver of activity at the sample site (e.g.,
tonnes of freight or number of people), and use
driver information to scale-up the activity data to the
city-scale.
Total city activity may be determined through local,
state, or national statistics or transportation agencies
for the city.
Estimate distances traveled and resulting fuel usage.
Use ferry movement schedules to calculate
distances traveled.
Utilize fuel economy figures for boats.
Scale national level data down using appropriate
scaling factors.
National marine navigation data may be found through
national maritime (marine) administration agencies.

7.5.2 Calculating scope2 emissions

Scope 2 includes emissions from any grid-supplied energy
that marine-vessels purchase and consume, typically at
docks, ports or harbors (this should be distinguished from
electricity consumption at other stationary port structures,
such as a marina). Cities should seek data from port
operators on water vessel consumption.

7.5.3 Calculating scope 3 emissions

In this case, Scope 3 covers emissions from departing
transboundary trips powered by direct fuel combustion,
apportioned to cover those departing trips that are
attributable to the city. Cities can estimate the proportion

the city to the next destination

Fuel combustion, quantifying the combustion of fuel
loaded at the stations within the city boundary

7.6

Calculating aviation emissions

Civil aviation, or air travel, includes emissions from

airborne trips occurring within the geographic boundary
(e.g., helicopters operating within the city) and emissions
from flights departing airports that serve the city. A
significant amount of emissions associated with air travel
occur outside the city boundary. Airports located within
a city, or under local jurisdiction, typically service the
greater region in which the city exists. These complexities
make it challenging to properly account for and attribute
aviation emissions. For simplicity, scope 3 includes all
emissions from departing flights. Cities may report just
the portion of scope 3 aviation emissions produced by
travelers departing the city. This is in line with the origin
and destination model described with the induced
activity method in Section 7.3.1. Cities shall transparently
document the methods used in the inventory reports.
Cities should also disaggregate data between domestic and
international flights to improve integration with national GHG
inventories.44 Oftentimes, the separation of data between
in-boundary (scope1), domestic, and international aviation
may be difficult to obtain. Classification of airports should
indicate whether the airports service local, national, or
international needs.

44. Fuel use data is disaggregated from national and international

trips as a UNFCCC/IPCC reporting requirement. Under the 2006
IPCC Guidelines, national governments are required to calculate
domestic (trips occurring within the geopolitical boundary of
the country) waterborne navigation and aviation trips, while
international trips are designated as optional.

81

7.6.1 Calculating scope1 emissions

7.6.3 Calculating scope 3 emissions

Scope 1 includes emissions from the direct combustion of

fuel for all aviation trips that depart and land within the city
boundary (e.g., local helicopter, light aircraft, sightseeing
and training flights). The methodology for quantifying
aviation emissions is similar to the methodology
provided for waterborne navigation in Section 7.5:

Scope 3 includes emissions from departing flights at airports

that serve the city, whether the airport is located within
the geographic boundary or outside of it. Cities should
identify the types of fuels consumed in departing aviation
trips, the quantity (volume or energy) of each type of fuel
consumed by the aircraft associated with these flights,
and whether the trips are domestic or international.

Obtain activity data in the form of total real fuel sales

estimates of fuel loaded onto aircraft by inquiring with
airports, airlines, or port authorities.
Where real data for all airports are unavailable, utilize
a survey of a sample of airports. Identify the driver of
activity at the sample site (e.g., goods and freight or
passenger movement), and use driver information
to scale up the activity data to the city-scale.
Total city activity may be determined through local,
state, or national statistics or transportation agencies
for the city.
Where in-city aviation data are unavailable:
Survey local helicopter companies and airlines for
fuel use data.
Estimate other local aviation use through schedule
information and fuel economy estimates.
Alternatively, scale national level data down using
population or GDP per capita.
National aviation data may be found through national
aviation administration agencies (e.g. U.S. FAA).
Apply emission factors, which can be disaggregated by
fuel type and technology (typically provided by national
environmental agencies or research institutions), or use
default IPCC emission factors.45

7.6.2 Calculating scope2 emissions

Scope 2 includes any grid-supplied energy consumed by
aircraft charging at airports.46 Any grid-supplied energy
consumed at airport facilities should be included in
Stationary Energy (institutional or commercial facilities).

45. IPCC default emission factors can be found in Volume 2 Energy;

Chapter 3 Mobile Combustion; Section 3.6 Civil Aviation; CO2
Table3.6.4 and CH4 and N2O Table3.6.5. Available at: [Link]/public/2006gl/vol2
46. Grid-supplied fixed ground power provided by the airport.

Quantification follows the same process described in 7.6.1.

Additional resources for obtaining activity data include
statistical offices or transportation agencies, airport records,
air traffic control records or official records, or published air
traffic schedules.
The city may report just the emissions from departing
flights that are attributable to the city by estimating the
proportion of passengers traveling from the city, using
carrier flight data or surveys to determine the allocation.
Cities shall transparently document the methods used in
the inventory reports.

7.7

Calculating off-road
transportation emissions

Off-road vehicles are those designed or adapted for travel

on unpaved terrain. This category typically includes allterrain vehicles, landscaping and construction equipment,
tractors, bulldozers, amphibious vehicles, snowmobiles and
other off-road recreational vehicles. For the purposes of
the GPC, only activities in the city (scope1 and scope2)
emissions are included.
Cities should only report under the off-road transportation
sub-sector emissions from off-road transportation activities
within transportation facility premises such as airports,
harbors, bus terminals, and train stations. Other off-road
transportation activities within industrial premises and
construction sites, agriculture farms, forests, aquaculture
farms, and military premises, are reported under Stationary
Energy (see Table6.5 Overview of reporting guidance for
off-road transportation activities for guidance on classifying
these emissions).
All GHG emissions from combustion of fuels in off-road
vehicles within the city boundary shall be reported under
scope1. Emissions from generation of grid-supplied

82 Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories

CHAPTER 7 Transportation

Box 7.2 Reporting emissions from regional transport

hubsLondon

47

London, United Kingdom, is a major international transport

hub. It has two international airports located within the city
boundary (London Heathrow and London City) and four
international airports located outside the city boundary
(London Gatwick, London Luton, London Stansted and
London Southend).
To calculate GHG emissions from transboundary air
travel, the distance travelled by departing aircraft from
these airports is apportioned to London based on the
percentage of air travel at each airport serving the city, i.e.
those flights used by residents, workers and visitors. The
latter is obtained from a survey conducted by the UK Civil
Aviation Authority on the origin/destination patterns of
terminating passengers at major UK airports. This survey
suggests that airports further afield also serve London but
to a very limited extent and are therefore not included in
the calculations.

Stansted

Luton

Southend

London
Heathrow

London City

Comprehensive top-down activity data on off-road vehicles

are often unavailable, and alternative methods are typically
necessary to estimate emissions within this category. Some
options include:

Conducting a survey:
Be sure to include households, construction, and
relevant businesses to capture gardening, landscaping,
construction, and recreational equipment.
Use population served by the survey to scale for the
city, generally. More specifically, aggregate scale of
sub-sectors for increased accuracy:
Construction permits served by the survey to
scale for total permits issued for the city
Number of households (or population) served
by the survey to scale for total city households
(or population)
Using nationalor regional, where availableoff-road
modeling software:
Requires inputs on number of engines and
technology types:
Engine populations
Annual hours of use (can be estimated, based
upon city characteristics)
Power rating (derived from off-road vehicle types)
U.S. EPA has a tool that can be used for this purpose,
NONROAD 2005:
Available on the U.S. EPA website: [Link]/
otaq/[Link]
Scale national off-road mobile fuel consumption down
according to population share.

Gatwick

electricity used to power off-road vehicles shall be reported

under scope2 emissions.

47. Source: BSI (2014)Application of PAS 2070London, United

Kingdom: An assessment of greenhouse gas emissions of a
city. [Link]
[Link]

83

Waste

ities produce solid waste and wastewater (together referred to collectively

as waste) that may be disposed of and/or treated at facilities inside the city
boundary, or transported to other cities for treatment. Waste disposal and

treatment produces GHG emissions through aerobic or anaerobic decomposition,

or incineration.

Requirements in this chapter:

For BASIC:
Cities shall report all GHG emissions from disposal or treatment of waste generated within the
city boundary, whether treated inside or outside the city boundary.
Emissions from waste imported from outside the city but treated inside the city shall be excluded
from BASIC/BASIC+ totals. These emissions shall still be reported in total scope1 emissions.

8.1

Categorizing waste
and wastewater emissions

Solid waste and wastewater may be generated and treated

within the same city boundary, or in different cities.
For accounting purposes, the following rules apply:

Scope 1: Emissions from waste treated inside the city

This includes all GHG emissions from treatment and
disposal of waste within the city boundary regardless
whether the waste is generated within or outside the city
boundary. Only GHG emissions from waste generated
by the city shall be reported under BASIC/BASIC+. GHG
emissions from imported waste shall be reported as
scope1, but not added to BASIC/BASIC+ totals.

85

Scope 2: Not applicable

All emissions from the use of grid-supplied electricity
in waste treatment facilities within the city boundary
shall be reported under scope2 in Stationary Energy,
commercial and institutional buildings and facilities (I.2.2).
Scope 3: Emissions from waste generated by the city
but treated outside the city
This includes all GHG emissions from treatment of waste
generated by the city but treated at a facility outside the
city boundary.
Figure8.1 illustrates boundary considerations for emission
sources in the Waste sector. In this figure, the blue
border represents the citys geographic boundary and:

A illustrates waste generated outside of the city

boundary and treated within the boundary
B illustrates waste generated and treated within the
citys boundary
C illustrates waste generated inside the boundary and
treated outside of the boundary
Based on the above, the reporting requirement for the
Waste sector is as follows:

Scope 1 emissions = emissions from A+B

(all emissions generated within the city boundary)

Scope 3 emissions = emissions from C

Emissions reported for BASIC and BASIC+ = emissions
from B+C (all emissions resulting from waste generated
by the city)

Waste emission sources and their scope categorizations are

summarized in Table8.1.

Figure 8.1 Boundaries for imported and exported waste

city boundary

imported
waste

B
waste generated
and treated within
the boundary

86 Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories

exported
waste

CHAPTER 8 Waste

Table 8.1 Waste Overview

GHG Emission Source

Scope 1

Scope 2

WASTE

Emissions from
in-boundary waste
treatment

Solid waste generated in the city

disposed in landfills or open dumps

III.1.1

Solid waste generated outside the city

disposed in landfills or open dumps

III.1.3

Solid waste generated in the city that is

treated biologically

III.2.1

Solid waste generated outside the city

that is treated biologically

III.2.3

Solid waste generated in the city

incinerated or burned in the open

III.3.1

Solid waste generated outside the city

incinerated or burned in the open

III.3.3

Wastewater generated in the city

III.4.1

Wastewater generated outside the city

III.4.3

 S ources required for BASIC reporting

+

8.2

Scope 3
Emissions from waste
generated in the city but
treated out-of-boundary
III.1.2

III.2.2

III.3.2

III.4.2

 
Sources required for territorial total but not for BASIC/BASIC+ reporting (italics)

Sources required for BASIC+ reporting

N
 on-applicable emissions

Defining Solid Waste types and

general calculation procedures

This chapter provides accounting guidance for city

governments to estimate CO2, CH4, and N2O from the
following waste management activities:
1.
Solid waste disposal in landfills48 or dump sites,
including disposal in an unmanaged site, disposal
in a managed dump or disposal in a sanitary landfill
2.
Biological treatment of solid waste
3.
Incineration and open burning of waste
4.
Wastewater treatment and discharge
48. In many cities, a portion of solid waste generated is not formally treated
by the city and ends up in open dumps or other unmanaged sites. The
term landfill is used as shorthand for both managed and unmanaged
solid waste disposal sites. Similarly, waste may be incinerated at formal
incineration facilities as well as informal open burning sites. As described
in Sections 8.3 to 8.5, cities should calculate emissions from managed
disposal, treatment or incineration sites first, and separately document
emissions from unmanaged disposal sites.

8.2.1 Defining solid waste types

Waste type categories and waste collection methods
vary by country. Cities should identify city-specific
waste composition and waste generation data where
possible, to achieve more accurate calculation results.
However, for cities without data on current or historic
solid waste generation quantities and composition,
or waste treatment methods, the GPC provides a set
of default solid waste types and definitions (outlined
below) consistent with IPCC Guidelines. Cities should
also consult IPCC Guidelines for guidance on conducting
waste composition analyses in addition to default
values for specific countries/regions. This chapter
focuses on GHG emissions from different types of
solid waste generated from offices, households, shops,
markets, restaurants, public institutions, industrial
installations, water works and sewage facilities,
construction and demolition sites and agricultural
activities. These default types of solid waste include:

87

Box 8.1 Waste and stationary energy emissions

As described in Chapter 6, Stationary Energy (Table6.7), if methane is recovered from solid waste or wastewater treatment
facilities as energy sources, those GHG emissions shall be reported under Stationary Energy. Emissions from waste incineration
without energy recovery are reported under the Waste sector, while emissions from incineration with energy recovery are
reported in Stationary Energy, both with a distinction between fossil and biogenic carbon dioxide (CO2(b)) emissions. See below
for an illustrated explanation of these differences.

reported in
stationary energy

reported in
waste sector

CO2(b)

CO2(b)

burning as
energy source

burning without
utilizing energy

CH4

CO2(b)

N20

reported in
stationary energy

CO2

CO2(b)

CH4

N20

CO2

without
energy
utilization

direct emissions
to atmosphere

CO2(b)

CH4

N20

as energy
source

direct
burning

landll gas
(methane)

Waste

1. Municipal solid waste (MSW)

MSW is generally defined as waste collected by
municipalities or other local authorities. MSW typically
includes: food waste, garden and park waste, paper
and cardboard, wood, textiles, disposable diapers,
rubber and leather, plastics, metal, glass, and other
materials (e.g., ash, dirt, dust, soil, electronic waste).

2. Sludge
In some cities, domestic wastewater sludge is
reported as MSW, and industrial wastewater treatment
sludge in industrial waste. Other cities may consider
all sludge as industrial waste. Cities should indicate
this classification when reporting sludge emissions.

3. Industrial Waste
Industrial waste generation and composition vary
depending on the type of industry and processes/
technologies used and how the waste is classified by
country. For example, construction and demolition waste
can be included in industrial waste, MSW, or defined as
a separate category. In many countries industrial waste
is managed as a specific stream and the waste amounts
are not covered by general waste statistics.
In most developing countries industrial wastes
are included in the municipal solid waste stream.
Therefore, it is difficult to obtain data on industrial
waste separately, and cities should carefully notate
the category when reporting Waste sector emissions.

88 Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories

CHAPTER 8 Waste

4. Other waste
Clinical waste: These wastes cover a range of
materials including plastic syringes, animal tissues,
bandages and cloths. Some countries choose to
include these items under MSW. Clinical waste is
usually incinerated, but on occasion may be disposed
of at solid waste disposal sites (SWDS). No regional
or country-specific default data are given for clinical
waste generation and management.
Hazardous waste: Waste oil, waste solvents, ash,

cinder, and other wastes with hazardous properties

such as flammability, explosiveness, causticity, and
toxicityare included in hazardous waste. Hazardous
wastes are generally collected, treated and disposed
of separately from non-hazardous MSW and industrial
waste streams.
In most countries, GHG emissions from clinical
and hazardous wastes are less than those coming
from other waste streams, so the GPC does not
provide methodological guidance specifically for
Other Waste. When a city has specific needs, city
government can apply the waste composition and
waste treatment data to MSW methodology.

8.2.2 General emissions quantification steps

The quantification of GHG emissions from solid waste
disposal and treatment is determined by two main
factors: the mass of waste disposed and the amount of
degradable organic carbon (DOC) within the waste, which
determines the methane generation potential. In the case of
incineration, the two main factors for quantifying emissions
are the mass of waste disposed and the amount of fossil
carbon it contains.
Detailed guidance for quantifying waste mass and
degradable organic content includes the following steps:

Determine the quantity (mass) of waste generated

by the city and how and where it is treated. For all
disposal and treatment types, cities should identify the
quantity of waste generated in the analysis year. For solid
waste disposed in landfills/open dumps, historic waste
quantity data or estimates may also be needed depending
on the calculation method chosen. In instances where
multiple cities are contributing waste to the same disposal

sites, each city will apportion those emissions based on

the ratio of historical waste contributed to the landfill
(See Box8.2 for an example of emissions apportionment
between cities).
In the absence of local or country-specific data on waste
generation and disposal, the 2006 IPCC Guidelines provide
national default values for waste generation rates based
upon a tonnes/capita/year basis and default breakdowns of
fraction of waste disposed in landfills (SWDS), incinerated,
composted (biological treatment), and unspecified (landfill
methodology applies here).49

Determine the emission factor. Disposal and

treatment of municipal, industrial and other solid
waste produces significant amounts of methane (CH4).
CH4 produced at solid waste disposal sites (SWDS)
contributes approximately 3 to 4 percent to annual
global anthropogenic GHG emissions.50 In addition
to CH4, SWDS also produce biogenic carbon dioxide
(CO2(b)) and non-methane volatile organic compounds
(NMVOCs) as well as smaller amounts of nitrous oxide
(N2O), nitrogen oxides (NOx), and carbon monoxide
(CO). This section focuses only on guidance for methane
emissions calculation, but cities should consult IPCC or
other local resources to calculate other GHGs like N2O.
For solid waste disposal, the emission factor is illustrated
as methane generation potential (L0), which is a function
of degradable organic content (DOC). This factor is
further explained in Section 8.2.3.

Multiply quantity of waste disposed by relevant

emission factors to determine total emissions.
Distinct components of the waste stream (e.g., waste
disposed in managed sites versus waste disposed in
unmanaged dumps) should be paired with appropriate
emission factors and associated emissions should be
49. 2006 IPCC Guidelines, Volume 5: Waste, Chapter 2: Waste
Generation, Composition, and Management, Annex2A.1. Available
at: [Link]/public/2006gl/vol5
50. IPCC (2001). Summary for Policymakers and Technical Summary of
Climate Change 2001: Mitigation. Contribution of Working Group III
to the Third Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change, Bert Metz et al. eds. Cambridge University Press,
Cambridge, United Kingdom

89

Box8.2 Reporting scope1 emissions

from the Waste sectorLahti

In Lahti, Finland, municipally-owned Pijt-Hme Waste

Equation 8.1 estimates DOC using default carbon

content values.

Equation 8.1 Degradable organic carbon (DOC)52

Disposal Ltd serves not only the city of Lahti, but 21 other
municipalities and 200,000 residents around the Pijt-

DOC =

Hme region as well. All relevant GHG emissions from

(0.15 A) + (0.2 B) + (0.4 C) + (0.43 D)

waste treatment facilities in Lahti, which manage both the

+ (0.24 E) + (0.15 F)

waste generated by the city itself and by entities outside

the city boundary, are around two times larger than the
GHG emissions from Lahti residents only. Therefore,

the GPC recommends that the city of Lahti report all

emissions from the entire Waste sector under scope1

with an accompanying explanation about the proportion of
emissions from imported MSW.

calculated separately. The following sections provide

more detailed information on how these steps should
be conducted.

8.2.3 Determining solid waste composition

and degradable organic content (DOC)
The preferred method to determine the composition
of the solid waste stream is to undertake a solid waste
composition study, using survey data and a systematic
approach to analyze the waste stream and determine the
waste source (paper, wood, textiles, garden waste, etc.).
In addition, the analysis should indicate the fraction of
DOC and fossilized carbon present in each matter type
and the dry weight percentages of each matter type.
In the absence of a comprehensive waste composition
study, IPCC Guidelines provide sample regional and
country-specific data to determine waste composition
and carbon factors in the weight of wet waste.51
DOC represents a ratio or percentage that can be
calculated from a weighted average of the carbon
content of various components of the waste stream.

51. Default values are available in Volume 5: Waste, Chapter 2: Waste

Generation, Composition, and Management (Table2.3 and
Table2.4).

C
D
E
F

8.3

= Fraction of solid waste that is food

Fraction of solid waste that is garden waste
=
and other plant debris
= Fraction of solid waste that is paper
= Fraction of solid waste that is wood
= Fraction of solid waste that is textiles
= Fraction of solid waste that is industrial waste

Calculating emissions from

solid waste disposal

Solid waste may be disposed of at managed sites (e.g.,

sanitary landfill and managed dumps), and at unmanaged
disposal sites (e.g., open dumps, including above-ground
piles, holes in the ground, and dumping into natural features,
such as ravines). Cities should first calculate emissions
from managed disposal sites, and separately calculate and
document emissions from unmanaged disposal sites.
Activity data on quantities of waste generated and
disposed at managed sites can be calculated based on
records from waste collection services and weigh-ins at
the landfill. Waste disposed at unmanaged sites (e.g., open
dumps) can be estimated by subtracting the amount of
waste disposed at managed sites from the total waste
generated. Total waste generated can be calculated by

52. Equation adapted from IPCC Good Practice Guidance and

Uncertainty Management in National Greenhouse Gas Inventories
(2000). Default carbon content values sourced from IPCC Waste
Model spreadsheet, available at: [Link]
public/2006gl/pdf/5_Volume5/V5_2_Ch2_Waste_Data.pdf. For
city specific waste generation and waste composition data user can
also consult World Bank paper: What a Waste: A Global Review of
Solid Waste Management

90 Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories

CHAPTER 8 Waste

are highest in the first few years after waste is initially

deposited in a disposal site, then gradually decline as
the degradable carbon in the waste is consumed by the
bacteria responsible for the decay. The FOD method
provides a more accurate estimate of annual emissions
and is recommended in IPCC Guidelinesbut it requires
historical waste disposal information that might not be
readily available. Cities may estimate historic data by
method provided in section 8.3.1.

Methane commitment (MC) assigns landfill

emissions based on waste disposed in a given year.
It takes a lifecycle and mass-balance approach and
calculates landfill emissions based on the amount of
waste disposed in a given year, regardless of when the
emissions actually occur (a portion of emissions are
released every year after the waste is disposed). For
most cities, the MC method will consistently overstate
GHG emissions by assuming that all DOC disposed in a
given year will decay and produce methane immediately.
multiplying the per capita waste generation rate (tonnes/
capita/yr) by the population (capita). Guidance on
collecting this information is available in IPCC Guidelines.
Accounting methods

Methane emissions from landfills continue several decades

(or sometimes even centuries) after waste disposal.
Waste disposed in a given year thereby contributes to
GHG emissions in that year and in subsequent years.
Likewise, methane emissions released from a landfill in
any given year include emissions from waste disposed
that year, as well as from waste disposed in prior years.
Therefore, the GPC provides two commonly acceptable
methods for estimating methane emissions from solid waste
disposal: first order of decay and methane commitment.

First order of decay (FOD) assigns landfill emissions

based on emissions during that year. It counts GHGs
actually emitted that year, regardless of when the
waste was disposed. The FOD model assumes that the
degradable organic component (DOC) in waste decays
slowly over a few decades, during which CH4 and CO2
are released. If conditions are constant, the rate of CH4
production depends solely on the amount of carbon
remaining in the waste. As a result, CH4 emissions

Table8.2 provides a simplified comparison between these

two methods based on user considerations, including
consistency with national inventories, data availability, etc.

8.3.1 First order of decay (FOD) model

Due to the complexity of this model, the GPC recommends
that cities use the IPCC Waste Model53 (2006), which
provides two options for the estimation of emissions from
solid waste that can be chosen depending on the available
activity data. The first option is a multi-phase model based
on waste composition data. The second option is singlephase model based on bulk waste (solid waste). Emissions
from industrial waste and sludge are estimated in a similar
way to bulk solid waste. When waste composition is
relatively stable, both options give similar results. However,
when rapid changes in waste composition occur, the
different calculation options may yield different results.
Cities should seek to identify actual historical waste disposal
information, but in its absence cities can estimate historic
waste and related emissions based on total waste in place,

53. An Excel version of the IPCC Waste Model tool can be downloaded
online at: [Link]
Volume5/IPCC_Waste_Model.xls

91

Table 8.2 Comparing Methane Commitment to First Order Decay method

User Consideration

Methane commitment (MC)

First Order of Decay (FOD)

Simplicity of
implementation, data
requirements

Advantage: Based on quantity of waste

disposed during inventory year, requiring no
knowledge of prior disposal.

Disadvantage: Based on quantity of waste

disposed during inventory year as well as existing
waste in landfill(s). Requires historic waste
disposal information.

Consistency with
annualized emissions
inventories

Disadvantage: Does not represent GHG

emissions during inventory year. Rolls together
current and future emissions and treats them
as equal. Inconsistent with other emissions in
the inventory.

Advantage: Represents GHG emissions

during the inventory year, consistent with other
emissions in the inventory.

Decision-making
for future waste
management practices

Disadvantage: May lead to overestimation

of emission reduction potential.

Advantage: Spreads benefits of avoided landfill

disposal over upcoming years.

Credit for source

reduction/recycling

Advantage: Accounts for emissions affected

by source reduction, reuse, and recycling.

Disadvantage: For materials with significant

landfill impacts, FOD not as immediately
sensitive to source reduction, reuse, and
recycling efforts.

Credit for engineering

controls, heat/power
generation

Disadvantage: Doesnt count current

emissions from historic waste in landfills, thus
downplaying opportunities to reduce those
emissions via engineering controls.

Advantage: Suitable for approximating amount

of landfill gas available for flaring, heat recovery,
or power generation projects.

Credit for avoided

landfill disposal

Disadvantage: Overstates short-term benefits

of avoided landfill disposal.

Advantage: Spreads benefits of avoided landfill

disposal over upcoming years, minimizing
overestimation of emission reduction potential.

Accuracy

Disadvantage: Requires predicting future gas

collection efficiency and modeling parameters
over the life of future emissions.

Advantage: More accurate reflects total

emissions occurring in the inventory year.

years of operation, and population data over time. The

starting and ending years for the annual disposal inputs to
the FOD model can be determined as long as any of the
following additional data are available:

1. Site opening and closing year

2. Site opening year, total capacity (in m3), and density
conversion (Mg/m3)
3. Current waste in place and site closure date or
capacity (with conversion to Mg)

With this information, the IPCC Waste Model (2006) model

outlined above can be used. The iterative process of FOD
model is illustrated in Equation8.2.

8.3.2 Methane commitment model

Downstream emissions associated with solid waste sent
to landfill during the inventory year can be calculated
using the following equation for each landfill:
Methane generation potential, L 0

Methane generation potential (L0) is an emission factor

that specifies the amount of CH4 generated per tonne
of solid waste. L0 is based on the portion of degradable
organic carbon (DOC) that is present in solid waste, which
is in turn based on the composition of the waste stream.
L0 can also vary depending on the characteristics of the
landfill. Unmanaged landfills produce less CH4 from a

92 Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories

CHAPTER 8 Waste

Equation 8.2 First order of decay (FOD) model estimate for solid waste sent to landfill

CH4 emissions =
{ x [ MSWX L0(x) ((1 ek) ek (t x))] R(t)} (1 OX)
Description
CH4 emissions

= Total CH4 emissions in tonnes

Value
Computed

= Landfill opening year or earliest year of historical data available

User input

= Inventory year

User input
User input

MSWX

= Total municipal solid waste disposed at SWDS in year x in tonnes

= Methane collected and removed (ton) in inventory year

User input

L0

= Methane generation potential

Consult equation 8.4

Methane generation rate constant, which is related to the

= time taken for the DOC in waste to decay to half its initial mass
(the half-life)

User Input or consult default value in

table 3.4 of 2006 IPCC guidelines,
vol. 3: waste, chapter 3: solid waste
disposal, p. 3.17

OX

= Oxidation factor

0.1 for well-managed landfills; 0 for

unmanaged landfills

Source: IPCC Good Practice Guidance and Uncertainty Management in National Greenhouse Gas Inventories (2000)

Equation 8.3 Methane commitment estimate for solid waste sent to landfill

CH4 emissions =
MSWX L0 (1-frec) (1-OX)
Description
CH4 emissions

= Total CH4 emissions in metric tonnes

MSWX

L0

= Methane generation potential

frec

OX

= Oxidation factor

Mass of solid waste sent to landfill in inventory year,

measured in metric tonnes

Fraction of methane recovered at the landfill (flared or energy

recovery)

Value
Computed
User input
Equation 8.4 Methane generation
potential
User input
0.1 for well-managed landfills; 0 for
unmanaged landfills

Source: Adapted from Revised 1996 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories

93

Equation 8.4 Methane generation potential, L0

L0 =
MCF DOC DOCF F 16/12
Description

Value

L0

= Methane generation potential

Computed

MCF

Methane correction factor based on type of landfill site for the

=
year of deposition (managed, unmanaged, etc., fraction)

Managed = 1.0
Unmanaged (5 m deep) = 0.8
Unmanaged (<5 m deep) = 0.4
Uncategorized = 0.6

DOC

Degradable organic carbon in year of deposition, fraction

(tonnes C/tonnes waste)

Equation 8.1

DOCF

Fraction of DOC that is ultimately degraded (reflects the fact that

some organic carbon does not degrade)

Assumed equal to 0.6

= Fraction of methane in landfill gas

16/12

= Stoichiometric ratio between methane and carbon

Default range 0.4-0.6 (usually taken to be

0.5)

Source: IPCC Good Practice Guidance and Uncertainty Management in National Greenhouse Gas Inventories (2000)

given amount of waste than managed landfills because a

larger fraction of waste decomposes aerobically in the top
layers of a landfill. Wetter waste (including precipitation
impacts) will correspond with a lower DOC. L0 can be
determined using the IPCC equation (see equation8.4).

8.4

Calculating emissions
from biological treatment
of solid waste

The biological treatment of waste refers to composting and

anaerobic digestion of organic waste, such as food waste,
garden and park waste, sludge, and other organic waste
sources. Biological treatment of solid waste reduces overall
waste volume for final disposal (in landfill or incineration)
and reduces the toxicity of the waste.
In cases where waste is biologically treated (e.g., composting),
cities shall report the CH4, N2O and non-biogenic CO2
emissions associated with the biological treatment of waste
based upon the amount of city-generated waste treated in
the analysis year. In cases where a city does not incinerate or

biologically treat the waste, these emissions categories can be

labeled as Not Occurring.
Data on composting and anaerobic treatment should
be collected separately, in order to use different sets
of emission factors. Where there is gas recovery from
anaerobic digestion, cities should subtract recovered gas
amount from total estimated CH4 to determine net CH4 from
anaerobic digestion.

8.5

Calculating emissions from waste

incineration and open burning

Incineration is a controlled, industrial process, often with

energy recovery where inputs and emissions can be
measured and data is often available. By contrast, open
burning is an uncontrolled, often illicit process with different
emissions and can typically only be estimated based on
collection rates. Users should calculate emissions from
incineration and open burning separately, using different
data. Cities shall report the CH4, N2O and non-biogenic
CO2 emissions associated with waste combustion based

94 Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories

CHAPTER 8 Waste

Equation 8.5 Direct emissions from biologically treated solid waste

CH4 Emissions =
(i (mi F_CH4i ) 10-3 - R)
N2O Emissions =
(i(mi EF_N2Oi ) 10-3 )
Description
CH4 emissions

= Total CH4 emissions in tonnes

Value
Computed

N2O emissions

= Total N2O emissions in tonnes

Computed

= Mass of organic waste treated by biological treatment type i, kg

User input

EF_ CH4

= CH4 emissions factor based upon treatment type, i

User input or default value

from table 8.3 Biological treatment
emission factor

EF_ N2O

= N2O emissions factor based upon treatment type, i

User input or default value User

input or default value from table 8.3
Biological treatment emission factor

= Treatment type: composting or anaerobic digestion

User input

Total tonnes of CH4 recovered in the inventory year, if gas

=
recovery system is in place

User input, measured

at recovery point

Source: 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories, Volume 5, Chapter 4: Biological Treatment of Solid Waste

Table 8.3 Biological treatment emission factors

CH4 Emissions Factors (g CH4/
kg waste)

N2O Emissions Factors (g N2O /kg waste)

Dry waste

Wet waste

Dry waste

Wet waste

Composting

10

0.6

0.3

Anaerobic digestion at biogas facilities

N/A

N/A

Treatment type

Source: 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories, Volume 5, Chapter 4: Biological Treatment of Solid Waste

upon the amount of city-generated waste incinerated in the

analysis year.
CO2 emissions associated with incineration facilities can
be estimated based on the mass of waste incinerated at
the facility, the total carbon content in the waste, and the
fraction of carbon in the solid waste of fossil origin.

Non-CO2 emissions, such as CH4 and N2O, are more

dependent on technology and conditions during the
incineration process. For further information, cities should
follow the quantification guidelines outlined in the 2006
IPCC Guidelines (Volume 5, Chapter 5).

95

 Type of technology and conditions used in the

To calculate emissions from waste incineration, cities

mustidentify:

incineration process

Energy transformation efficiency (applies to incineration

Quantity (mass) of total solid waste incinerated in

the city, and the portion of waste generated by other
communities and incinerated in the inventory analysis
year (if calculating for in-boundary incineration facilities)

with energy recovery)

Equation 8.6 Non-biogenic CO2 emissions from the incineration of waste

CO2 Emissions =
m i(WFi dmi CFi FCFi OFi ) (44/12)
Description
CO2 emissions

= Total CO2 emissions from incineration of solid waste in tonnes

Value
Computed

= Mass of waste incinerated, in tonnes

User input

WFi

= Fraction of waste consisting of type i matter

User input54

dmi

= Dry matter content in the type i matter

CFi

= Fraction of carbon in the dry matter of type i matter

FCFi

= Fraction of fossil carbon in the total carbon component of type i matter

OFi

= Oxidation fraction or factor

User input (default values

provided in Table 8.4 below)

Matter type of the Solid Waste incinerated such as paper/cardboard,

textile, food waste, etc.

Note: iWFi = 1
Source: 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories

54. Default data available in 2006 IPCC Guidelines, Vol. 5, Ch. 2,

Table2.4

96 Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories

CHAPTER 8 Waste

Table 8.4 Default data for CO2 emission factors for incineration and open burning

MSW

Industrial
Waste
(%)

Clinical
Waste
(%)

Sewage
Sludge
(%)Note 4

Fossil
liquid
waste
(%)Note 5

Dry matter content in %

of wet weight

(see Note 1)

NA

NA

NA

NA

Total carbon content in %

of dry weight

(see Note 1)

50

60

40 50

80

Fossil carbon fraction in %

of total carbon content

(see Note 2)

90

40

100

100

100

100

100

100

58

NO

NO

NO

NO

Management
practice

Parameters

Incineration
Oxidation factor in %
of carbon input

Open-burning
(see Note 3)

Note 1: Use default data from Default data available in 2006 IPCC Guidelines, Vol. 5, Ch. 2, Table 2.4 in Section 2.3 Waste composition and equation
5.8 (for dry matter), Equation 5.9 (for carbon content) and Equation 5.10 (for fossil carbon fraction) in 2006 IPCC Guidelines, Vol. 5, Ch. 5
Note 2: Default data by industry type is given in 2006 IPCC Guidelines, Vol. 5, Ch. 2 Table 2.5 in Section 2.3 Waste composition. For estimation of
emissions, use equations mentioned in Note 1.
Note 3: When waste is open-burned, refuse weight is reduced by approximately 49 to 67 percent (US-EPA, 1997, p.79). A default value of 58 percent
is suggested.
Note 4: See Section 2.3.2 Sludge in Chapter 2.
Note 5: Fossil liquid waste is here defined as industrial and municipal residues, based on mineral oil, natural gas or other fossil fuels. It includes waste
formerly used as solvents and lubricants. It does not include wastewater, unless it is incinerated (e.g., because of a high solvent content) The
total carbon content of fossil liquid waste is provided in percent of wet weight and not in percent of dry weight (GIO, 2005).
References: 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories, Volume 5, chapter 5: Incineration and Open Burning of Waste

Equation 8.7 CH4 emissions from the incineration of waste

CH4 Emissions =
(IWi EFi ) 106
Description
CH4 Emissions

= CH4 emissions in inventory year, tonnes

Value
Computed

IWi

= Amount of solid waste of type i incinerated or open-burned, tonnes

User Input

EFi

= Aggregate CH4 emission factor, g CH4/ton of waste type i

User Input (default values provided

in Table 8.5 below)

106

= Converting factor from gCH4 to t CH4

Category or type of waste incinerated/open-burned, specified as

follows: MSW municipal solid waste, ISW: industrial solid waste, HW:
=
hazardous waste, CW: clinical waste, SS: sewage sludge, others (that
must be specified)

User input

97

Table 8.5 CH4 emission factors for incineration of MSW

Type of premises

Continuous incineration

Semi-continuous incineration

Temporary

Permanent

stoker

0.2

fluidised bed Note1

~0

stoker

fluidised bed

188

stoker

60

fluidised bed

237

Batch type incineration

Note: In the study cited for this emission factor, the measured CH4 concentration in the exhaust air was lower than the concentration in ambient air.
Source: 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories, Volume 5, chapter 5: Incineration and Open Burning of Waste

98 Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories

CHAPTER 8 Waste

Equation 8.8 N2O emissions from the incineration of waste

N2O Emissions =
(IWi EFi ) 106
Description
N2O Emissions

= N2O emissions in inventory year, in tonnes

Value
Computed

IWi

= Amount of solid waste of type i incinerated or open-burned, in tonnes

User Input

EFi

= Aggregate N2O emission factor, g CH4/ton of waste type i

User Input (default values

provided in Table 8.6 below)

Category or type of waste incinerated/open-burned, specified as follows:

= MSW: municipal solid waste, ISW: industrial solid waste, HW: hazardous
waste, CW: clinical waste, SS: sewage sludge, others (that must be specified)

User input

Source: 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories, Volume 5, chapter 5: Incineration and Open Burning of Waste

Table 8.6 Default N2O emission factors for different types of waste and management practices
Type of waste

Technology / Management practice

Emission factor
(g N2O / t waste)

weight basis

MSW

continuous and semi-continuous incinerators

50

wet weight

MSW

batch-type incinerators

60

wet weight

MSW

open burning

150

dry weight

Industrial waste

all types of incineration

100

wet weight

Sludge (except sewage sludge)

all types of incineration

450

wet weight

990

dry weight

Sewage sludge

incineration

900

wet weight

Source: 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories, Volume 5, chapter 5: Incineration and Open Burning of Waste

8.6

Calculating emissions from

wastewater treatment

Municipal wastewater can be treated aerobically (in

presence of oxygen) or anaerobically (in absence of
oxygen). When wastewater is treated anaerobically,
methane (CH4) is produced. Both types of treatment also
generate nitrous oxide (N2O) through the nitrification and
denitrification of sewage nitrogen. N2O and CH4 are potent

GHGs that are accounted for during wastewater treatment,

while CO2 from wastewater treatment is considered to
be of biogenic origin and reported outside the scopes.
There are a variety of ways wastewater is handled,
collected, and treated. Distinctions between capacities
and methods of wastewater handling vary greatly
country-to-country and city-to-city. Depending on the
wastewater source, it can generally be categorized as

99

domestic wastewater or industrial wastewater, and cities

must report emissions from both. Domestic wastewater is
defined as wastewater from household water use, while
industrial wastewater is from industrial practices only.
Industrial wastewater may be treated on-site or released
into domestic sewer systems. Any wastewater released
into the domestic sewer system, those emissions should
be included with the domestic wastewater emissions.

8.6.1 Calculating methane emissions from

wastewater treatment and handling
In order to quantify the methane emissions from both
industrial and domestic wastewater treatment, cities will
need to know:

The quantity of wastewater generated.

How wastewater and sewage are treated (see Box8.3
for information on wastewater discharge directly into
open bodies of water).
The wastewaters source and its organic content.
This can be estimated based on population of the
cities served and the citys composition in the case of
domestic wastewater, or the citys industrial sector in the
case of industrial waste water.
Proportion of wastewater treated from other cities at
facilities located within the citys boundaries (this can be
estimated based upon other cities population served).

Box 8.3 Estimating emissions from wastewater directly

discharged into an open body of water

In many developing countries, wastewater is directly

discharged into open lakes, rivers or oceans. Cities may
assume negligible GHG emissions from this action due to
the low concentration of organic content. However, if the
wastewater is discharged into a stagnant open body of

The organic content of wastewater differs depending

on whether the treatment is industrial or residential, as
shown in Equation8.9. The income group suggested
in variable i influences the usage of treatment/pathway,
and therefore influences the emission factor.

water, GHG emissions can be estimated using the specific

COD/BOD value from the water body outlined
in Equation8.9.

100 Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories

CHAPTER 8 Waste

Equation 8.9 CH4 generation from wastewater treatment

CH4 emissions =
i [( TOWi Si) EFi Ri ] 10-3
Description

Value

CH4 emissions = Total CH4 emissions in metric tonnes

Computed

TOWi

Organic content in the wastewater

For domestic wastewater: total organics in wastewater in inventory year, kg BOD/yrNote 1
Equation 8.10
=
For industrial wastewater: total organically degradable material in wastewater from
industry i in inventory year, kg COD/yr

EFi

= Emission factor kg CH4 per kg BOD or kg CH4 per kg CODNote 2

Equation 8.10

Si

= Organic component removed as sludge in inventory year, kg COD/yr or kg BOD/yr

User input

Ri

= Amount of CH4 recovered in inventory year, kg CH4/yr

User input

Type of wastewater
For domestic wastewater: income group for each wastewater treatment
= and handling system
For industrial wastewater: total organically degradable material in wastewater from
industry i in inventory year, kg COD/yr

Equation 8.10

Note 1: B
 iochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD): The BOD concentration indicates only the amount of carbon that is aerobically biodegradable.
The standard measurement for BOD is a 5-day test, denoted as BOD5. The term BOD in this chapter refers to BOD5.
Note 2: C
 hemical Oxygen Demand (COD): COD measures the total material available for chemical oxidation (both biodegradable
and non-biodegradable).
Source: 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories, Volume 5, chapter 6: Wastewater Treatment and Discharge

101

Equation 8.10 Organic content and emission factors in domestic wastewater55

TOWi =
P BOD I 365
EFj =
Bo MCFj Ui Ti. j

Description
TOWi

For domestic wastewater: total organics in wastewater in inventory year,

=
kg BOD/yr

P
BOD

Citys population in inventory year (person)

Value
Computed
User input56

= City-specific per capita BOD in inventory year, g/person/day

User input

= Correction factor for additional industrial BOD discharged into sewers

In the absence of expert judgment,

a city may apply default value
1.25 for collected wastewater,
and 1.00 for uncollected.57

EFi

= Emission factor for each treatment and handling system

Computed

Bo

= Maximum CH4 producing capacity

User input or default value:

0.6 kg CH4/kg BOD
0.25 kg CH4/kg COD

MCFj

= Methane correction factor (fraction)

User input58

Ui

= Fraction of population in income group i in inventory year

Ti. j

Degree of utilization (ratio) of treatment/discharge pathway or system, j,

for each income group fraction i in inventory year

User input59

Source: 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories, Volume 5, chapter 6: Wastewater Treatment and Discharge

55. Due to the complexity, the GPC only provides guidance for assumption of TOW and EF for domestic wastewater treatment. For industrial
wastewater treatment please consult section 6.2.3 of chapter 6, volume 5 of 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories.
56. If city-specific data are not available, city can consult national specific data or reference the default national value provided by 2006 IPCC
Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories (table 6.4 of Volume 5, Chapter 6: Wastewater Treatment and Discharge)
57. Based on expert judgment by the authors, it expresses the BOD from industries and establishments (e.g., restaurants, butchers or grocery
stores) that is co-discharged with domestic wastewater. In some countries, information from industrial discharge permits may be available to
improve i. Otherwise, expert judgment is recommended.
58. Or consult with default value provided by 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories (table 6.3 (domestic) and table 6.8
(industrial) of Volume 5, Chapter 6: Wastewater Treatment and Discharge)
59. Or consult with default value provided by 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories (table 6.5 of Volume 5, Chapter 6:
Wastewater Treatment and Discharge)

102 Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories

CHAPTER 8 Waste

8.6.2 Calculating nitrous oxide

emissions from wastewater
treatment and handling
Nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions can occur as direct
emissions from treatment plants or as indirect emissions
from wastewater after disposal of effluent into waterways,
lakes or seas. Direct emissions from nitrification and
denitrification at wastewater treatment plants are
considered as a minor source and not quantified here.
Therefore, this section addresses indirect N2O emissions
from wastewater treatment effluent that is discharged into
aquatic environments.

Equation 8.11 Indirect N2O emissions from wastewater effluent

N2O emissions =
[( P Protein FNPR FNONCON FINDCOM ) NSLUDGE ] EFEFFLUENT 44/28 10-3

Description

Value

N2O emissions

= Total N2O emissions in tonnes

Computed

= Total population served by the water treatment plant

User input

Protein

= Annual per capita protein consumption, kg/person/yr

User input

FNON-CON

= Factor to adjust for non-consumed protein

1.1 for countries with

no garbage disposals,
1.4 for countries with
garbage disposals

FNPR

= Fraction of nitrogen in protein

0.16, kg N/kg protein

FIND-COM

NSLUDGE

= Nitrogen removed with sludge, kg N/yr

User input or default value: 0

EFEFFLUENT

Emission factor for N2O emissions from discharged to

=
wastewater in kg N2O-N per kg N2O

0.005

44/ 28

= The conversion of kg N2O-N into kg N2O

Factor for industrial and commercial co-discharged protein into

the sewer system

1.25

Source: 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories, Volume 5, chapter 6: Wastewater Treatment and Discharge

103

Industrial Processes
and Product Use

HG emissions can result from non-energy related industrial activities

and product uses. All GHG emissions occurring from industrial processes,
product use, and non-energy uses of fossil fuel, shall be assessed and

reported under IPPU.

Requirements in this chapter

For BASIC+:
Cities shall report all GHG emissions from
IPPU in scope1.

9.1

Categorizing IPPU
emissions by scope

Scope 1: Emissions from industrial processes

and product uses occurring within the city
Scope 2: Not applicable
All emissions from the use of grid-supplied electricity
in industrial or manufacturing facilities within the city
boundary shall be reported under scope2 in Stationary
Energy, manufacturing industry and construction (I.3.2).

Scope 3: Other out-of-boundary emissions

Emissions from IPPU outside the city are not included in
the inventory boundary but may be reported under Other
Scope 3 emissions as appropriate.
These emission sources and their scope categorization are
summarized in Table9.1.

9.2

Defining industrial processes

and product uses

The industrial processes and product uses included in this

category are summarized in Table9.2.

9.2.1 Separating IPPU GHG emissions and

energy-related GHG emissions
Allocation of emissions from the use of fossil fuel between
the Stationary Energy and IPPU sectors can be complex.

105

Table 9.1 IPPU Overview

GHG Emission Source

Scope 1

Scope 2

INDUSTRIAL PROCESSES AND PRODUCT USE

Emissions from
industrial processes
and product use
occurring within the
city boundary

Industrial processes

IV.1

Product use

IV.2

Scope 3

Sources included in Other Scope 3

Sources required for BASIC+ reporting

Non-applicable emissions

Table 9.2 Example industrial processes and product uses

GHG emission sources

Example industrial processes or product use

GHG emissions from industrial processes

Production and use of mineral products (Section 9.3.1)

Production and use of chemicals (Section 9.3.2)
Production of metals (Section 9.3.3)

GHG emissions from product use

Lubricants and paraffin waxes used in non-energy products (Section 9.4.1)

FC gases used in electronics production (Section 9.4.2)
Fluorinated gases used as substitutes for Ozone depleting substances
(Section 9.4.3)

The GPC follows IPCC Guidelines,60 which define fuel

combustion in an industrial process context as: the
intentional oxidation of material within an apparatus that is
designed to provide heat or mechanical work to a process, or
for use away from the apparatus.
Therefore:

If the fuels are combusted for energy use, the emission

from fuel uses shall be counted under Stationary Energy.
If the derived fuels are transferred for combustion in
another source category, the emissions shall be reported
under Stationary Energy.
If combustion emissions from fuels are obtained directly
or indirectly from the feedstock, those emissions shall
be allocated to IPPU.
60. Box1.1 from 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas
Inventories, Volume 3 IPPU, Chapter 1 introduction.

If heat is released from a chemical reaction, the

emissions from that chemical reaction shall be reported
as an industrial process in IPPU.
CO 2 capture and storage

In certain IPPU categories, particularly large point sources

of emissions, there may be emissions capture for recovery
and use, or destruction. Cities should identify detailed
city-specific or plant-level data on capture and abatement
activities, and any abatement totals should be deducted
from the emission total for that sub-sector or process.

9.3

Calculation guidance
for industrial processes

GHG emissions are produced from a wide variety of

industrial activities. The main emission sources are releases

106 Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories

CHAPTER 9 Industrial Processes and Product Use

from industrial processes that chemically or physically

transform materials (e.g., the blast furnace in the iron and
steel industry, and ammonia and other chemical products
manufactured from fossil fuels used as chemical feedstock).
During these processes, many different GHGs, including
CO2, CH4, N2O, HFCs and PFCs, can be produced. The
following sections will illustrate a methodological guide for
emissions from industrial processes by industrial type.

9.3.1 Mineral industry emissions

Three industrial processes are highlighted under the mineral
industry: cement production, lime production, and glass
production. For these processes, the release of CO2 is the
calcination of carbonate compounds, during whichthrough
heatinga metallic oxide is formed. A typical calcination
reaction for the mineral calcite (or calcium carbonate) is
shown in Equation 9.1.

To calculate mineral industry emissions, cities will need

to know:

Major mineral production industries within the

city boundary
Annual mineral product output and raw material
consumption in the industrial process
Emission factor of raw material or product
Cities should use factory-specific production data and
regionally-specific emission factors. If a city does not have
access to factory-specific data, IPCC methodologies and data
sources are listed in Table9.3.
Simplified formulae for calculating emissions from
thesemineral industrial processes are illustrated in
Equations 9.29.4.

Equation 9.1 Calcination example

CaCO3+ heat CaO + CO2

Table 9.3 Calculating mineral industry emissions

Emission
sources

GHG
emissions

Simplest approach for

quantifying emissions61

Cement
production

Emission factor multiplied

with weight (mass) of
Clinker produced

Lime
production

Emission factor multiplied

with weight (mass)
of each type of lime
produced

Glass
production

CO2

Emission factor multiplied

with weight (mass)
melted for each type of
glass produced

Source of active data

Contact the operators

or owners of the
industrial facilities at
which the processes
occur and obtain
relevant activity data.
Contact national
inventory compiler
to ask for specific
production data
within the city
boundary.

Link to default emission

factor calculation
[Link] of Page 2.11 from
Chapter 2 of Volume 3 of 2006
IPCC Guidelines for National
Greenhouse Gas Inventories
Table 2.4 of Page 2.22 from
Chapter 2 of Volume 3 of 2006
IPCC Guidelines for National
Greenhouse Gas Inventories
Table 2.6 of Page 2.30 from
Chapter 2 of Volume 3 of 2006
IPCC Guidelines for National
Greenhouse Gas Inventories

61. The GPC utilizes the IPCCs more simplified Tier 1 methodwhich involves using default IPCC datawhen accounting for emissions from the
mineral industry, and other industries outlined in this chapter. If users have facility-specific production data and emission factors they should
consult the tier 2 and tier 3 methods found in 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories, Volume 3.

107

Equation 9.2 Emissions from cement production

CO2 emissions =
Mcl EFcl
Description

Value

CO2 emissions

= CO2 emissions in tonnes

Computed

Mcl

= Weight (mass) of clinker produced in metric tonnes

User input

EFcl

= CO2 per mass unit of clinker produced (e.g., CO2/tonne clinker)

User input or default value

Equation 9.3 Emissions from lime production

CO2 emissions =
(EFlime,i Mlime, i)
Description
CO2 emissions

= CO2 emissions in tonnes

Value
Computed

Mlime

= Weight (mass) of lime produced of lime type i in metric tonnes

User input

EFlime

= Type of lime

CO2 per mass unit of lime produced of lime type i

(e.g. CO2/tonne lime of type i)

User input or default value

Equation 9.4 Emissions from glass production

CO2 emissions =
Mg EF (1CR)
Description

Value

CO2 emissions

= CO2 emissions in tonnes

Mcl

EFcl

CRi

Mass of melted glass of type i

(e.g., float, container, fiber glass, etc.), tonnes
Emission factor for manufacturing of glass of type i,
tonnes CO2/tonne glass melted
Cullet ratio62 for manufacturing of glass of type i

Computed
User input
User input or default value
User input or default value

62. In practice, glass makers recycle a certain amount of scrap glass (cullet) when making new glass. Cullet ratio is the fraction of the furnace
charge represented by cullet.

108 Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories

CHAPTER 9 Industrial Processes and Product Use

Cities should obtain industrial facility data and emission

factors from:

Continuous emissions monitoring (CEM), where

emissions are directly measured at all times
Periodic emissions monitoring undertaken over a
period(s) that is reflective of the usual pattern of the
plants operation to derive an emission factor that is
multiplied by output to derive emissions
Irregular sampling to derive an emission factor that is
multiplied by output to derive emissions
If a city does not have access to factory-specific data for the
chemical industry, IPCC methods are outlined in Table9.4.

9.3.3 Emissions from metal industry

GHG emissions can result from the production of iron steel
and metallurgical coke, ferroalloy, aluminum, magnesium,
lead and zinc.
Emissions from metal industry depend on the technology and
raw material type used in production processes. In order to
estimate metal industry emissions, cities need to know:

Major metal production industry within the city

9.3.2 Chemical industry emissions

GHG emissions arise from the production of various
inorganic and organic chemicals, including:

Ammonia
Nitric acid
Adipic acid
Caprolactam, glyoxal, and glyoxylic acid
Carbide
Titanium dioxide
Soda ash

Emissions from the chemical industry depend on

the technology used. Cities need to know:

Major chemical production industry within the city

boundaries
Annual mineral product output and raw material
consumption in the industrial process
Technology used in the industrial process
Emission factors of different product/raw material in
different production technology

boundaries

Annual metal production output and different types of

raw material consumption

Technology used in the metal production process

Emission factors of different product/raw material in
different production technology
Cities should seek data and emission factors from:

CEM where emissions are directly measured at all times

Periodic emissions monitoring that is undertaken over
a period(s) that is reflective of the usual pattern of the
plants operation to derive an emission factor that is
multiplied by output to derive emissions
Irregular sampling to derive an emission factor that is
multiplied by output to derive emissions
If a city does not have access to factory-specific data for the
metal industry, IPCC methods are outlined in Table9.5.

109

Table 9.4 Calculating chemical industry emissions

Emission
sources

GHG
emissions

Simplest approach
for quantifying
emissions

Ammonia
production

CO2

Ammonia production
multiplied by fuel
emission factor

Table 3.1 of Page 3.15 from Chapter 3

of Volume 3 of 2006 IPCC Guidelines for
National Greenhouse Gas Inventories

Nitric acid
production

N2O

Nitric acid production

multiplied by default
emission factor

Table 3.3 of Page 3.23 from Chapter 3

of Volume 3 of 2006 IPCC Guidelines for
National Greenhouse Gas Inventories

N2O

Adipic acid production

multiplied by default
emission factor

Caprolactam
production

N2O

Caprolactam
production multiplied
by default emission
factor

Carbride
production

CO2 and CH4

Carbride production
multiplied by default
emission factor

CO2

Titanium slag
production multiplied
by default emission
factor

CO2

Soda ash production,

or Trona used,
multiplied by default
emission factor

Adipic acid
production

Titanium
dioxide
production

Soda ash
production

Source of
active data

Contact the
operators or
owners of the
industrial facilities
at which the
processes occur
and obtain
relevant activity
data

Contact national
inventory compiler
to ask for specific
production data
within the city
boundary

110 Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories

Link to default
emission factor calculation

Table 3.4 of Page 3.15 from Chapter 3 of

Volume 3 of 2006 IPCC Guidelines for
National Greenhouse Gas Inventories
Table 3.5 of Page 3.36 from Chapter 3
of Volume 3 of 2006 IPCC Guidelines for
National Greenhouse Gas Inventories
Table 3.7 of Page 3.44 from Chapter 3
of Volume 3 of 2006 IPCC Guidelines for
National Greenhouse Gas Inventories
Table 3.9 of Page 3.49 from Chapter 3
of Volume 3 of 2006 IPCC Guidelines for
National Greenhouse Gas Inventories

Table 3.1 of Page 3.15 from Chapter 3 of

Volume 3 of 2006 IPCC Guidelines for
National Greenhouse Gas Inventories

CHAPTER 9 Industrial Processes and Product Use

Table 9.5 Metal industry

Emission
sources

GHG
emissions

Metallurgical
coke
production
CO2, CH4

Iron and steel

production

Ferroalloy
production

Aluminum
production

Magnesium
production

Lead
production

Zinc
production

Simplest approach for

quantifying emissions
Assume that all coke made onsite
at iron and steel production
facilities is used onsite. Multiply
default emission factors by coke
production to calculate CO2 and
CH4 emissions
Multiply default emission factors
by iron and steel production data

CO2, CH4

Multiply default emission factors

by ferroalloy product type

CO2

Multiply default emission factors

by aluminum product by different
process

CO2

Multiply default emission factors

by Magnesium product by raw
material type

SF6

Assume all SF6 consumption in

the magnesium industry segment
is emitted as SF Estimate SF6
by multiplying default emission
factors by total amount of
magnesium casted or handled.

HFC and
other GHG
emissions63

For HFC and other GHG gases,

collect direct measurements or
meaningful indirect data

CO2

Multiply default emission factors

by lead products by sources and
furnace type

CO2

Multiply default emission factors

by zinc production

Source of active
data

Governmental
agencies responsible
for manufacturing
statistics, business
or industry trade
associations, or
individual iron and
steel companies

Aluminum
production facilities

The magnesium
production, casted/
handled data and
raw material type
may be difficult to
obtain. Inventory
compiler may
consult industry
associations such
as the International
Magnesium
Association.

Governmental
agencies responsible
for manufacturing
statistics, business
or industry trade
associations, or
individual lead and
zinc producers

Link to default emission

factor calculation

Table 4.1 and Table 4.2 from

Chapter 4 of Volume 3 of
2006 IPCC Guidelines for
National Greenhouse Gas
Inventories

Table 4.5 and Table 4.7 from

Chapter 4 of Volume 3 of
2006 IPCC Guidelines for
National Greenhouse Gas
Inventories
Table 4.10 from Chapter 4
of Volume 3 of 2006 IPCC
Guidelines for National
Greenhouse Gas Inventories
Table 4.19 from Chapter 4
of Volume 3 of 2006 IPCC
Guidelines for National
Greenhouse Gas Inventories

Table 4.20 from Chapter 4

of Volume 3 of 2006 IPCC
Guidelines for National
Greenhouse Gas Inventories

Not applicable

Table 4.21 from Chapter 4

of Volume 3 of 2006 IPCC
Guidelines for National
Greenhouse Gas Inventories
Table 4.24 from Chapter 4
of Volume 3 of 2006 IPCC
Guidelines for National
Greenhouse Gas Inventories

63. Others include fluorinated ketone and various fluorinated decomposition products e.g., PFCs

111

Table 9.6 Non-energy product uses of fuels and other chemical products
Types of fuels used

Examples of non-energy uses

Gases

Lubricants

Lubricants used in transportation and industry

Paraffin waxes

Candles, corrugated boxes, paper coating, board

sizing, adhesives, food production, packaging

Bitumen; road oil and

other petroleum diluents

Used in asphalt production for road paving

CO2

(NMVOC, CO)64
White spirit, kerosene,
some aromatics
65

9.4

66

As solvent, e.g., for surface coating (paint),

dry cleaning

Calculating product use emissions

Products such as refrigerants, foams or aerosol cans

can release potent GHG emissions. HFCs, for example,
are used as alternatives to ozone depleting substances
(ODS) in various types of product applications. Similarly,
SF6 and N2O are present in a number of products used
in industry (e.g., electrical equipment and propellants
in aerosol products), and used by end-consumers
(e.g., running shoes and anesthesia). The following
methodological guide is listed according to the type of
common product uses.

9.4.1 Non-energy products from fuels

and solvent use
This section provides a method for estimating
emissions from the use of fossil fuels as a product
for primary purposes (but not for combustion or
energy production). The main types of fuel usage
and their emissions can be seen in Table9.6.

64. NMVOC and CO are not covered by the GPC, but are included in
IPCC Guidelines.
65. Also known as mineral turpentine, petroleum spirits, or industrial
spirit (SBP).

Fuel and solvents are consumed in industrial processes. To

estimate emissions on a mass-balance approach, cities need
to know:

Major fuel and solvent used within the city boundaries

Annual consumption of fuels and solvent
Emission factors for different types of fuel and solvent
consumption
Cities should obtain facility-specific fuel/solvent
consumption data and their respective uses with cityspecific emission factors. If unavailable, IPCC methods are
detailed in Table9.7.

Equation 9.5 CO2 emissions from non-energy

productuses
CO2 Emissions =
i (NEUi CCi ODUi ) 44/12
NEUi

= non-energy use of fuel i, TJ

CCi

ODUi

= ODU factor for fuel i, fraction

44/12

= mass ratio of CO2/C

specific carbon content of fuel i, tonne C/

TJ (=kg C/GJ)

Source: Equation adapted from 2006 IPCC Guidelines for

National Greenhouse Gas Inventories Volume 3 Industrial
Processes and Product Use available at:
[Link]/public/2006gl/[Link]

66. Also known as paraffin or paraffin oils (UK, South Africa).

112 Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories

CHAPTER 9 Industrial Processes and Product Use

CO2 emissions from all product uses can be estimated by

following Equation9.5.
In this equation, ODU represents the fraction of fossil
fuel carbon that is oxidized during use (ODU), e.g., actual
co-combustion of the fraction of lubricants that slips into
the combustion chamber of an engine. The sources of
data and default value links can be found in Table9.7.

9.4.2 Calculating emissions from

the electronics industry
This section includes methods to quantify GHG emissions
from semiconductors, thin-film-transistor flat panel displays,
and photovoltaic manufacturing (collectively termed
electronics industry). Several advanced electronics
manufacturing processes utilize fluorinated compounds
(FC) for plasma etching intricate patterns, cleaning reactor
chambers, and temperature control, all of which emit GHGs.
To estimate the fluorinated gas emissions from the
electronics industry, cities need to know:

Major electronic production industries within the

city boundaries
Annual production capacity of the industrial facility
FC emission control technology used
Gas fed-in and destroyed by the FC emission
control system
Cities should contact electronic production facilities to obtain
facility-specific emissions data. If facility-specific data are not
available, cities can use IPCC methods outlined in Table9.8.

Table 9.7 Non-energy product emissions

Types of
fuels used

Examples of nonenergy uses

Lubricants

Lubricants used in
transportation and industry

Paraffin
waxes

Candles, corrugated boxes,

paper coating, board
sizing, adhesives, food
production, packaging

GHG
emissions

Source of active
data

Link to default emission

factor calculation
Method 1, Chapter 5 of Volume
3 of 2006 IPCC Guidelines
for National Greenhouse Gas
Inventories (p. 5.9)

CO2

Basic data on nonenergy products used

in a country may
be available from
production, import and
export data and on the
energy/non-energy
use split in national
energy statistics.

Chapter 5 of Volume 3 of 2006

IPCC Guidelines for National
Greenhouse Gas Inventories
(section [Link], page 5.12)

113

Table 9.8 Calculating emissions from the electronics industry

Electronics
production
processes

Etching and CVD

cleaning for
semiconductors,
liquid crystal
displays and
photovoltaic

Heat transfer
fluids

GHG
emissions

HFCs
PFCs
SF6
NF3

Simplest approach
for quantifying
emissions
Generic emissions
factors are multiplied
by the annual
capacity utilization
and the annual
manufacturing design
capacity of substrate
processes

Generic emissions
factors are multiplied
by the average
capacity utilization
and design capacity

9.4.3 Emissions from fluorinated substitutes

for ozone depleting substances
HFCs and, to a very limited extent, PFCs, are serving as
alternatives to ozone depleting substances (ODS) being
phased out under the Montreal Protocol67. Current and
expected application areas of HFCs and PFCs include68:

Refrigeration and air conditioning

Fire suppression and explosion protection
Aerosols
Solvent cleaning

67. TheMontreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone

Layer(a protocol to theVienna Convention for the Protection of the
Ozone Layer) is an internationaltreatydesigned to protect theozone
layer. It requires the reduction of production and consumption of
substances that are responsible forozone depletion.
68. [Link]/TEAP special report on safeguarding the ozone layer
and the global climate system: issues related to hydrofluorocarbons
and perfluorocarbons. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change,
2005. [Link]
the_ozone_layer.html.

Source of active data

Inventory compilers will need to determine

the total surface area of electronic
substrates processed for a given year.
Silicon consumption may be estimated
using an appropriate edition of the World
Fab Watch (WFW) database, published
quarterly by Semiconductor Equipment
& Materials International (SEMI). The
database contains a list of plants
(production as well as R&D, pilot plants,
etc.) worldwide, with information about
location, design capacity, wafer size and
much more. Similarly, SEMIs Flat Panel
Display Fabs on Disk database provides an
estimate of glass consumption for global
TFT-FPD manufacturing

Link to default
emission factor
calculation

Table 6.2, Page

6.16 from Chapter
6 of Volume 3
of 2006 IPCC
Guidelines
for National
Greenhouse
Gas Inventories

Foam blowing
Other applications69
To estimate GHG emissions from these products, cities
need to know:

Major industry that uses fluorinated substitutes within

the city boundaries
Fluorinate gas purchase record by the major industry
and their application
For accuracy, a city should contact a related facility to get
plant-specific purchase and application data. Cities can use
IPCC methods in Table9.9 for default activity data and
emission factors.

69. HFCs and PFCs may also be used as ODS substitutes in sterilization
equipment, for tobacco expansion applications, and as solvents in
the manufacture of adhesives, coating and inks.

114 Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories

CHAPTER 9 Industrial Processes and Product Use

Table 9.9 Substitutes for ozone depleting substances

Substitutes
for ozone
depleting
substances

Substitutes
for ozone
depleting
substances

GHG
emissions

Simplest approach for quantifying

emissions

Emission-factor approach:
Data on chemical sales by application
Emission factors by application
HFCs
PFCs

Mass-balance approach:
Data on chemical sales by application
Data on historic and current equipment
sales adjusted for import/export by
application

Source of active
data

Link to default
emission factor
calculation

Quantity of each
chemical sold as
substitutes for
ozone-depleting
substances. Data on
both domestic and
imported substitutes
quantities should
be collected from
suppliers.

Users can search

the IPCC
Emissions Factor
Database (EFDB)
for datasets

Box 9.1 Calculating emissions from product use using a consumption-based approach

Product use emissions may also be calculated according to

Case Study

consumption activities within the city boundary. This approach

Gibraltar used the consumption-based approach to calculate

estimates emissions based on where the products are

emissions from product use. With no industrial processes

purchased and/or used, rather than where they are produced.

taking place within the city boundary and limited data

Cities can apply both a bottom-up and top-down approach to

estimate the consumption-based emissions from product use.

on product use, Gibraltar used data from the National

Atmospheric Emissions Inventory for the United Kingdom
which compiles estimates of emissions from UK sources,

A bottom-up approach would involve identifying products

including crown dependencies and overseas territories, for

purchased within the city boundary, the quantity and

submission to the UNFCCCto calculate emissions from

average lifetime of each product, as well as the average

product use. Emissions were apportioned to the inventory

rate of emissions during use. A top-down approach, on the

boundary using a range of appropriate scaling factors:

other hand, would take regional or national-level activity or

emissions data and adjust to the inventory boundary using an

Product use

Scaling factor

appropriate scaling factor.

Aerosols

Population

Commercial refrigeration

GDP

Mobile air conditioning

Number of vehicles

Source: Ricardo-AEA (2014) A City-level Greenhouse Gas Inventory

for Gibraltar.

115

Forestry
10 Agriculture,
and Other Land Use

he Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use (AFOLU ) sector produces

GHG emissions through a variety of pathways, including land-use changes
that alter the composition of the soil, methane produced in the digestive

processes of livestock, and nutrient management for agricultural purposes.

Requirements in this chapter

For BASIC+:

Scope 2: Not applicable

Emissions from use of grid-supplied energy in buildings and
vehicles in farms or other agricultural areas shall be reported
in Stationary Energy and Transportation, respectively.

Cities shall report all GHG emissions

resulting from the AFOLU sector within the
city boundary in scope1.

10.1 Categorizing AFOLU emissions

by scope
Scope 1: In-boundary emissions from agricultural
activity, land use and land use change within the
city boundary
GHG emissions associated with the manufacture of nitrogen
fertilizers, which account for a large portion of agricultural
emissions, are not counted under AFOLU. IPCC Guidelines
allocates these emissions to IPPU.

Scope 3: Other out-of-boundary emissions

Emissions from land-use activities outside the city (e.g.,
agricultural products imported for consumption within the
city boundary) are not covered in the GPC under BASIC/
BASIC+ but may be reported as Other Scope 3.

10.2 Defining AFOLU activities

Given the highly variable nature of land-use and
agricultural emissions across geographies, GHG emissions
from AFOLU are amongst the most complex categories
for GHG accounting. Some cities, where there are no
measurable agricultural activities or managed lands
within the city boundary, may have no significant sources
of AFOLU emissions. Other cities may have significant
agricultural activities and managed lands. Notation keys
shall be used to indicate where sources do not occur, or

117

where data gaps exist. IPCC Guidelines divides AFOLU

activities into three categories:

Livestock
Land
Aggregate sources and non-CO2 emissions sources
onland
These emission sources and their scope categorization are
summarized in Table10.1.
Multiple methodologies can be used to quantify AFOLU
emissions. Guidance provided in this chapter is consistent
with IPCC Tier 1 methodologies, unless otherwise
specified. Tier 1 methodologies involve using default
IPCC data, while Tier 2 methodologies involve using
country-specific data. Country-specific data should be
used if readily available, and if not, default IPCC data
should be used. More complete guidance can be found
in the 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse
Gas Inventories and the IPCC Good Practice Guidance
for Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry (2013).

10.3 Calculating livestock emissions

Livestock production emits CH4 through enteric
fermentation, and both CH4 and N2O through
management of their manure. CO2 emissions from

livestock are not estimated because annual net

CO2 emissions are assumed to be zerothe CO2
photosynthesized by plants is returned to the atmosphere
as respired CO2. A portion of the C is returned as CH4
and for this reason CH4 requires separate consideration.

10.3.1 Enteric fermentation

The amount of CH4 emitted by enteric fermentation is
driven primarily by the number of animals, type of digestive
system, and type and amount of feed consumed. Methane
emissions can be estimated by multiplying the number of
livestock for each animal type by an emission factor (see
Equation10.1).
Activity data on livestock can be obtained from various
sources, including government and agricultural industry.
If such data are not available, estimates may be made
based on survey and land-use data. Livestock should
be disaggregated by animal type, consistent with IPCC
categorization: Cattle (dairy and other); Buffalo; Sheep;
Goats; Camels; Horses; Mules and Asses; Deer; Alpacas;
Swine; Poultry; and Other. Country-specific emission factors
should be used, where available; alternatively, default IPCC
emission factors may be used.70

10.3.2 Manure management

CH4 is produced by the decomposition of manure under
anaerobic conditions, during storage and treatment, whilst

Table 10.1 AFOLU Overview

GHG Emission Source

Scope 1

Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use

Emissions from
agricultural, other
land-use and landuse-change

Livestock

V.1

Land

V.2

Aggregate sources and non-CO2 emission sources on land

V.3

Scope 2

Scope 3

Sources required for BASIC+ reporting

Sources included in Other Scope 3

Non-applicable emissions
70. See 2006 IPCC Guidelines, Volume 4, Chapter 10 Emissions from
Livestock and Manure Management.. Available at: [Link]-nggip.
[Link]/public/2006gl/vol4

118 Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories

CHAPTER 10 Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use

Figure 10.1 Overview of AFOLU emission sources

CO2(b)
N20

CH4

CH4

N20

CO2

CH4

F
harvested
wood
products

biomass
burning

enteric
emissions

manure
management

managed
soils

liming, urea
application and
fertilizer use

rice cultivation

Table 10.2 Livestock emission sources and corresponding IPCC references

Category

Emission sources

2006 IPCC Reference

Enteric fermentation

Volume 4; Chapter 10; Section 10.3

Manure management

Volume 4; Chapter 10; Section 10.4-5

Livestock

Equation 10.1 CH4 emissions from enteric fermentation

CH4 =
N(T) EF(Enteric,T) 10-3
Description

Value

CH4

= CH4 emissions in tonnes

Computed

= Species / Livestock category

User input

= Number of animals (head)

User input

EF

= Emission factor for enteric fermentation (kg of CH4 per head per year)

User input or default values

Source: Adapted from 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories, Volume 4, Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use.
Available at: [Link]/public/2006gl/[Link]

119

direct N2O emissions occur via combined nitrification and

denitrification of nitrogen contained in the manure. The main
factors affecting CH4 emissions are the amount of manure
produced and the portion of the manure that decomposes
anaerobically. The former depends on the rate of waste
production per animal and the number of animals, and the latter
on how the manure is managed. The emission of N2O from
manure during storage and treatment depends on the nitrogen
and carbon content of manure, and on the duration of the
storage and type of treatment. The term manure is used here
collectively to include both dung and urine (i.e., the solids and
the liquids) produced by livestock. Emissions associated with
the burning of dung for fuel shall be reported under Stationary
Energy, or under Waste if burned without energy recovery.

factors should be used, where available; alternatively,

default IPCC emission factors may be used.71
N 2O emissions from manure management

Manure management takes place during the storage and

treatment of manure before it is applied to land or otherwise
used for feed, fuel, or construction purposes. To estimate
N2O emissions from manure management systems involves
multiplying the total amount of N excretion (from all
livestock categories) in each type of manure management
system by an emission factor for that type of manure
management system (see Equation10.3). This includes the
following steps:

CH 4 emissions from manure management

CH4 emissions from manure management systems are

temperature dependent. Calculating CH4 emissions
from manure management, therefore, requires data on
livestock by animal type and average annual temperature,
in combination with relevant emission factors (see
Equation10.2).

Livestock numbers and categorization should be consistent

with the method listed in Section 10.3.1 above. Average
annual temperature data can be obtained from international
and national weather centers, as well as academic sources.
Country-specific temperature-dependent emission

1. Collect livestock data by animal type (T)

2. Determine the annual average nitrogen excretion
rate per head (Nex(T)) for each defined livestock
categoryT
3. Determine the fraction of total annual nitrogen
excretion for each livestock category T that is managed
in each manure management system S (MS(T,S))
4. Obtain N2O emission factors for each manure
management system S (EF(S))
5. For each manure management system type S,
multiply its emission factor (EF(S)) by the total amount
of nitrogen managed (from all livestock categories)
in that system, to estimate N2O emissions from that
manure management system

Equation 10.2 CH4 emissions from manure management

CH4 =
(N(T) EF(T) 10-3)
Description

Value

CH4

= CH4 emissions in tonnes

Computed

= Species / Livestock category

User input

N(T)

= Number of animals for each livestock category

User input

EF(T)

= Emission factor for manure management (kg of CH4 per head per year)

User input or default values

Source: Equation adapted from 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories Volume 4 Agriculture, Forestry and Other
Land Use available at: [Link]/public/2006gl/[Link]
71. See 2006 IPCC Guidelines, Volume 4, Chapter 10, Tables 10A.1
to 10A-9

120 Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories

CHAPTER 10 Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use

Emissions are then summed over all manure management

systems. Country-specific data may be obtained from
the national inventory, agricultural industry and scientific
literature. Alternatively, data from other countries that have
livestock with similar characteristics, or IPCC default nitrogen
excretion data and default manure management system
data may be used.72
N2O emissions generated by manure in the system pasture,
range, and paddock (grazing) occur directly and indirectly
from the soil, and are reported under the category

N2O emissions from managed soils (see 10.5.4). N2O

emissions associated with the burning of dung for fuel are
reported under Stationary Energy (Chapter 6), or under
Waste (Chapter 8) if burned without energy recovery.
Note that emissions from liquid/slurry systems
without a natural crust cover, anaerobic lagoons, and
anaerobic digesters are considered negligible based
on the absence of oxidized forms of nitrogen entering
these systems combined with the low potential for
nitrification and denitrification to occur in the system.

Equation 10.3 N2O emissions from manure management

N2O =
[S [T (N(T) Nex(T) MS(T),(S))] EF(S)] 44/28 10-3
N2O

= N2O emissions in tonnes

= Manure management system (MMS)

= Livestock category

N(T)

= Number of animals for each livestock category

Nex(t)

= Annual N excretion for livestock category T, kg N per animal per year (see Equation 10.4)

MS

= Fraction of total annual nitrogen excretion managed in MMS for each livestock category

EF(s)

= Emission factor for direct N2O-N emissions from MMS, kg N2O-N per kg N in MSS

44/28 = Conversion of N2O-N emissions to N2O emissions

Source: Equation adapted from 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories Volume 4 Agriculture, Forestry and Other
Land Use available at: [Link]/public/2006gl/[Link]

Equation 10.4 Annual N excretion rates

Nex(T) =
Nrate(T) TAM(T) 10-3 365
Nex(T)

Annual N excretion for livestock category T, kg N per animal per year

Nrate(T)

Default N excretion rate, kg N per 1000kg animal per day

TAM(T)

Typical animal mass for livestock category T, kg per animal

Source: Equation adapted from 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories Volume 4 Agriculture, Forestry and Other
Land Use available at: [Link]/public/2006gl/[Link]

72. See 2006 IPCC Guidelines Volume 4, Chapter 10 Emissions from

Livestock and Manure Management, Tables 10.19, and 10.21.
Available at: [Link]/public/2006gl/vol4

121

Table 10.3 Land use categories and corresponding IPCC references

Category

Definition

2006 IPCC Reference

Forest land

All land with woody vegetation consistent with thresholds used to define forest land
in national inventory

Volume 4; Chapter 4

Cropland

Cropped land, including rice fields, and agro-forestry systems where the vegetation
structure falls below the thresholds for forest land

Volume 4; Chapter 5

Grassland

Rangelands and pasture land that are not considered cropland, and systems with
woody vegetation and other non-grass vegetation that fall below the threshold for
forest land

Volume 4; Chapter 6

Wetlands

Areas of peat extraction and land that is covered or saturated by water for all or part
of the year

Volume 4; Chapter 7

Settlements

All developed land, including transportation infrastructure and human settlements

of any size

Volume 4; Chapter 8

Other

Bare soil, rock, ice, and all land areas that do not fall into any of the other five categories

Volume 4; Chapter 9

Equation 10.5 Carbon emissions from land use

and land-use change

CAFOLU =
CFL + CCL + CGL + CWL + CSL + COL
C

= Change in carbon stock

AFOLU

= Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use

FL

= Forest land

CL

= Cropland

GL

= Grassland

WL

= Wetlands

SL

= Settlements

OL

= Other land

Source: Equation adapted from 2006 IPCC Guidelines for

National Greenhouse Gas Inventories , Volume 4 Agriculture,
Forestry and Other Land Use, Section 2.2.1, eq 2.1. Available at:
[Link]/public/2006gl/[Link]

10.4 Calculating land use and

land-use change emissions
IPCC divides land-use into six categories: forest land;
cropland; grassland; wetlands; settlements; and other (see
Table10.3). Emissions and removals of CO2 are based
on changes in ecosystem C stocks and are estimated for
each land-use category (see Equation10.5). This includes
both land remaining in a land-use category as well as land
converted to another use. C stocks consist of above-ground
and below-ground biomass, dead organic matter (dead
wood and litter), and soil organic matter.
Estimating changes in carbon depends on data and
model availability, and resources to collect and analyze
information. The GPC recommends cities adopt a
simplified approach that consists of multiplying net annual
C stock change for different land-use (and land-usechange) categories by surface area.
Land-use categorization by surface area can be obtained
from national agencies or local government using land
zoning or remote sensing data. These categorizations
will need to be aligned to the definitions provided in
Table10.3. Some lands can be classified into one or more

122 Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories

CHAPTER 10 Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use

Equation 10.6 CO2 emissions from land use

and land-use change

CO2 =
LU[FluxLU AreaLU] 44/12
CO2
Area

= GHG emissions in tonnes CO2

= Surface area of city by land-use category, hectare

Flux

LU

= Land-use category

44/12

Net annual rate of change in carbon stocks

per hectare, tonnes C per hectare per year
Conversion of C stock changes to CO2
emissions

categories due to multiple uses that meet the criteria of

more than one definition. However, a ranking has been
developed for assigning these cases into a single land-use
category. The ranking process is initiated by distinguishing
between managed and unmanaged lands. The managed
lands are then assigned, from highest to lowest priority, in
the following manner: Settlements > Cropland > Forest
land > Grassland > Wetlands > Other land.
In addition to the current land use, any land-use changes
within the last 20 years will need to be determined.73 If
the land-use change took place less than 20 years prior to
undertaking the assessment, that land is considered to have
been converted. In this case, assessment of GHG emissions
takes place on the basis of equal allocation to each year of
the 20-year period. Large quantities of GHG emissions can
result as a consequence of a change in land use. Examples
include change of use from agriculture (e.g., urban farms)
or parks, to another use (e.g., industrial development).
When the land use is changed, soil carbon and carbon
stock in vegetation can be lost as emissions of CO2.
Next, all land should be assigned to one of the categories
listed in Table10.4. Lands stay in the same category if a
land-use change has not occurred in the last 20 years.
Otherwise, the land is classified as converted (e.g., Cropland

73. The use of 20 years as a threshold is consistent with the defaults

contained in IPCC Guidelines. It reflects the time period assumed
for carbon stocks to come to equilibrium.

converted to Forest land) based on the current use and

most recent use before conversion to the current use.
Average annual carbon stock change data per hectare for all
relevant land-use (and land-use change) categories need to
be determined and multiplied by the corresponding surface
area of that land use (see Equation10.6).Default data
on annual carbon stock change can be obtained from the
countrys national inventory reporting body, United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
reported GHG emissions for countries, IPCC, and other
peer-reviewed sources.74Alternatively, annual carbon stock
changes can be determined fordifferentland-use categories
by subtracting estimated carbon stocks in a previous year
from estimated carbon stocks in the inventory year, divided
by the total area of land in the inventory [Link] data
on annual carbon stock changes can beobtainedfrom
theabove listed [Link], all changes in carbon stock

74. For example: Watson, R.T., Noble, I.R., Bolin, B., Ravindranath, N.H.,
Verardo, D.J., and Dokken, D.J. (2000) Land Use, Land Use Change
and Forestry (IPCC Special Report): Chapter 4. Webpublished

123

Table 10.4 Land use categories

Forest land

Cropland

Grassland

Wetlands

Settlements

Other

Forest Land

Forest land
remaining
Forest land

Forest land
converted to
Cropland

Forest land
converted to
Grassland

Forest land
converted to
Wetlands

Forest land
converted to
Settlements

Forest land
converted to
Other land

Cropland

Cropland
converted to
Forest land

Cropland
remaining
Cropland

Cropland
converted to
Grassland

Cropland
converted to
Wetlands

Cropland
converted to
Settlements

Cropland
converted to
Other land

Grassland

Grassland
converted to
Forest land

Grassland
converted to
Cropland

Grassland
remaining
Grassland

Grassland
converted to
Wetlands

Grassland
converted to
Settlements

Grassland to
Other land

Wetlands

Wetlands
converted to
Forest land

Wetlands
converted to
Cropland

Wetlands
converted to
Grassland

Wetlands
remaining
Wetlands

Wetlands
converted to
Settlements

Wetlands
converted to
Other land

Settlements

Settlements
converted to
Forest land

Settlements
converted to
Cropland

Settlements
converted to
Grassland

Settlements
converted to
Wetlands

Settlements
remaining
Settlements

Settlements
converted to
Other land

Other

Other land
converted to
Forest land

Other land
converted to
Cropland

Other land
converted to
Grassland

Other land
converted to
Wetlands

Other land
converted to
Settlements

Other land
remaining
Forest land

are summed across all categories (see Equation10.5)

and multiplied by 44/12 to covert to CO2 emissions.
IPCC guidance provides the option of calculating all
AFOLU GHG emissions consolidated by land-use category,
because certain AFOLU data are not easily disaggregated
by land-use category (e.g., CH4 from rice cultivation
could be counted in cropland or counted separately).
Cities should make clear if any of the emission sources
listed under Table10.4 are included in Table10.5.

AFOLU emissions. Rice cultivation is treated separately

from other crops because it releases CH4 emissions.

10.5.1 GHG emissions from biomass burning

Where biomass is burned for energy, the resulting non-CO2
emissions shall be reported under scope1 for Stationary
Energy (see Chapter 6), while the CO2 emissions are reported
separately as biogenic CO2. However, where biomass is
burned without energy recovery, such as periodic burning of
land or accidental wildfires, and these activities arent included
in 10.4, GHG emissions should be reported under AFOLU.

10.5 Calculating emissions from

aggregate sources and non-CO2
emissions sources on land

Country-specific factors should be used where available.;

alternatively, default IPCC values may be used for MB, CF
and EF.75

Other sources of GHG emissions from land required

for IPCC reporting are detailed below. This includes rice
cultivation, fertilizer use, liming, and urea application,
which can make up a significant portion of a citys

75. These are listed in the 2006 IPCC Guidelines, Volume 4 Agriculture,
Forestry and Other Land Use, Chapter 2 General Methodologies
Applicable to Multiple Land-Use Categories; Tables 2.4, 2.5 and 2.6.
Available at: [Link]/public/2006gl/vol4

124 Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories

CHAPTER 10 Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use

Table 10.5 Aggregate sources and non-CO2 emissions sources on land

Category

Aggregate
sources and
non-CO2
emissions
sources on
land

Emission sources

2006 IPCC Reference

GHG emissions from biomass burning

Volume 4; Chapters 4-9

Liming

Volume 4; Chapter 11; Section 11.3

Urea application

Volume 4; Chapter 11; Section 11.4

Direct N2O from managed soils

Volume 4; Chapter 11; Section 11.2.1

Indirect N2O from managed soils

Volume 4; Chapter 11; Section 11.2.2

Indirect N2O from manure management

Volume 4; Chapter 10; Section 10.5.1

Rice cultivation

Volume 4; Chapter 5; Section 5.5

Harvested wood products

Volume 4; Chapter 12

Equation 10.7 GHG emissions from biomass burning

Equation 10.8 CO2 emissions from liming

GHG =

CO2 =

A MB CF EF 10

-3

GHG

= GHG emissions in tonnes of CO2 equivalent

= Area of burnt land in hectares

MB

Mass of fuel available for combustion, tonnes

per hectare. This includes biomass, ground
= litter and dead wood. NB The latter two may
be assumed to be zero except where this is a
land-use change.

CF

Combustion factor (a measure of the

= proportion of the fuel that is actually
combusted)

EF

Emission factor, g GHG per kg of dry

matter burnt

((MLimestone EFLimestone) + (MDolomite EFDolomite)) 44/12

CO2

= CO2 emissions in tonnes

Amount of calcic limestone (CaCO3) or

dolomite (CaMg(CO3)2), tonnes per year

EF

Emission factor, tonne of C per tonne of

limestone or dolomite

44/12

Conversion of C stock changes to CO2

emissions

Source: Equation adapted from 2006 IPCC Guidelines for

National Greenhouse Gas Inventories Volume 4 Agriculture,
Forestry and Other Land Use available at: [Link].
[Link]/public/2006gl/[Link]

Source: Equation adapted from 2006 IPCC Guidelines for

National Greenhouse Gas Inventories Volume 4 Agriculture,
Forestry and Other Land Use available at: [Link].
[Link]/public/2006gl/[Link]

125

10.5.2 Liming

Equation 10.10 Direct N2O from managed soils

Liming is used to reduce soil acidity and improve plant

growth in managed systems, particularly agricultural lands
and managed forests. Adding carbonates to soils in the
form of lime (e.g., calcic limestone (CaCO3), or dolomite
(CaMg(CO3)2) leads to CO2 emissions as the carbonate
limes dissolve and release bicarbonate (2HCO3-), which
evolves into CO2 and water (H2O). Equation10.8 sets out
the formula for estimating CO2 emissions from liming.
The total amount of carbonate containing lime applied
annually to soils in the city will need to be estimated,
differentiating between limestone and dolomite.
Activity data may be obtained from regional or national
usage statistics, or may be inferred from annual sales under
the assumption that all lime sold within the city is applied
to land within the city that year. Note, if lime is applied in
a mixture with fertilizers, the proportion used should be
estimated. Default emission factors of 0.12 for limestone
and 0.13 for dolomite should be used if emission factors
derived from country-specific data are unavailable.

10.5.3 Urea application

The use of urea (CO(NH2)2) as fertilizer leads to emissions
of CO2 that were fixed during the industrial production
process. Urea in the presence of water and urease enzymes
is converted into ammonium (NH4+), hydroxyl ion (OH),

Equation 10.9 CO2 emissions from urea fertilization

CO2 =
M EF 44/12
CO2

= CO2 emissions in tonnes

Amount of urea fertilization, tonnes urea

per year

EF

Emission factor, tonne of C per tonne

of urea

44/12

Conversion of C stock changes to

CO2 emissions

Source: Equation adapted from 2006 IPCC Guidelines for

National Greenhouse Gas Inventories Volume 4 Agriculture,
Forestry and Other Land Use available at: [Link].
[Link]/public/2006gl/[Link]

N2ODirect =
(N2O-NN inputs + N2O-NOS + N2O-NPRP) 44/28 10-3
N2ODirect

Direct N2O emissions produced from

managed soils, in tonnes

N2O-NN inputs

Direct N2O-N emissions from N inputs

to managed soils, kg N2O-N per year

N2O-NOS

Direct N2O-N emissions from managed

inorganic soils, kg N2O-N per year

N2O-NPRP

Direct N2O-N emissions from urine and

= dung inputs to grazed soils, kg N2O-N
per year

44/28

= Conversion of N (N2O-N) to N2O

Source: Equation adapted from 2006 IPCC Guidelines for

National Greenhouse Gas Inventories Volume 4 Agriculture,
Forestry and Other Land Use available at:
[Link]/public/2006gl/[Link]

and bicarbonate (HCO3). The bicarbonate then evolves

into CO2 and water.
A default emission factor of 0.20 for urea should be
used if emission factors derived from country-specific
data are unavailable.

10.5.4 Direct N2O from managed soils

Agricultural emissions of N2O result directly from
the soils to which N is added/released and indirectly
through the volatilization, biomass burning, leaching
and runoff of N from managed soils. Direct emissions
of N2O from managed soils are estimated separately
from indirect emissions, though using a common set
of activity data. Tier 1 methodologies do not take into
account different land cover, soil type, climatic conditions
or management practices. Cities that have data to
show that default factors are inappropriate for their
country should utilize Tier 2 or Tier 3 approaches.
Three emission factors (EF) are needed to estimate
direct N2O emissions from managed soils. The first EF
(EF1) refers to the amount of N2O emitted from the
various synthetic and organic N applications to soils,
including crop residue and mineralization of soil organic
carbon in mineral soils due to land-use change or

126 Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories

CHAPTER 10 Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use

Equation 10.11 Direct N2O-N from managed soils

N2O-NN inputs
FSN

FON

Equation 10.12 Direct N2O-N from managed inorganic soils

N2O-NN inputs =

N2O-NOS =

(FSN + FON + FCR + FSOM) EF1

(FOS,CG,Temp EF2CG,Temp) + (FOS,CG,Trop EF2CG,Trop)

+ (FSN +FON + FCR + FSOM)FR EF1FR

+ (FOS,F,Temp,NR EF2F,Temp,NR) + (FOS,F,Temp,NP EF2F,Temp,NP)

Direct N2O-N emissions from N inputs

=
to managed soils, kg N2O-N per year
=

FCR

FSOM

Amount of synthetic fertilizer N applied

to soils, kg N per year
Amount of animal manure, compost,
sewage sludge and other organic N
additions applied to soils (Note: If
including sewage sludge, cross-check
with Waste sector to ensure there is no
double counting of N2O emissions from
the N in sewage sludge), kg N per year.
See Equation 10.14
Amount of N in crop residues (aboveground and below-ground), including
N-fixing crops, and from forage/pasture
renewal, returned to soils, kg N per year.
See Equation 10.17
Annual amount of N in mineral soils
that is mineralized, in association with
loss of soil C from soil organic matter
as a result of changes to land use
or management, kg N per year. See
Equation 10.18
Emission factor for N2O emissions from
N inputs, kg N2ON (kg N input)-1

EF1

EF1FR

Emission factor for N2O emissions from

= N inputs to flooded rice, kg N2ON
(kg N input)-1

Source: Equation adapted from 2006 IPCC Guidelines for

National Greenhouse Gas Inventories Volume 4 Agriculture,
Forestry and Other Land Use available at: [Link].
[Link]/public/2006gl/[Link]

+ (FOS,F,Trop EF2F,Trop)
N2O-NOS =

Direct N2O-N emissions from managed

inorganic soils, kg N2O-N per year

FOS

Area of managed / drained organic soils,

ha (Note: the subscripts CG, F, Temp,
Trop, NR and NP refer to Cropland and
=
Grassland, Forest Land, Temperate,
Tropical, Nutrient Rich, and Nutrient Poor,
respectively)

EF2

Emission factor for N2O emissions from

= drained/managed organic soils, kg N2ON
per hectare per year

Source: Equation adapted from 2006 IPCC Guidelines for

National Greenhouse Gas Inventories Volume 4 Agriculture,
Forestry and Other Land Use available at:
[Link]/public/2006gl/[Link]

Equation 10.13 Direct N2O-N from urine and dung

N2O-NPRP =
(FPRP,CPP EF3PRP,CPP) + (FPRP,SO EF3PRP,SO)
N2O-NPRP

Direct N2O-N emissions from urine and

= dung inputs to grazed soils, kg N2O-N
per year

FPRP

Annual amount of urine and dung N

deposited by grazing animals on pasture,
range and paddock, kg N per year (Note:
=
the subscripts CPP and SO refer to Cattle,
Poultry and Pigs, and Sheep and Other
animals, respectively) See Equation 10.16

EF3PRP

Emission factor for N2O emissions from

urine and dung N deposited on pasture,
range and paddock by grazing animals,
= kg N2ON (kg N input)-1; (Note: the
subscripts CPP and SO refer to Cattle,
Poultry and Pigs, and Sheep and Other
animals, respectively)

Source: Equation adapted from 2006 IPCC Guidelines for

National Greenhouse Gas Inventories Volume 4 Agriculture,
Forestry and Other Land Use available at:
[Link]/public/2006gl/[Link]

127

management. The second EF (EF2) refers to the amount

of N2O emitted from an area of drained/managed organic
soils, and the third EF (EF 3PRP) estimates the amount
of N2O emitted from urine and dung N deposited by
grazing animals on pasture, range and paddock. Countryspecific emission factors should be used where available;
alternatively, default IPCC emission factors may be used.76
Sections (a)(f) below show how to source and calculate
activity data identified in the previous equations.
(a) Applied synthetic fertilizer (F SN )
Equation 10.14 N from organic N additions applied to soils

FON =
FAM + FSEW + FCOMP + FOOA
FON

Amount of organic N fertilizer applied to soil

other than by grazing animals, kg N per year

FAM

Amount of animal manure N applied to soils, kg

N per year. See Equation 10.15

FSEW

Amount of total sewage N applied to soils, kg

N per year

FCOMP

Amount of total compost N applied to soils, kg

N per year

FOOA

Amount of other organic amendments used as

fertilizer, kg N per year

(b) Applied organic N fertilizer (F ON )

Equation 10.15 N from animal manure applied to soils

FAM =
NMMS_Avb [1 (FracFEED + FracFUEL + FracCNST)]
FAN

Amount of animal manure N applied to soils,

kg N per year

Amount of managed manure N available for

NMMS_Avb = soil application, feed, fuel of construction, kg
N per year
FracFEED

= Fraction of managed manure used for feed

FracFUEL

= Fraction of managed manure used for fuel

FracCNST

Fraction of managed manure used for

construction

Source: Equation adapted from 2006 IPCC Guidelines for

National Greenhouse Gas Inventories Volume 4 Agriculture,
Forestry and Other Land Use available at:
[Link]/public/2006gl/[Link]

Source: Equation adapted from 2006 IPCC Guidelines for

National Greenhouse Gas Inventories Volume 4 Agriculture,
Forestry and Other Land Use available at:
[Link]/public/2006gl/[Link]

The amount of synthetic fertilizer applied to soils may

be collected from national statistics. If country-specific
data are not available, data on total fertilizer use by
type and by crop from the International Fertilizer
Industry Association (IFIA) or the Food and Agriculture
Organization of the United Nations (FAO) can be used.

76. Table11.1 in the 2006 IPCC Guidelines, Volume 4, Chapter 11 N20

Emissions from Managed Soils, and CO2 Emissions from Lime and Urea
Application. Further equations will need to be applied to estimate the
activity data, default values for which can also be found in the 2006 IPCC
Guidelines. Available at: [Link]/public/2006gl/vol4

128 Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories

CHAPTER 10 Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use

(c) Urine and dung from grazing animals (F PRP )

(d) C
 rop residue N, including N-fixing crops and
forage/pasture renewal, returned to soils (F CR )

Equation 10.16 N in urine and dung deposited by grazing

animals on pasture, range and paddock

Equation 10.17 N from crop residues

and forage/pasture renewal

FPRP =
T [(N(T) Nex(T)) MS(T,PRP)]
FPRP

N(T)

Nex(T)

MS(T, PRP) =

Amount of urine and dung N deposited

on pasture, range, paddock and by grazing
animals, kg N per year
Number of head of livestock per livestock
category
Average N excretion per head of livestock
category T, kg N per animal per year
Fraction of total annual N excretion for each
livestock category T that is deposited on
pasture, range and paddock

Source: Equation adapted from 2006 IPCC Guidelines for

National Greenhouse Gas Inventories Volume 4 Agriculture,
Forestry and Other Land Use available at:
[Link]/public/2006gl/[Link]

FCR =
T [Crop(T) (Area(T) Area burnt(T) CF) FracRenew(T)
[R AG(T) NAG(T) (1 FracRemove(T)) + RBG(T) NBG(T)]]
FCR

Amount of N in crop residue returned to

soils, kg N per year

Crop(T)

Harvested dry matter yield for crop T, kg

d.m. per hectare

Area(T)

Total harvested area of crop T, hectare per

year

Area burnt(T)

= Area of crop burnt, hectare per year

CF

= Combustion factor

Frac Renew(T)

R AG(T)

Ratio of above-ground residues dry matter

= (AGDM(T)) to harvested yield for crop T.
R AG(T) = AGDM(T) 1000 / Crop(T)

NAG(T)

Frac Remove(T)

Fraction of above-ground residues of

crop T removed for purposes such as
= feed, bedding and construction, kg N per
kg crop-N. If data for FracRemove(T) is not
available, assume no removal

RBG(T)

Ratio of below-ground residues to

harvested yield for crop T

NBG(T)

N content of below-ground residues for

crop T, kg N per kg dm

= Crop or forage type

Fraction of total area under crop T that is

renewed. For annual crops FracRenew = 1

N content of above-ground residues for

crop T, kg N per kg dm

Source: Equation adapted from 2006 IPCC Guidelines for

National Greenhouse Gas Inventories Volume 4 Agriculture,
Forestry and Other Land Use available at:
[Link]/public/2006gl/[Link]

129

(e) Mineralized N resulting from loss of soil

Equation 10.19 N2O from atmospheric deposition of N

organic C stocks in mineral soils through land-

volatilized from managed soils

use change or management practices (F SOM )

N2O(ATD) =
[(FSN FracGASF) + ((FON + FPRP) FracGASM)]

Equation 10.18 N mineralized in mineral soils as a result

EF4 44/28 10-3

of loss of soil C through change in land

use or management

FSOM =
LU [(CMineral,LU (1/R)) 1000]

FSOM

Amount of N mineralized in mineral soils

as a result of loss of soil carbon through
=
change in land use or management, kg
N per year

CMineral,LU

Loss of soil carbon for each land use

type (LU), tonnes C (for Tier 1, this will
=
be a single value for all land-uses and
management systems)

= C:N ratio of the soil organic matter

LU

Land-use and/or management

system type

Source: Equation adapted from 2006 IPCC Guidelines for

National Greenhouse Gas Inventories Volume 4 Agriculture,
Forestry and Other Land Use available at:
[Link]/public/2006gl/[Link]

A default value of 15 for R, the C:N ratio, may be used for

land-use change from Forest land or Grassland to Cropland,
and a default value of 10 may be used for situations involving
management changes on Cropland remaining Cropland.
(f) Area of drained/managed organic soils (F OS )

Data for the area of managed/drained organic soils may

be collected from official national statistics and soil survey
organizations, or expert advice may be used.

10.5.5 Indirect N2O from managed soils

N2O emissions also take place through volatilization of N
as NH3 and oxides of N (NOx), and leaching and runoff from
agricultural N additions to managed lands.

N2O (ATD)

Amount of N2O produced from

= atmospheric deposition of N volatilized
from managed soils in tonnes

FSN

FON

Amount of animal manure, compost,

sewage sludge and other organic N
additions applied to soils (Note: If including
sewage sludge, cross-check with Waste
=
sector to ensure there is no double
counting of N2O emissions from the N
in sewage sludge), kg N per year. See
Equation 10.14

FPRP

Annual amount of urine and dung N

deposited by grazing animals on pasture,
range and paddock, kg N per year (Note:
=
the subscripts CPP and SO refer to Cattle,
Poultry and Pigs, and Sheep and Other
animals, respectively) See Equation 10.16

44/28

= Conversion of N (N2O-N) to N2O

FracGASF

Fraction of synthetic fertilizer N that

= volatilizes as NH3 and NOx, kg N volatilized
per kg N applied

Frac GASM

Fraction of applied organic N fertilizer

materials (FON) and of urine and dung N
= deposited by grazing animals (FPRP) that
volatilizes as NH3 and NOx, kg N volatilized
per kg N applied or deposited

EF4

Emission factor for N2O emissions from

atmospheric deposition of N on soils and
=
water surfaces, kg N2O-N per kg NH3-N
and NOx-N volatilized

Amount of synthetic fertilizer N applied to

soils, kg N per year

Source: Equation adapted from 2006 IPCC Guidelines for

National Greenhouse Gas Inventories Volume 4 Agriculture,
Forestry and Other Land Use available at:
[Link]/public/2006gl/[Link]

Activity data used in the above two equations is the same

as the data used to estimate direct N2O from managed
soils. For Equation10.20, only those amounts in regions
where leaching/runoff occurs need to be considered.

130 Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories

CHAPTER 10 Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use

Equation 10.20 N2O from leaching/runoff from

Equation 10.21 Indirect N2O emissions due to

managed soils in regions where leaching/

volatilization of N from manure

runoff occurs

management

N2O(L) =

N2O =
(Nvolatilization-MMS EF4) 44/28 10-3

[(FSN + FON + FPRP + FCR + FSOM) FracLEACH-(H) EF5]

44/28 10-3

N2O(L)

Amount of N2O produced from leaching

and runoff of N additions to managed
=
soils in regions where leaching / runoff
occurs, in tonnes

FracLEACH-(H)

Fraction of all N added to/mineralized in

managed soils in regions where leaching/
=
runoff occurs that is lost through leaching
and runoff, kg N per kg if N additions

EF5

Emission factor for N2O emissions from

= N leaching and runoff, kg N2O-N per kg N
leached and runoff

Source: Equation adapted from 2006 IPCC Guidelines for

National Greenhouse Gas Inventories Volume 4 Agriculture,
Forestry and Other Land Use available at:
[Link]/public/2006gl/[Link]

N2O

Indirect N2O emissions due to

= volatilization of N from manure
management in tonnes

Nvolatilization -MMS

Amount of manure nitrogen that is lost

= due to volatilization of NH3 and NOx, kg
N per year. See Equation 10.22

EF4

Emission factor for N2O emissions from

atmospheric deposition of N on soils
=
and water surfaces, kg N2O-N per kg
NH3-N and NOx-N volatilized

Source: Equation adapted from 2006 IPCC Guidelines for

National Greenhouse Gas Inventories Volume 4 Agriculture,
Forestry and Other Land Use available at:
[Link]/public/2006gl/[Link]

Default emission, volatilization and leaching factors should

be used in the absence of country-specific data.77

10.5.6 Indirect N2O from manure management

Indirect emissions result from volatile nitrogen losses that
occur primarily in the forms of NH3 and NOx. Calculation
is based on multiplying the amount of nitrogen excreted
(from all livestock categories) and managed in each manure
management system by a fraction of volatilized nitrogen
(see Equations 10.21 and 10.22). N losses are then
summed over all manure management systems.78
77. Default factors can be found in the 2006 IPCC Guidelines, Volume 4,
Chapter 11, N20 Emissions from Managed Soils, and CO2 Emissions from
Lime and Urea Application, Table11.3. Available at: [Link].
[Link]/public/2006gl/vol4
78. IPCC default nitrogen excretion data, default manure management
system data and default fractions of N losses from manure management
systems due to volatilization are listed in the 2006 IPCC Guidelines,
Volume 4, Chapter 10, Annex 10A.2, Tables 10A-4 to 10A-8 and
Table10.22. A default value of 0.01 kg N2O-N (kg NH3-N + NOx-N
volatilized)-1 may be used for EF4.

131

Equation 10.22 N losses due to volatilization

from manure management

Nvolatilization-MMS =
S [T [( N(T) Nex(T) MS(T,S)) (FracGasMS 10-2)(T,S) ]]
N volatilization -MMS
S
T
N(T)
Nex(T)

MS(T,S)

Frac GasMS

Amount of manure nitrogen that is

= lost due to volatilization of NH3 and
NOx, kg N per year
= Manure management system (MMS)
= Livestock category
Number of head of livestock per
=
livestock category
Average N excretion per head of
= livestock category T, kg N per animal
per year
Fraction of total annual N excretion
for each livestock category T that is
=
managed in manure management
system S
Percent of managed manure nitrogen
for livestock category T that volatilizes
=
as NH3 and NOx in the manure
management system S, %

10.5.7 Rice cultivations

Anaerobic decomposition of organic material in flooded
rice fields produces methane (CH4), which escapes
to the atmosphere primarily by transport through rice
plants. The amount of CH4 emitted is a function of the
number and duration of the crop grown, water regimes
before and during cultivation period, and organic and
inorganic soil amendments. CH4 emissions are estimated
by multiplying daily emission factors by cultivation period
of rice and harvested areas (see Equation10.23).
The disaggregation of harvested area should cover the
following three water regimes, where these occur within
the city boundary: irrigated, rain-fed, and upland. However,
it is good practice to account for as many different factors
influencing CH4 emissions from rice cultivation (i, j, k etc.),
where such data are available. The daily emission factor for
each water regime is calculated by multiplying a baseline
default emission factor by various scaling factors to account
for variability in growing conditions (see Equation10.24).

Source: Equation adapted from 2006 IPCC Guidelines for

National Greenhouse Gas Inventories Volume 4 Agriculture,
Forestry and Other Land Use available at:
[Link]/public/2006gl/[Link]

132 Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories

CHAPTER 10 Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use

Equation 10.23 CH4 emissions from rice cultivation

Equation 10.24 Adjusted daily emission factors

CH4Rice =

EFi =

i,j,k(EFi,j,k ti,j,k Ai,j,k 10-6)

EFc SFw SFp SFo

CH4Rice

Methane emissions from rice cultivation,

Gg (i.e., 1000 metric tonnes) CH4 per year

EFi,j,k

Daily emission factor for i, j and k

conditions, kg CH4 per hectare per year

ti,j,k

Cultivation period of rice for i, j and k

conditions, number of days

Ai,j,k

Harvested area of rice for i, j and k

conditions, hectares per year

i,j,k

Represent different ecosystems, water

regimes, type and amount of organic
= amendments, and other conditions under
which CH4 emissions from rice may vary
(e.g. irrigated, rain-fed and upland)

Source: Equation adapted from 2006 IPCC Guidelines for

National Greenhouse Gas Inventories Volume 4 Agriculture,
Forestry and Other Land Use available at:
[Link]/public/2006gl/[Link]

Adjusted daily emission factor for a particular

harvested area (kg CH4 per hectare per day)

EFi

EFc

Baseline emission factor for continuously

= flooded fields without organic amendments
(kg CH4 per hectare per day)

SFw

SFp

Scaling factor to account for the differences

= in water regime in the pre-season before
cultivation period

SFo

Scaling factor to account for the differences in

water regime during the cultivation period

Scaling factor should vary for both type and

amount of organic amendment applied

Source: Equation adapted from 2006 IPCC Guidelines for

National Greenhouse Gas Inventories Volume 4 Agriculture,
Forestry and Other Land Use available at:
[Link]/public/2006gl/[Link]

133

Equation 10.25 Adjusted CH4 emission scaling factors

for organic amendments
SFo =
(1 + iROAi CFOAi)0.59
SFo
ROAi

Scaling factor should vary for both type and

amount of organic amendment applied
Application rate or organic amendment i, in dry
= weight for straw and fresh weight for others,
tonne per hectare
=

CFOAi = Conversion factor for organic amendment i

Source: Equation adapted from 2006 IPCC Guidelines for
National Greenhouse Gas Inventories Volume 4 Agriculture,
Forestry and Other Land Use available at:
[Link]/public/2006gl/[Link]

Activity data are based on harvested area, which should

be available from a national statistics agency or local
government, as well as complementary information
on cultivation period and agricultural practices, which
may be estimated from industry or academic sources.
Country-specific emission factors should be used where
available and may be obtained from the national inventory,
agricultural industry and scientific literature. Alternatively,
IPCC default values should be used. The IPCC default
value for EFc is 1.30 kg CH4 per hectare per day.79

10.5.8 Harvested wood products (HWP)

Harvested wood products (HWP) include all wood material
that leaves harvest sites and constitutes a carbon reservoir
(the time carbon is held in products will vary depending
on the product and its uses). Fuel wood, for example, may
be burned in the year of harvest, and many types of paper
are likely to have a use life less than five years, including
recycling. Wood used for panels in buildings, however,
may be held for decades to over 100 years. Discarded
HWP can be deposited in solid waste disposal sites where
they may subsist for long periods of time. Due to this
storage in products in use and in SWDS, the oxidation of

HWP in a given year could be less, or potentially more,

than the total amount of wood harvested in that year.
IPCC Guidelines allow for net emissions from HWP to be
reported as zero, if it is judged that the annual change in
carbon in HWP stocks is insignificant. The term insignificant
is defined as being less than the size of any key category.
If, however, it is determined that the annual change in
carbon in HWP stocks is significant, the Tier 1 methodology
outlined in 2006 IPCC Guidelines should be followed.

79. Defaults values for SFw and SFp and CFOAi are listed in the 2006
IPCC Guidelines, Volume 4, Chapter 5, Tables 5.12, 5.13, and 5.14.
Available at: [Link]/public/2006gl/[Link]

134 Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories

Part III

Tracking Changes
and Setting Goals

135

Goals and Tracking

11 Setting
Emissions Over Time

his chapter shows how inventories can be used as the basis for goal setting
and performance tracking. Further guidance on setting a mitigation goal
and tracking progress over time can be found in the GHG Protocol Mitigation

Goal Standard, 80 which has been designed for national and sub-national entities, as
well as cities.

11.1 Setting goals

and evaluating performance
Developing GHG inventories, setting goals, and tracking
progress are part of an interconnected process. Setting
reduction or mitigation goals can help cities focus
efforts on key emission sources, identify innovative
mitigation solutions, demonstrate leadership and
reduce long-term costs (see Box11.1 for an example
of NYCs goal setting and performance tracking).

The type of goal provides the basis against which

emissions and emissions reductions are tracked and
reported. Users with a multi-year goal shall report
whether the goal is an average, annual, or cumulative
multi-year goal. In general, there are four goal types:

1.
2.
3.
4.

Base year emissions goals

Fixed level goals
Base year intensity goals
Baseline scenario goals

80. See [Link]/mitigation-goal-standard

137

Box 11.1 Setting goals and tracking progress

NewYorkCity

Figure11.1 Example of a base year emissions goal

Base year emissions

New York City, U.S. aims to reduce GHG emissions by 30%

determine where to best direct mitigation efforts, as well
as track the effectiveness of actions taken and measure
progress, the city conducts and publishes an annual
assessment and analysis of GHG emissions. The plan states:
Regular, accurate data allow us to assess
the impact of policy measures, infrastructure

Reduction
relative to
base year
emissions

GHG emissions (Mt CO2e)

below 2005 levels by 2030, and 80% by 2050.81 To help

Goal level

investments, consumer behavior, population

and weather on GHG emissions, and focus our
programs to ensure that we are implementing
Base year

the most effective GHG mitigation strategies.

In 2012, GHG emissions were 19% lower than in 2005.

Target year
Goal period

The reduced carbon intensity of the citys electricity supply

proved to be the main driver. Next, New York City plans to
expand their inventory to map neighborhood-level emissions
to better target policies and provide communities with
information to help them reduce their GHG emissions.

Figure11.2 Example of a fixed-level goal

Source: PlaNYC website [Link]/html/planyc

Base year emissions goals represent a reduction in

emissions relative to an emissions level in a historical base
year. They are framed in terms of a percent reduction of
emissions compared to a base year emissions level, and
therefore correspond to an absolute reduction in emissions.
Fixed level goals represent a reduction in emissions to an
absolute emissions level in a target year. For example, a fixed
level goal could be to achieve 200 Mt (million tonnes) CO2e
by 2020. The most common type of fixed level goals are
carbon neutrality goals, which are designed to reach zero net
emissions by a certain date (though such goals often include
the purchase and use of offset credits to compensate
for remaining emissions after annual reductions). Fixed
level goals do not include a reference to an emissions
level in a baseline scenario or historical base year.
81. New York City Mayors Office of Long-Term Planning and
Sustainability (2014). Inventory of New York City Greenhouse Gas
Emissions. 2014. [Link]
NYC_GHG_Inventory_2014.pdf

GHG emissions
(Mt CO2e)

Goal level

Year goal is adopted

Target year(s)
Goal period

Base year intensity goals represent a reduction in

emissions intensity relative to an emissions intensity level
in a historical base year. Emissions intensity is emissions
per unit of output. Examples of units of output include
GDP, population, and energy use. Intensity goals are framed
in terms of a percent reduction of emissions intensity
compared to a base year emissions intensity, and therefore
correspond to an absolute reduction in emissions intensity.

138 Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories

CHAPTER 11 Setting Goals and Tracking Emissions Over Time

GHG emissions intensity (Mt CO2e/GDP)

Figure11.3 Example of a base year intensity goal

Base year emissions intensity
Reduction
relative to
base year
emissions
intensity

Goal level

Base year

Baseline scenario goals represent a reduction in

emissions relative to a baseline scenario emissions
level. They are typically framed in terms of a percent
reduction of emissions from the baseline scenario,
rather than an absolute reduction in emissions. A
baseline scenario is a set of reasonable assumptions
and data that best describe events or conditions that are
most likely to occur in the absence of activities taken
to meet a mitigation goal (i.e. business-as-usual).
All goal types, except for fixed level goals, require a
base year GHG inventory and a GHG inventory in the
target year for evaluation of results. To estimate the
business-as-usual (BAU) baseline, additional historical
data series may be used, including GDP, population,
sectoral energy intensity, among others. Although GPC
does not provide guidance on how to estimate the BAU
baseline, it is advisable to have historical city inventories
for a cross-check analysis. Table11.1 gives examples of
different goal types and minimum inventory need.

Target year
Goal period

GHG emissions (Mt CO2e)

Figure11.4 Example of a baseline scenario goal

Goal level

line s

Base

Start year of baseline scenario

ns

issio

o em
enari

Reduction
relative to
baseline
scenario
emissions

Target year (s)

Goal period

139

Table 11.1 Examples of city goal types and inventory need

Goal type

Base year
emissions
goals

Example

Minimum inventory need

Single-year goal

London (UK): By 2025 60% GHG emissions

reduction on 1990 levels

Inventory for 1990 and 2025

Multi-year goal

Wellington (New Zealand): Stabilize from 2000

by 2010, 3% GHG emissions reduction by
2012, 30% by 2020, 80% by 2050

Inventory for 2000, 2010, 2012, 2020

and 2050

Carbon-neutral is another type of fixed level

goal type. Melbourne (Australia) set a target to
achieve zero net carbon emissions by 2020,
and plans to achieve the goal through internal
reductions and purchasing offsets.

Inventory for 2020. In the case of

Melbourne, current inventory required to
determine quantity of offsets necessary
to cover remainder of emissions, as well
as GHG inventory in 2020.

Per capita goal

Belo Horizonte (Brazil): 20% GHG emissions

reduction per capita until 2030 from 2007 levels

Inventory for 2007 and 2030

Per GDP goal

China is the major country adopting GHG

emissions reduction per unit of GDP goal for
cities. For example, Beijing: 17% reduction per
unit of GDP in 2015 from 2010 levels.

Inventory for 2010 and 2015

Singapore pledged to reduce GHG emissions

to 16% below business-as-usual (BAU) levels
by 2020 if a legally binding global agreement
on GHG reductions is made. In the
meantime, Singapore started implementing
measures to reduce emissions by 7% to 11%
of 2020 BAU levels.

Inventory for 2020 and a projected BAU

inventory for 2020

Fixed level goals

Base year
intensity
goals

Baseline scenario goals

11.2 Aligning goals with

the inventory boundary
Mitigation goals can apply to a citys overall emissions
or to a subset of the gases, scopes, or emission sectors
identified in the inventory boundary (Chapter 3). The results
of a compiled GHG inventory, along with a mitigation
assessment and any of the citys specific mitigation interests,
should determine which parts of the inventory boundary
are included or excluded in the goal. Cities may choose
to set a sectoral goal as a way to target a specific sector,
sub-sector, or group of sectors. For example, a city may
establish a goal to reduce emissions from the IPPU sector by
20%. Cities may also include additional operations such as
city-owned waste facilities or city-owned energy generation
facilities that are located outside the inventory boundary.

Cities may follow the GHG Protocol Mitigation Goals

Standard to set goals separately for each scope, in order
to minimize double counting the same emissions in the
same goal. If cities choose to set a combined scope1 and
2 goal, then cities should use the BASIC/BASIC+ framework,
or include an adjusted scope2 total reflecting energy
consumption net of energy production occurring in the city.
To avoid double counting scope1 and scope2 emissions
in a GHG goal, cities can set separate goals for scope1 and
scope2. If cities seek to set a target that combines scope1
and scope2, they may set a target based on BASIC or
BASIC+ total. Alternatively, they can have a separate target
for scope2 emissions net of energy produced within the
city. For this, cities may perform adjustments to scope2

140 Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories

CHAPTER 11 Setting Goals and Tracking Emissions Over Time

activity data and regional emission factors (following the

location-based method) and report this total separately.
These procedures are elaborated upon in Box11.2.

Use of transferable emissions units

Cities may designate a portion of their mitigation goals to be
met using transferable emissions units such as offset credits
generated from emissions reduction projects. To ensure
transparency and prevent double counting of emissions
reductions, cities shall document any sold GHG offsets
from projects located within the inventory boundary as
well as any credits purchased from projects located outside
of the city boundary for the purpose of goal attainment.
These shall be reported separately (see Section 4.4).

11.3 Tracking emissions over time

and recalculating emissions
Tracking emissions over time is an important component
of a GHG inventory because it provides information on
historical emissions trends, and tracks the effects of
policies and actions to reduce city-wide emissions. All
emissions over time should be estimated consistently,

which means that as far as possible, the time series should

be calculated using the same methods, data sources and
boundary definitions in all years. Using different methods,
data or applying different boundaries in a time series
could introduce bias because the estimated emissions
trend will reflect real changes in emissions or removals
as well as the pattern of methodological refinements.
If cities set an emissions goal, they should identify a
base year for that goal. To clarify how emissions will
be tracked over time, cities should report base year
emissions. Cities should also identify a base year
recalculation policy, including the significance threshold
for recalculating base year emissions. For example, a city
may identify a 5% threshold to determine if the applicable
changes to base year emissions warrant recalculation.
Cities may undergo significant changes, which will alter
a citys historical emissions profile and make meaningful
comparisons over time difficult. In order to maintain
consistency over time, historic emissions data from a base
year inventory will have to be recalculated. Cities should
recalculate base year emissions if they encounter significant
changes such as:

141

Box 11.2 Adjustments to identify energy consumption emissions net of energy production
To determine emissions from grid-supplied energy consumption net of in-city energy production, cities may subtract energy
generated in the city from total scope 2 emissions and/or adjust regional emission factors to subtract energy generated in the city.
To adjust the activity data to identify grid-supplied energy consumption net of in-city energy production, a city may follow the
equation below.
Grid-supplied energy consumption of net in-city prodution (MWh) =
Grid-supplied energy consumption (MWh) - In-city grid-supplied energy production (MWh)

If a city generates and delivers to the grid more energy than it uses from the grid (e.g. the city is a net generator compared with
consumption), it should report zero net energy consumption emissions (shall not be negative emission). If a city uses more gridsupplied energy than it produces, then it would deduct the MWh hours of generation from its MWhs of production, and multiply
the remaining MWhs by a location-based emission factor. If all emissions from electricity generation are accounted for, any
residual consumption will be served by electricity generated outside of the city boundaries.
Even with an adjustment of activity data, there may be further double counting in the form of the location-based emission
factors (applied to any consumption net of production). Because these factors represent an average of all energy generation in
the region, they will therefore inherently include emissions from any energy generation located in the city. Cities may attempt to
address this by also adjusting the emission factor, which would require the city to identify the total emissions and total generation
(in MWh) represented in the regional grid average emission factor as shown below:
Adjusted emission factor =
Total regional emissions (tonnes CO2e) emissions from city generation (tonnes CO2e)
Total generation (MWh) city generation (MWh)

From there, a city may deduct the emissions and generation produced in-boundary.

Structural changes in the inventory boundary.

This may be triggered by adjustment in a citys
administrative boundary, or changes in inclusion or
exclusion of activities within the city boundary. For
example, a category previously regarded as insignificant
has grown to the point where it should be included
in the inventory. But no emissions recalculations are
needed for activities that either did not exist in the base
year, or reflect a natural increase or decrease in city
activities (known as organic growth).

Changes in calculation methodology or

improvements in data accuracy. A city may report
the same sources of GHG emissions as in previous
years, but measure or calculate them differently.

Changes resulting in significant emission differences

should be considered as recalculation triggers, but any
changes that reflect real changes in emissions do not
trigger a recalculation.
Sometimes the more accurate data input may not be
reasonably applied to all past years, or new data points
may not be available for past years. The city may then
have to back cast these data points, or the change
in data source may simply be acknowledged without
recalculation. This acknowledgement should be made in
the report every year in order to enhance transparency;
otherwise, new users of the report in the two or three
years after the change may make incorrect assumptions
about the citys performance.

142 Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories

CHAPTER 11 Setting Goals and Tracking Emissions Over Time

Discovery of significant errors. A significant error,

or a number of cumulative errors that are collectively
significant, should also be considered as a reason to
recalculate emissions.
Cities should not recalculate base year emissions for organic
growth (e.g., changes in the level or type of city activities).
Cities should also note that emission factors for electricity
and GWP are specific to every year, and their changes do
not count as methodology changes. To isolate the role
of changing activities compared with changing emission
factors, cities may track activity data separatelyfor instance,
tracking energy use separately to see the impact of energy
efficiency policies.
These recalculation triggers are summarized in Table11.2.

Whether recalculation is needed depends on the

significance of the changes. Determining a significant change
may require taking into account the cumulative effect on
base year emissions of a number of small changes. The
GPC makes no specific recommendations as to what
constitutes significant. However, some GHG programs do
specify numerical significance thresholds, e.g., the California
Climate Action Registry, where the change threshold is 10%
of the base year emissions, determined on a cumulative
basis from the time the base year is established.
In summary, base year emissionsand emissions for other
previous years when necessaryshould be retroactively
recalculated to reflect changes in the city that would
otherwise compromise the consistency and relevance of
the reported GHG emissions information. Once a city has
determined its policy on how it will recalculate base year
emissions, it should apply this policy in a consistent manner.

Table 11.2 Example of recalculation triggers

Goal type

Changes in
inventory
boundary

Changes in
calculation
methodology or
improvements
in data accuracy

Discovery of
significant errors

Example

Recalculation
needed (if
significant)

A community is included in or set aside from a citys administrative

boundary

Change in goal boundary from BASIC to BASIC+, or from 6 GHGs to

7 GHGs

No
recalculation
needed

Shut down of a power plant

Build of a new cement factory

Change in calculation methodology for landfilled MSW from

Methane Commitment Approach to the First Order Decay Method

Adoption of more accurate activity data instead of a scaled-down

national figure

Change in global warming potential factors used

Change in electricity emission factor due to energy efficiency

improvement and growth of renewable energy utilization

Discovery of significant mistake in units conversion in formula used

143

Managing
Inventory
12 Quality and Verification

he GPC does not require that cities verify their inventory results, but
recommends that cities choose the level and type of verification that meets
their needs and capacity. This chapter outlines how cities can establish

inventory management plans to ensure data quality improvements over time and
preparation for verification procedures.

12.1 Managing inventory

quality over time
To manage inventory quality over time, cities should
establish a management plan for the inventory process. The
design of an inventory management plan should provide
for the selection, application, and updating of inventory
methodologies as new research becomes available, or the
importance of inventory reporting is elevated. The GPC
focuses on the following institutional, managerial, and
technical components of an inventory. It includes data,
methods, systems and documentation to ensure quality
control and quality assurance throughout the process:

Methods: These are the technical aspects of

inventory preparation. Cities should select or develop
methodologies for estimating emissions that accurately
represent the characteristics of their source categories.
The GPC provides many default methods and calculation
tools to help with this effort. The design of an inventory
program and quality management system should provide

for the selection, application, and updating of inventory

methodologies as new research becomes available.

Data: This is the basic information on activity levels

and emission factors. Although methodologies need to
be appropriately rigorous and detailed, data quality is
more important. No methodology can compensate for
poor quality input data. The design of a city inventory
program should facilitate the collection of high quality
inventory data and the maintenance and improvement
of collection procedures.

Inventory processes and systems: These are the

institutional, managerial, and technical procedures for
preparing GHG inventories. They include the team and
processes charged with the goal of producing a high
quality inventory. To streamline GHG inventory quality
management, these processes and systems may be
integrated, where appropriate, with other city-wide
processes related to quality.

145

 Documentation: This is the record of methods,

data, processes, systems, assumptions, and estimates
used to prepare an inventory. Since estimating GHG
emissions is inherently technical (involving engineering
and science), high quality, transparent documentation
is particularly important to credibility. If information is
not credible, or fails to be effectively communicated to
either internal or external stakeholders, it will not have
value. Cities should seek to ensure the quality of these
components at every level of their inventory design.

Quality control
Quality control (QC) is a set of technical activities, which
measure and control the quality of the inventory as it is
being developed. They are designed to:

Provide routine and consistent checks to ensure data

integrity, correctness, and completeness

Identify and address errors and omissions

Document and archive inventory material and record
all QC activities
QC activities include accuracy checks on data acquisition
and calculations, and the use of approved standardized
procedures for emission calculations, measurements,
estimating uncertainties, archiving information and reporting.
Higher tier QC activities include technical reviews of source
categories, activity and emission factor data, and methods.

Quality assurance
Quality assurance (QA) activities include a planned
system of review procedures conducted by personnel
not directly involved in the inventory compilation/
development process. Reviews, preferably performed
by independent third parties, should take place when an
inventory is finalized following the implementation of QC
procedures. Reviews verify that data quality objectives
were met and that the inventory represents the best
possible estimates of emissions and sinks given the
current state of scientific knowledge and data available.

12.2 Verification
Cities may choose to verify their GHG emissions
inventory to demonstrate that it has been developed
in accordance with the requirements of the GPC, and
provide assurance to users that it represents a faithful,
true, and fair account of their citys GHG emissions. This
can be used to increase credibility of publicly-reported
emissions information with external audiences and
increase confidence in the data used to develop climate
action plans, set GHG targets and track progress.
Verification involves an assessment of the completeness,
accuracy and reliability of reported data. It seeks to
determine if there are any material discrepancies between
reported data and data generated from the proper
application of the relevant standards and methodologies,
by making sure that reporting requirements have been
met, estimates are correct and data sourced is reliable.
To enable verification, the accounting and reporting
principles set out in Chapter 2 need to be followed.
Adherence to these principles and the presence of
transparent, well-documented data (sometimes referred to
as an audit trail) are the basis of a successful verification.
While verification is often undertaken by an independent
organization (third-party verification), this may not always
be the case. Many cities interested in improving their
GHG inventories may subject their information to internal
verification by staff who are independent of the GHG
accounting and reporting process (self-verification). Both
types of verification should follow similar procedures and
processes. For external stakeholders, third-party verification
is likely to significantly increase the credibility of the GHG
inventory. However, self-verification can also provide
valuable assurance over the reliability of information.

See Table12.1 for an outline of procedures for

ensuring QA/QC.

146 Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories

CHAPTER 12 Managing Inventory Quality and Verification

Table 12.1 Example QA/QC procedures

Data gathering, input, and handling activities

Check a sample of input data for transcription errors
Identify spreadsheet modifications that could provide additional controls or checks on quality
Ensure that adequate version control procedures for electronic files have been implemented
Others
Data documentation
Confirm that bibliographical data references are included in spreadsheets for all primary data
Check that copies of cited references have been archived
Check that assumptions and criteria for selection of boundaries, base years, methods, activity data, emission factors, and other
parameters are documented
Check that changes in data or methodology are documented
Others
Calculating emissions and checking calculations
Check whether emission units, parameters, and conversion factors are appropriately labeled
Check if units are properly labeled and correctly carried through from beginning to end of calculations
Check that conversion factors are correct
Check the data processing steps (e.g., equations) in the spreadsheets
Check that spreadsheet input data and calculated data are clearly differentiated
Check a representative sample of calculations, by hand or electronically
Check some calculations with abbreviated calculations (i.e., back of the envelope calculations)
Check the aggregation of data across source categories, sectors, etc.
Check consistency of time series inputs and calculations
Others

147

12.3 Parameters of verification

Verifiers should be selected based on previous experience
and competence in undertaking GHG verifications,
understanding and familiarity with the GPC, and their
objectivity, credibility, and independence. However, before
commencing with verification, a city should clearly define
its goals and decide whether they are best met by selfverification or third-party verification. Verification criteria for
a GHG emissions inventory should include the following:

Inventory boundary is clearly and correctly defined

All required emission sources are included and notation
keys have been used appropriately
Calculations are consistent with the requirements
of the GPC

Data are time- and geographically-specific to the

inventory boundary and technology-specific to the
activity being measured
Data are sourced from reliable and robust sources and
referenced appropriately
All assumptions are documented
The verification process may also be used to examine
more general data management and managerial issues,
such as selection and management of GHG data,
procedures for collecting and processing GHG data,
systems and processes to ensure accuracy of GHG data,
managerial awareness, availability of resources, clearly
defined responsibilities, and internal review procedures. To
enhance transparency and credibility, the objectives and
remit of verification should be made publicly available.

148 Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories

CHAPTER 12 Managing Inventory Quality and Verification

12.4 Verification process

Verification will usually be an iterative process, where
an initial reviewhighlighting areas of non-compliance
and/or queries relating to the assessmentoffers an
opportunity to make any necessary updates to the GHG
inventory before the verification report is produced
and conformity with the GPC is determined.
Verification can take place at various points during
the development and reporting of GHG inventories.
Some cities may establish a semi-permanent internal
verification team to ensure that GHG data standards
are being met and improved on an on-going basis.
Verification that occurs during a reporting period
allows for any issues to be addressed before the final
report is prepared. This may be particularly useful
for cities preparing high-profile public reports.
All relevant documentation should be made available to
support the GHG inventory during the verification process.
Cities are responsible for ensuring the existence, quality and
retention of documentation so as to create an audit trail of
how the GHG inventory was compiled. Assumptions and

calculations made, and data used, for which there is no

available supporting documentation cannot be verified.82
If, following verification, the GHG inventory is
deemed to be fully compliant with the principles and
requirements set out in the GPC, then the city will
be able to make a claim of conformity. However, if
the verifiers and city cannot come to an agreement
regarding outstanding areas of non-compliance, the
city will not be able to make a claim of conformity.
The process of verification should be viewed as a
valuable input to a path of continuous improvement.
Whether verification is undertaken for the purposes of
internal review, public reporting or to certify compliance
with the GPC, it will likely contain useful information
and guidance on how to improve and enhance a
citys GHG accounting and reporting practices.

82. If a city issues a specific base year against which it assesses future
GHG performance, it should retain all relevant historical records to
support the base year data. These issues should be kept in mind when
designing and implementing GHG data processes and procedures.

149

Appendices

Appendix A
Overview of GHG standards and programs
Appendix A summarizes the main features of existing
GHG accounting and reporting standards and compares
those features with the GPC. Some of the most
commonly used or referenced standards include:
1.
1996/2006 IPCC Guidelines for National
Greenhouse Gas Inventories (IPCC Guidelines)
2.
International Local Government GHG Emissions
Analysis Protocol (IEAP)
3.
International Standard for Determining Greenhouse
Gas Emissions for Cities (ISDGC)
4.
Baseline Emissions Inventory/Monitoring Emissions
Inventory methodology (BEI/MEI)
5.
U.S. Community Protocol for Accounting and
Reporting of Greenhouse GasEmissions (USA
Community Protocol)
6.
PAS 2070: Specification for the assessment of
greenhouse gas emissions of a city
7.
GHG Protocol Corporate Standard

National GHG inventory methods

IPCC Guidelines, developed for national GHG inventories,
provide detailed guidance on emission and removal
categories, calculation formulae, data collection methods,
default emission factors, and uncertainty management.
Both national- and city-level GHG inventories represent

geographically explicit entities, and can share similar

boundary setting principles and emission calculation
methodologies. A key difference between city-level
accounting and national-level accounting is that due to
relatively smaller geographic coverage, in-boundary
activities for a country can become transboundary
activities for a city. This means that scope2 and scope
3 emissions may account for a larger percentage in a
city and should not be neglected. Another important
difference is that statistical data at the city level may
not be as comprehensive as national-level data, thus
requiring more data collection from the bottom-up.

Corporate GHG inventory methods

The GHG Protocol Corporate Standard83 established the
scopes framework for corporate accounting, dividing
emissions into scope1, 2 and 3 to fully cover all the
relevant corporate activities and avoid double counting
within the same inventory. The scopes framework is widely
adopted for corporate inventories and has been adapted
in the GPC to fit the geographic inventory boundaries
of cities. TableA.1 shows the application of scopes
terminology for corporate and city-level inventories.

83. See GHG Protocol Corporate Standard, 2004.

Table A.1 Scope definitions for corporate and city inventories

Corporate

City

Scope 1

All direct emissions from sources that are owned

or controlled by the company

GHG emissions from sources located within the city boundary

Scope 2

Energy-related indirect emissions from

generation of purchased electricity, steam and
heating/cooling consumed by the company

GHG emissions occurring as a consequence of the use of

grid-supplied electricity, heat, steam and/or cooling within the
city boundary

Scope 3

All other indirect emissions that are a

consequence of the activities of the company

All other GHG emissions that occur outside the city boundary
as a result of activities taking place within the city boundary

151

Some standards use frameworks or requirements

that differ from the GPC, including:

IEAP requires two levels of reporting: city-wide

emissions, and emissions from the operations of local

government;
ISDGC requires that upstream GHG emissions
embedded in food, water, fuel and building materials
consumed in cities be reported as additional information
items. It recommends cities or urban regions with
populations over 1 million persons to use its reporting
standard, and cities with populations below 1 million
may use less detailed reporting tables such as BEI/MEI;
BEI/MEI only requires mandatory quantification of CO2
emissions due to final energy consumption. Reporting
of emissions from non-energy sectors and nonCO2 emissions are not mandatory. It was specifically
designed for the signatory cities participating in the EU
Covenant of Mayors Initiative to track their progress
toward the goal set under the initiative, and therefore
doesnt cover interactions with other policies, such as EU
ETS, in its framework;
U.S. Community Protocol introduces the concepts
of sources and activities rather than the scopes
framework, where sources is equivalent to scope1,
and activities is equivalent to 2 and 3, with some
overlap in scope1. Activities are recognized as those
processes which can be managed for emissions
reductions regardless of where the emissions occur.
The U.S. Community Protocol uses different emission
categories than IPCC Guidelines and also provides
a reporting framework with Five Basic Emissions
Generating Activities and some additional and voluntary
reporting frameworks (see table A.2);
PAS 2070 provides two methodologies to assess
city GHG emissions. These recognize cities as both
consumers and producers of goods and services. The
direct plus supply chain (DPSC) methodology captures
territorial GHG emissions and those associated with the
largest supply chains serving cities and is consistent with
the GPC. The consumption-based (CB) methodology
uses input-output modeling to estimate direct and
life cycle GHG emissions for all goods and services
consumed by residents of a city.

Some other important features, including primary

audience, use of the scopes framework, inclusion
of transboundary emissions and emission sources
categories are also compared and summarized below.

Primary audience
The standards reviewed are developed for accounting
and reporting of city-level, national-level and corporate
or organizational-level inventories. Most of the standards
were developed for global use, while two standards
were designed to target specific groups. The BEI/
MEI was designed for EU cities that participated in the
Covenant of Mayors Initiative to track their progress to
achieve their SEAP goal. The U.S. Community Protocol
was designed as a management framework to guide U.S.
local governments to account for and report their GHG
emissions associated with the communities they represent,
with an emphasis on sources and activities over which
U.S. local governments have the authority to influence.

Adoption of scopes framework and

inclusion of transboundary emissions
All standards reviewed adopt the scopes framework except
for the U.S. Community Protocol, which includes two
central categories of emissions: 1) GHG emissions that are
produced by community-based sources located within the
community boundary, and 2) GHG emissions produced as
a consequence of community activities. To better illustrate
these two concepts using the scopes framework, emissions
from sources refer to scope1 emissions, emissions
from activities refer to processes that take place within
the community boundary which result in transboundary
emissions. All standards cover both in-boundary and
transboundary emissions, except for the BEI/MEI method,
which only considers scope1 and scope2 emissions.

Emission source categories

2006 IPCC Guidelines divide emissions sources into
four sectors: Energy, IPPU, Waste and AFOLU. All other
reviewed standards generally followed this division
method, except for some minor adaptations, which
include using two major categoriesStationary and
Mobileinstead of Energy, and adding an additional
major category of Upstream Emissions. IPCC categories

152 Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories

Appendix A

of emission sources is a good practice for cities to follow

for their inventories due to three main reasons:

1.
the IPCC offers full coverage of all emissions/
removals across all aspects of peoples social and
economic activities.
2.
It clearly defines and divides those emission
sources which easily cause confusion (e.g., energy
combustion in cement production and emissions
from the production process itself shall be
categorized under Energy and IPPU separately; use
from waste-generated energy shall be categorized
under Energy rather than Waste; and CO2 emissions
from biomass combustion shall be accounted for but
reported separately as an information item because
the carbon embedded in biomass is part of the
natural carbon cycle).
3.
Consistency with national inventories is conducive
for cities to conduct longitudinal comparison
and analysis.

Despite minor adaptations when it comes to sub-categories,

similarities can also be observed. The Stationary Energy
sector is usually divided into residential, commercial/
institutional, industrial and others, and the Mobile
Energy sector is usually divided by transportation types
into on-road, railways, aviation, waterborne and other.
Classifications in the Waste sector are highly consistent with
IPCC Guidelines, consisting of MSW, biological treatment,
incineration and wastewater.

Gases covered
Most standards cover the GHG gases specified by the Kyoto
Protocol, which now include seven gases. The BEI/MEI
methodology only requires reporting of CO2 emissions.

Detailed guidance
on calculations methodologies
IPCC Guidelines, LEAD, U.S. Community Protocol and
GPC provide detailed chapters/sections on the calculation
formulae and data collection methods for different
emissions sectors. PAS 2070 provides a detailed case study
of how London, United Kingdom, used its methodologies.
Other standards only provide general requirements
on accounting and reporting of GHG emissions.

Calculation tools
No specific tool is required to be used in order to achieve
conformance with the GPC. WRI developed an Excelbased tool to help Chinese cities calculate emissions.
The China tool was designed to take Chinese conditions
into consideration, embedding computing functions and
default local emission factors, while keeping emissions
sources categories consistent with national inventory.
The U.S. Community Protocol provides an Excel-based
Scoping and Reporting Tool to assist cities in scoping out
their inventory and showing calculation results. The Excel
table does not have computing functions but only records
emissions results in CO2e and utilizes notation keys to
indicate why a source or activity was included or excluded.

Guidance on setting reduction targets

Only the GHG Protocol Corporate Standard and GPC
provide guidance on how to set an emissions reduction
goal for a company or city.

153

Table A.2 Review of existing standards on GHG accounting and reporting

Program/platform

Author

Target
audience

Consistency
with major
IPCC emission
sources
categories

Adoption of
in-boundary
/out-ofboundary
framework

Inboundary
emissions

Global Protocol for CommunityScale GHG Emissions Inventories

(GPC)

C40
ICLEI
WRI
(2014)

Communities
worldwide

Yes

Yes

Yes

1996/2006 IPCC Guidelines

for National Greenhouse Gas
Inventories

IPCC
(1996/2006)

National
governments

NA

Yes84

Yes

International Local Government

GHG Emissions Analysis Protocol
(Version 1.0)

ICLEI
(2009)

Local governments
and communities

Yes85

Yes

Yes

International Standard for

Determining Greenhouse Gas
Emissions for Cities (Version 2.1)

UNEP
UN-HABITAT
World Bank
(2010)

Communities

Yes

Yes

Yes

Baseline Emissions Inventory/

Monitoring Emissions Inventory
Methodology

The Covenant of
Mayors Initiative87
(2010)

Cities in the EU

Yes/No88

Yes

Yes

U.S. Community Protocol for

Accounting and Reporting of
Greenhouse Gas Emissions
(Version 1.0)

ICLEI USA
(2012)

Cities and
communities in the
U.S.

No89

No

Yes

PAS 2070: 2013

BSI
(2013)

Cities

Yes

Yes

Yes

Bilan Carbone

ADEME90
(since 2001)

Companies, local
authorities, and
regions, in France

No

Manual of Planning against Global

Warming for Local Governments

Ministry of
Environment, Japan
(2009)

Sub-national
governments

Yes91

Yes

Yes

84. IPCC emission sources categories include all in-boundary emissions and international aviation and water-borne related out-of-boundary emissions
85. Sub-category (government) not consistent with IPCC categorization
86. Upstream embedded GHG emissions
87. The Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Commission

154 Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories

Appendix A

Gases

Detailed
guidance on
calculation
methodologies

Guidance
on setting
reduction
targets

Yes

Seven
gases

No

Yes

Yes

Six gases

Yes

No

Yes

Six gases

Yes

No

Out-ofboundary
emissions

Other information

Divides in-boundary and transboundary emissions into scopes 1, 2,

and 3

Provides BASIC, BASIC+ reporting levels

Pilot tested by 35 pilot cities
Provides detailed guidance on emission/removal categories,

calculation formula, data collection, default emission factors, and

uncertainty management

Requires two levels of reporting:

Local government operations (LGO)

Community-wide

Simplified description, with a lot of reference to other standards

(e.g., IPCC Guidelines)

Yes86

Six gases

No

No

Suggests cities or urban regions with populations over 1 million

persons to use this reporting standard and cities with populations

below 1 million to use less detailed reporting tables, such as BEI/MEI

No

Yes

CO2;
other
gases
optional

Six gases

Designed especially for the Covenant of Mayors Initiative in the EU

No

No

as one of the main measures for signatory cities to achieve their

SEAP targets
Only requires quantification of CO2 emissions due to final energy
consumption
Considers interactions with other policies such as EU ETS

Created the concepts of sources, which could be interpreted as
Yes

No

in-boundary emissions, and activities, which could be interpreted

as both in-boundary and out-of-boundary emissions
Provides various reporting frameworks including the Five Basic
Emissions Generating Activities, local government significant
influence, community-wide activities, household consumption,
in-boundary sources, government consumption, full consumptionbased inventory, life cycle emissions of community businesses, and
individual industry sectors

Provides two methodologies to assess city GHG emissions:

Yes

Six gases

Yes

No

Six gases

Yes

Six gases

Direct plus supply chain methodology, which is consistent

with GPC
Consumption-based methodology
Worked case study of the application of PAS 2070 provided
for London, United Kingdom

Yes

Yes

Yes

88. Does not include industry energy, air transport, water-borne sources, and includes waste but not agriculture, forestry and industrial processes
89. Basic emission generating activitiesno carbon sinks
90. Managed by the Association Bilan Carbone (ABC) since 2011
91. Sectors: industry, residential, commercial, transport, IPPU, waste, LUCF

155

Table A.3 Comparison of emissions sources categories

IPCC classification

GPC classification (Scope 1)

Energy

Stationary Energy

1A4b

Residential

I.1

Residential buildings

1A4a

Commercial/institutional

I.2

Commercial and institutional buildings/facilities

1A2

Manufacturing industries and construction

I.3

Manufacturing industries and construction

1A1

Energy industries

I.4

Energy industries

1A4c

Agriculture/forestry/fishing/fish farms

I.5

Agriculture, forestry, and fishing activities

1A5a

Non-specified

I.6

Non-specified sources

1B1

Solid fuels (fugitive emissions)

I.7

Fugitive emissions from mining, processing, storage, and

transportation of coal

1B2

Oil and natural gas (fugitive emissions)

I.8

Fugitive emissions from oil and natural gas systems

Transportation

1A3b

Road transportation

II.1

On-road transportation

1A3c

Railways

II.2

Railways

1A3d

Water-borne navigation

II.3

Water transport

1A3a

Civil aviation

II.4

Aviation

1A3e

Other transportation

II.5

Off-road transportation

Waste

4A

Solid waste disposal

III.1

Solid waste disposal

4B

Biological treatment of solid waste

III.2

Biological treatment of waste

4C

Incineration and open burning of waste

III.3

Incineration and open burning

4D

Wastewater treatment and discharge

III.4

Wastewater treatment and discharge

IPPU

2A
2B
2C
2E

Mineral industry
Chemical industry
Metal industry
Electronics industry

IV.1

Industrial processes

2D
2F

IV.2

Product use

2G
2H

Non-energy products from fuels and solvent use

Product uses as substitutes for ozone depleting
substances
Other product manufacture and use
Other

AFOLU

3A

Livestock

V.1

Livestock

3B

Land

V.2

Land

3C

Aggregate sources and non-CO2 emissions sources

on land
Other

V.3

Aggregate sources and non-CO2 emissions sources

on land

3D

Waste

IPPU

AFOLU

156 Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories

Appendix B
Inventories for local government operations
Introduction
Local government operations (LGO) and their key functions
vary worldwide, but there are several essential community
services that typically fall under the responsibility of
local governments, including: water supply, residential
waste collection, sanitation, mass transit systems,
roads, primary education and healthcare. These local
government operations represent activities over which
the city has either direct control or strong influence,
presenting an opportunity to measure and manage
emissions, and demonstrate to tax payers a responsible
and efficient use of resources by city leadership.
To guide local governments on calculating and reporting
GHG emissions from their operations, ICLEI created the
International Local Government GHG Emissions Analysis
Protocol (IEAP) in 2009. It focuses on the specificities
of LGOs, tailoring general guidance on corporate GHG
accounting to the needs of cities. This appendix summarizes
the guidance given in IEAP for local government operations,
with slight changes to ensure consistency with the GPC and
promote comparability of local government operations GHG
emissions inventories with national and subnational GHG
inventories. For additional guidance please refer to the IEAP
chapters which address local government operations.92
Other standards and guidelines have also provided similar
guidance on a local or national level, including the [Link] GHG Protocol U.S. Public Sector Protocol and
the Local Government Operations Protocol written by the
California Air Resources Board, The Climate Registry and
ICLEILocal Governments for Sustainability USA.

Purpose of an LGO inventory

An LGO inventory accounts for GHGs from operations,
activities and facilities that governments own or operate,
including those from municipal fleets or buildings, or from
waste management services provided by the municipality to

the community. Emissions from local government operations

are typically a subset of city-wide emissions, though rare
exceptions can occur. One such exception is if the local
government is the operator or owner of facilities that are
simultaneously located outside of its geopolitical boundary
and serve other communities.
The majority of emissions from local government operations
are a subset of community emissions, typically ranging
from 37% of total city-wide emissions. Although this
is a relatively small fraction of the citys emissions, it
clearly shows that local governments must use their
influence over operations that are not under their direct
control (e.g., improving the energy performance of private
buildings through the municipal building code). GHG
reduction targets can be set for both LGO performance
and city-wide emissions.
An LGO inventory can be used to:

Develop a baseline (and base year) against which GHG

developments can be compared

Regularly reflect and report a true account of emissions
generated by LGO
Identify problem areas in local government operations
through facility and activity benchmarking, e.g. identify
opportunities to improve energy efficiency in municipal
buildings or water supply
Demonstrate leadership in climate change mitigation by
setting a GHG reduction target for LGO
Increase consistency and transparency in GHG
accounting and reporting among institutions

Conducting an LGO inventory

Overall, an LGO inventory follows the five steps described
in FigureB.1. This appendix only illustrates the special
requirements for LGO emissions inventory in steps 1, 2 and 3.

92. Available online at: [Link]

[Link]

157

Accounting and reporting principles

An LGO inventory draws on the same accounting and
reporting principles as a city-wide inventory: Relevance,
Completeness, Consistency, Transparency and Accuracy, as
well as the same procedures for inventory quality control
and quality assurance.
FigureB.1 Major steps for LGO inventories

1. Establishing
principles

5. Verification and
improvement

4. Quantify emissions
and report inventory

Where facilities are jointly used by multiple levels of

government, the local government should account for all
quantified GHG emissions from the facilities over which
it has financial and/or operational control. Where such
disaggregated activity data is not available, or not applicable
due to the nature of the facilities, local governments should
account for its proportion of GHG emissions based on
the local governments equity share or ownership of the
facilities. Both methods for consolidation of facility level GHG
emissions are recognized as valid by ISO 14064-1:2006
(greenhouse gases - guidance at the organization level).

Emissions from contracted services

2. Setting
boundaries

3. Identifying
emission sources

Setting boundaries
Facilities controlled or influenced by local governments
typically fall within a citys geographical boundary (see
GPC Chapter 3 on inventory boundaries). In some cases,
such as electricity use and waste disposal, emissions can
occur outside the geographic boundary of the city territory.
Regardless of where the emissions occur, however, all LGO
emissions must be included in the analysis.
To measure the impact of an emissions reduction measure
in LGOs for future years, the corresponding emission
source must be included in the base year inventory. For
example, if the local government wishes to consider a
measure which addresses employee commuting in its
mitigation action plan, then emissions from employee
commuting need to be included in the base year inventory
and following inventories.

These emissions should be included in an LGO inventory

if they contribute to an accurate understanding of
local government emissions trends, or if they are
particularly relevant to developing a comprehensive GHG
management policy. Determining whether to include
emissions from a contractor in an LGO inventory should
be based on three considerations:

1. Is the service provided by the contractor a service

that is normally provided by local government?
If so, the local government must include these
emissions to allow accurate comparison with other
local governments.
2. In any previous emissions inventory, was the
contracted service provided by the local government
and, therefore, included in the earlier inventory?
If so, these emissions must be included to allow
an accurate comparison to the historical base
year inventory.
3. Are the emissions resulting from the contractor
a source over which the local government exerts
significant influence? If so, these emissions must be
included in order to provide the most policy relevant
emissions information.

Transferable emission units (e.g. offsets)

A local government should document and disclose
information, in alignment with the GPC for city-wide
inventories, for any transferable emissions units sold from
projects included in the LGO inventory or purchased to
apply to an LGO inventory. This ensures transparency and
prevents double counting of emissions reductions.

158 Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories

Appendix B

Identify emission sources and sinks

After setting boundaries for an LGO inventory, a local
government should identify the emission sources and
sinks associated with each included activity or facility.
Local governments should note that the scopes definition
for categorizing LGO activities will differ from the scopes
definition used for city-wide inventories. The categorization
of GHG emissions according to scope for local government
operations in IEAP is based on the degree of control,
whereas a city-wide inventory uses the scopes based on the
geographic boundaries of the territory which is under the
jurisdiction of the local government. For LGO inventories,
IEAP requires local governments to report emissions
according to scope and according to the following sectors:

Stationary Energy
Transportation
Waste
Industrial Processes and Product Use (IPPU)
Agriculture, Forestry and other Land Use (AFOLU)

Considering the activities usually performed by local

governments, the GHG emissions inventory should be
further disaggregated into the following categories,
when applicable:

Electricity or district heating/cooling generation

Street lighting and traffic signals
Buildings
Facilities (only energy consumption from facilities
operation), which can include:
Water supply facilities (collection, treatment and
distribution)
Wastewater facilities (drainage, treatment and
disposal)
Solid waste facilities (processing, treatment and
disposal)
Any other facilities which are part of the local
government operations and are not included in the
other stationary energy categories mentioned above
Vehicle fleet (which can be further disaggregated, for
example, to single-out the solid waste collection fleet)
Employee commute
Wastewater and solid waste (only emissions from
biodegradation)
Other (this sector recognizes the diversity of local
government functions and allows for consideration of
any sources of emissions not included elsewhere)

Local government GHG inventories help inform city

governments in their decision-making process. When
local governments aggregate emissions from different
sources, it may aggregate the energy emissions from the
operation of waste management facilities (GPCs Stationary
Energy sector) with emissions from the biodegradation
of waste during treatment and disposal (GPCs Waste
sector), but this aggregation result should not be directly
used for reporting under GPC and IPCC Guidelines.
Not all local governments provide the same functions,
and consequently some governments will not have
any emissions from some sectors. The Other Scope
3 sector recognizes the diversity of local government
functions and allows for consideration of any
sources of emissions not included elsewhere.
A local governments influence over city activity might
change through time as well. One emission source
within a local government operation might not be
included in the government operation the next year.
Ensure inventories contain the same emission source
coverage when conducting LGO inventory comparisons.

159

Appendix C
Methodology reference
This table serves as a brief summary of the methodologies
outlined in Part II of the GPC, and includes a general
overview of activity data and emission factors used.

Please note that this table is not exhaustive. Cities

may use alternative methodologies, activity data and
emission factors as appropriate. Methods used to
calculate emissions shall be justified and disclosed.

Table C.1 Methodology reference

Sectors

Emission sources

Approaches

Activity data

Emission factors

Fuel consumption

Amount of fuel
consumption

Mass GHG emissions

per unit of fuel

Consumption of
grid-supplied energy
consumed within the
city boundary

Grid-energy
consumption

Amount of gridsupplied energy

consumption

Mass GHG emissions

per unit of grid-supplied
energy (grid specific
emission factor)

Transmission and
distribution losses from
grid-supplied energy

Loss rate based

approach

Amount of energy
transmitted and
average loss rate of
the grid

Mass GHG emissions

per unit of grid-supplied
energy

Fuel combustion within

the city boundary

Stationary
Energy

Scope

Direct Measurement
Fugitive emissions from
fossil fuels extraction
and processing

Fuel combustion for inboundary transportation

Transportation

Direct measurement of GHG emissions

Production-based
estimation

Quantity of
production in fuel
extraction and
processing

Mass GHG emissions

per unit of fossil fuel
production

ASIF model (Activity,

Share, Intensity, Fuel)

Distance traveled by
type of vehicle using
type of fuel

Mass GHG emissions

per unit distance traveled
by type of vehicle using
type of fuel

Fuel sold method

Amount of fuel sold

Mass GHG emissions per

unit of sold fuel

Amount of electricity
consumed

Mass GHG emissions

per unit of grid-supplied
energy (grid specific
emission factor)

Consumption of gridsupplied energy for inboundary transportation

Grid-energy
consumption model

Emissions from
transboundary
transportation

ASIF model (Activity,

Share, Intensity, Fuel)

Distance traveled or
fuel consumed by
type of vehicle using
type of fuel

Mass GHG per unit

distance traveled or fuel
consumed by type of
vehicle using type of fuel

Loss rate based

approach

Amount of energy
transmitted and
average loss rate of
the grid

Mass GHG emissions

per unit of grid-supplied
energy

Transmission and
distribution losses from
grid-supplied energy

160 Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories

Appendix C

Table C.1 Methodology reference (continued)

Sectors

Emission sources

Solid waste disposal

Waste

Scope

Activity data

Emission factors

First Order of Decay

method (GPC
recommended)

Amount of waste
received at landfill site
and its composition
for all historical years

Methane generation
potential of the waste

Methane Commitment
method

Amount of waste
disposed at landfill
site in inventory year
and its composition

Methane generation
potential of the waste

1 and 3

Biological treatment of
waste

1 and 3

Waste composition
based approach

Mass of organic waste

treated by treatment
type

Mass GHG emission

per unit of organic waste
treated, by treatment type

Incineration and open

burning

1 and 3

Waste composition
based approach

Mass of waste
incinerated and its
fossil carbon fraction

Oxidation factor,
by type of treatment

Wastewater

1 and 3

Organic content based

approach

Organic content
of wastewater per
treatment type

Emission generation
potential of such
treatment type

Input or output based

approach

Mass of material input

or product output

Emission generation
potential per unit of
input/output

Industrial processes
occurring in the city
boundary

Direct Measurement
Input or output based
approach

IPPU
Product use occurring
within the city boundary

AFOLU

Approaches

Direct Measurement

Direct measurement of GHG emissions

Mass of material input
or product output

Emission generation
potential per unit of
input/output

Direct measurement of GHG emissions

Scaling approach

National or regional
level activity or
emissions data

Emission factor or scaling

factor

Livestock emission
sources

Livestock based
approach

Number of animals
by livestock category
and manure
management system

Emission factor per

head and nitrogen
excretion per manure
management system

Land uses emission

sources

Land area based

approach

Surface area of
different land use
categories

Net annual rate of

change in carbon stocks
per hectare of land

Aggregate sources and

non-CO2 emission
sources on land

See details in corresponding chapters

161

Abbreviations
AFOLU

Agriculture, forestry and other land use

BOD

Biochemical oxygen demand

C40

C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group

CCHP

Combined cooling, heat and

power (trigeneration)

ISO

International Organization
for Standardization

LGO

Local Government Operations

MC

Methane commitment

MMS

Manure management system

CDD

Cooling degree days

MSW

Municipal solid waste

CEM

Continuous emissions monitoring

N2O

Nitrous oxide

CH4 Methane

NF3

Nitrogen trifluoride

CHP

Combined heat and power (cogeneration)

NMVOCs

Non-methane volatile organic compounds

CNG

Compressed natural gas

ODU

Oxidized during use

CO2

Carbon dioxide

ODS

Ozone depleting substances

CO2e

Carbon dioxide equivalent

PFCs

Perfluorocarbons

DOC

Degradable organic carbon

QA

Quality assurance

EF

Emission factor

QC

Quality control

EFDB

Emission factor database

SF6

Sulphur hexafluoride

FAO

Food and Agriculture Organization

of the United Nations

SWD

Solid waste disposal

SWDS

Solid waste disposal sites

FOD

First order decay

T&D

Transmission and distribution

GDP

Gross domestic product

TAZ

Traffic analysis zone

GHG

Greenhouse Gas

UNEP

United Nations Environment Programme

GPC

Global Protocol for Community-scale

Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories

UNFCCC

United Nations Framework

Convention on Climate Change

GWP

Global warming potential

HDD

Heating degree days

UN-HABITAT United Nations Human

Settlement Programme

HFCs

Hydrofluorocarbons

US EPA

ICLEI

ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability

United States Environmental

Protection Agency

IPCC

Intergovernmental Panel
on Climate Change

US FMC

United States Federal Maritime Commission

VKT

Vehicle kilometers traveled

IPPU

Industrial processes and product use

WBCSD

ISIC

International Standard
Industrial Classification

World Business Council for

Sustainable Development

WRI

World Resources Institute

WWTP

Wastewater treatment plant

162 Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories

Glossary
Activity data

A quantitative measure of a level of activity that results in GHG emissions. Activity

data is multiplied by an emission factor to derive the GHG emissions associated with a
process or an operation. Examples of activity data include kilowatt-hours of electricity
used, quantity of fuel used, output of a process, hours equipment is operated, distance
traveled, and floor area of a building.

Allocation

The process of partitioning GHG emissions among various outputs.

Base year

A historical datum (e.g., year) against which a citys emissions are tracked over time.

BASIC

An inventory reporting level that includes all scope1 sources except from energy
generation, imported waste, IPPU, and AFOLU, as well as all scope2 sources.

BASIC+

An inventory reporting level that covers all BASIC sources, plus scope1 AFOLU and IPPU,
and scope 3 in the Stationary Energy and Transportation sectors.

Biogenic emissions (CO2(b))

Emissions produced by living organisms or biological processes, but not fossilized or from
fossil sources.

City

Used throughout the GPC to refer to geographically discernable subnational entities, such
as communities, townships, cities, and neighborhoods.

City boundary

See geographic boundary.

CO2 equivalent

The universal unit of measurement to indicate the global warming potential (GWP) of
each GHG, expressed in terms of the GWP of one unit of carbon dioxide. It is used to
evaluate the climate impact of releasing (or avoiding releasing) different greenhouse
gases on a common basis.

Double counting

Two or more reporting entities claiming the same emissions or reductions in the same
scope, or a single entity reporting the same emissions in multiple scopes.

Emission

The release of GHGs into the atmosphere.

Emission factor(s)

A factor that converts activity data into GHG emissions data (e.g., kg CO2e emitted per
liter of fuel consumed, kg CO2e emitted per kilometer traveled, etc.).

Geographic boundary

A geographic boundary that identifies the spatial dimensions of the inventorys

assessment boundary. This geographic boundary defines the physical perimeter
separating in-boundary emissions from out-of-boundary and transboundary emissions.

Global warming potential

A factor describing the radiative forcing impact (degree of harm to the atmosphere) of
one unit of a given GHG relative to one unit of CO2.

Greenhouse gas inventory

A quantified list of a citys GHG emissions and sources.

Greenhouse Gases (GHG)

For the purposes of the GPC, GHGs are the seven gases covered by the UNFCCC:
carbon dioxide (CO2); methane (CH4); nitrous oxide (N2O); hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs);
perfluorocarbons (PFCs); sulphur hexafluoride (SF6); and nitrogen trifluoride (NF3).

163

In-boundary

Occurring within the established geographic boundary.

Inventory boundary

The inventory boundary of a GHG inventory identifies the gases, emission sources,
geographic area, and time span covered by the GHG inventory.

Out-of-boundary

Occurring outside of the established geographic boundary.

Proxy data

Data from a similar process or activity that is used as a stand-in for the given process or
activity without being customized to be more representative of that given process or activity.

Reporting

Presenting data to internal and external users such as regulators, the general public or
specific stakeholder groups.

Reporting year

The year for which emissions are reported.

Scope 1 emissions

GHG emissions from sources located within the city boundary.

Scope 2 emissions

GHG emissions occurring as a consequence of the use of grid-supplied electricity, heat,

steam and/or cooling within the city boundary.

Scope 3 emissions

All other GHG emissions that occur outside the city boundary as a result of activities
taking place within the city boundary.

Transboundary emissions

Emissions from sources that cross the geographic boundary.

164 Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories

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166 Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories

Recognitions
Pilot Testing Cities
Adelaide, Australia

Arendal, Norway
Belo Horizonte, Brazil
Buenos Aires, Argentina

Cornwall, UK
Doha, Qatar
Durban (eThekwini municipality),
South Africa
Georgetown, Malaysia
Goiania, Brazil
Hennepin County, Minnesota, USA
Iskandar Malaysia, Malaysia
Kampala, Uganda
Kaohshiung, Taiwan, China

Kyoto, Japan
La Paz, Bolivia
Lagos, Nigeria
Lahti, Finland
Lima, Peru
London, UK

Los Altos Hills, USA
Melbourne, Australia

Mexico City, Mexico

Morbach, Germany

Moreland, Australia

Nonthaburi and Phitsanulok,
Thailand
Northamptonshire, UK


Palmerston North, New Zealand
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Lorraine Irwin
Marnie Hope
Ragnhild Hammer
Snia Mara Knauer
Ines Lockhart
Josefina Ujit den Bogaard
Ben Simpson
Svein Tveitdal
Magash Naidoo
Bikash Kumar Sinha
Matheus Lage Alves de Brito
Tony Hainault
Boyd Dionysius Joeman
Shuaib Lwasa
Cathy Teng
Vincent Lin
Saki Aoshima
Miguel Rodrguez
Maximus Ugwuoke
Marko Nurminen
Mariela Rodriguez
Michael Doust
Leah Davis
Steve Schmidt
Beth McLachlan
Kim LeCerf
Saira Mendoza Pelcastre
Victor Hugo Paramo
Mona Dellbrgge
Pascal Thome
Judy Bush
Matthew Sullivan
Shom Teoh
Simon Gilby
Aiman Somoudi
Chiara Cervigni
Darren Perry
William van Ausdal
Flvia Carloni
Nelson Franco

167

Saskatoon, Canada
Seraing, Belgium



Stockholm, Sweden
Tokyo, Japan
Wellington, New Zealand


Wicklow, Ireland

Matthew Regier
Alexis Versele
Christelle Degard
Leen Trappers
Sabien Windels
Emma Hedberg
Yuuko Nishida
Catherine Leining
Maurice Marquardt
Zach Rissel
Christoph Walter
Susan Byrne

Other stakeholders and contributors

Pravakar Pradhan
Sri Indah Wibi Nastiti
Paula Ellinger
Emiliano Graziano
Alaoui Amine
Rohit Aggarwala
Amrita Sinha
Cristiana Fragola
Gunjan Parik
Hasting Chikoko
Zoe Sprigings
Ali Cambrau
Pauline Martin
Ambesh Singh
Damandeep Singh
Andreia Bahne
Todd Jones
Minal Pathak
Leonardo Lara
Haileselassie Hailu
Aleka Meliadou
Dessy Fitrianitha
Nursyamsiami
Ayu Sukenjah
Deti Yulianti
Jrg Hofer
Elly Tartati Ratni
Djodi G.
Fredi Kurniawan
Inolasari Baharuddin Ikram

Asian Institute of Technology and Management (AITM), Thailand;

Center for Climate Change, Energy and Environment; Khumaltar, Lalitpur, Nepal
Asosiasi Pemerintah Kota Seluruh Indonesia (APEKSI), Indonesia
Avina Foundation, Brazil
BASF, Brazil
BHCP, France
Bloomberg Associates
C40
C40
C40
C40
C40
CDKN
CDP
CDP India
CDP India
CDP Brasil
Center for Resource Solutions, U.S./Green-e
Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology University (CEPT), India
City Betiim, Brazil
City of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
City of Athens, Greece
City of Balikpapan, Indonesia
City of Balikpapan, Indonesia
City of Bandung, Indonesia
City of Bandung, Indonesia
City of Basel, Switzerland
City of Blitar, Indonesia
City of Bogor, Indonesia
City of Bogor, Indonesia
City of Bogor, Indonesia

168 Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories

Recognitions

Lorina Darmastuti
Rakhmawati
Syahlan Rashidi
Fakhrie Wahyudin
Heru Triatmojo
Muji Esti Wahudi
Pak Juni
Srie Maryatini
Sarah Ward
Mula Febianto
Untung Undiyannto
Claus Bjrn Billehj
Maja Mllnitz Lange
Gusti Agung Putri Yadnyawati
Gary Woloshyniuk
Janice Monteiro
Mandy Zademachez
Tiaan Ehlers
Sikhumbuzo Hlongwane
Javier Castao Caro
Marcos Vieira
Marta Papetti
Barreh John Koyier
Joram Mkosana
Budi Krisyanto
Dwi Agustin Pudji Rahaju
Nazeema Duarte
Andr Fraga
Purnomi Dwi Sasongko
Safrinal Sofaniadi
Carolina Barisson M. O. Sodr
Sibongile Mtshweni
Gustaf Landahl
Kamalesh Yagnik
Magesh Dighe
Tukarama Jagtap
Vikas Desai
Akhmad Satriansyah
Edhy Pujianto
Lemao Dorah Nteo
Brenda Stachan
Riaz Jogiat
Simone Tola
Kacpura Katarzyna
Marcin Wrblewski
Ade B. Kurniawan

City of Bogor, Indonesia

City of Bogor, Indonesia
City of Bogor, Indonesia
City of Bontang, Indonesia
City of Bontang, Indonesia
City of Bontang, Indonesia
City of Bontang, Indonesia
City of Bontang, Indonesia
City of Cape Town, South Africa
City of Cimahi, Indonesia
City of Cimahi, Indonesia
City of Copenhagen, Denmark
City of Copenhagen, Denmark
City of Depensar, Indonesia
City of Edmonton, Canada
City of Fortaleza, Brazil
City of Hamburg, Germany
City of Johannesburg, South Africa
City of KwaDukuza, South Africa
City of Madrid, Spain
City of Maracana, Brazil
City of Milan, Italy
City of Nairobi, Kenya
City of Nelson Mandela Bay, South Africa
City of Probolinggo, Indonesia
City of Probolinggo, Indonesia
City of Saldanha Bay, South Africa
City of Salvador, Brazil
City of Semarang, Indonesia
City of Semarang, Indonesia
City of Sorocaba, Brazil
City of Steve Tshwete, South Africa
City of Stockholm, Sweden
City of Surat, India
City of Surat, India
City of Surat, India
City of Surat, India
City of Tarakan, Indonesia
City of Tarakan, Indonesia
City of Tshwane, South Africa
City of uMhlathuze, South Africa
City of uMungundlovu, South Africa
City of Venice, Italy
City of Warsaw, Poland
City of Warsaw, Poland
Conservation International, Indonesia

169

Charu Gupta
Steven Vanholme
Dlcio Rodrigues
Juliette Hsu
Aditya Bhardwaj
Anindya Bhattacharya
Carolina Dubeux
Flavia Azevedo Carloni
Guilherme Raucci
A. Izzul Waro
Pricilla Rowswell
Steven Bland
Siegfried Zllner
Gina Karina
Irvan Pulungan
Steve Gawler
Teresa Putri Sari
Igor Albuquerque
Emani Kumar
Keshav Jha
Soumya Chaturvedula
Irvan Pulungan
Garrett Fitzgerald
Karen Talita Tanaka
Mahesh Kashyap
Frank Dnnebeil
Sergio Zanin Teruel
David Maleki
Pedro Torres
Anggiat Jogi Simamora
Sengupta Baishakhi
Sumedha Malviya
Ucok W.R. Siagian
Anggri Hervani
Randy A. Sanjaya
Tze-Luen Alan Lin
Stephen Kenihan
Ida Bagus Badraka
Aisa Tobing
Rita Rahadiatin
Susi Andriani
Phindite Mangwana
Oswaldo Lucon
Tanya Abrahamse
Susan Carstairs
Hukum Ogunbambi

Deloitte, India
EKOenergy, Finland
Elkos Brasil/Geoklock, Brazil
Environmental Science Technology Consultants Corporation (ESTC)
Ernst & Young, India
Ernst & Young, India
Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
GIZ Indonesia
ICLEI Africa
ICLEI Africa
ICLEI Europe
ICLEI Indonesia
ICLEI Indonesia
ICLEI Indonesia
ICLEI Indonesia
ICLEI South America
ICLEI South Asia
ICLEI South Asia
ICLEI South Asia
ICLEI Southeast Asia
ICLEI US Community Protocol Steering Committee
IEE, Brazil
Indian Institute of Sciences (IISc), India
Institute for Energy and Environmental Research (IFEU), Germany
Instituto Vale das Garas, Brazil
Inter-American Development Bank
ITDP, Brazil
Kementerian Badan Usaha Milik Negara (BUMN), Indonesia
KPMG, India
Leadership for Environment and Development (LEAD), India
Low Emission Capacity Building Program (LECB), Indonesia
Ministry of Agriculture, Litbang, Balingtan, Indonesia
Ministry of Agriculture, Litbang, Balingtan, Indonesia
National Taiwan University (NTU)
Net Energy Asia, Australia
Province of Bali, Indonesia
Province of Jakarta, Indonesia
Province of Jakarta, Indonesia
Province of Jakarta, Indonesia
Province of Western Cape, South Africa
So Paulo State Secretariat for the Environment (SMA-SP), Brazil
SAUBI, South Africa
Scotlands Rural College, U.K.
State of Lagos, Nigeria

170 Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories

Recognitions

Melusile Ndlovu
Keith Baker
Susan Roaf
Budhi Setiawan
Tri Sulistyo
Julianne Baker Gallegos
Matt Clouse
Tom Frankiewicz
Klaus Radunsky
Marcus Mayr
Eugene Mohareb
Tommy Wiedmann
Adriana Jacintho Berti
Carlos Cerri
Cindy Moreira
Luana Ferreira Messena
Srgio Pacca
Chris Kennedy
Ghea Sakti M.
Ika Anisya
Rose Maria Laden Holdt
Joo Marcelo Mendes
Matheus Alves de Brito
Joe Phelan
Andrea Leal
Angad Gadgil
Benoit Lefevre
Charles Kent
David Rich
Erin Cooper
Janet Ranganathan
Joseph Winslow
Laura Malaguzzi Valeri
Laura Valente de Macedo
Magdala Arioli
Nancy Harris
Rachel Biderman
Srikanth Shastry
Stacy Kotorac
Xiaoqian Jiang
Derek Fehrer
Valerie Moye

Sustainable Energy Africa, South Africa

The Initiative for Carbon Accounting (ICARB)
The Initiative for Carbon Accounting (ICARB)
The National Center of National Action Plan for Greenhouse
Gas Reduction (Sekretariat RAN-GRK), Indonesia
The National Center of National Action Plan for Greenhouse
Gas Reduction (Sekretariat RAN-GRK), Indonesia
The World Bank
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency / Global Methane Initiative
Umweltbundesamt, Germany
UN-Habitat
University of Cambridge, U.K.
University of New South Wales, Australia
University of So Paulo, Brazil
University of So Paulo, Brazil
University of So Paulo, Brazil
University of So Paulo, Brazil
University of So Paulo, Brazil
University of Toronto, Canada
University Padjajaran, Indonesia
University Padjajaran, Indonesia
Viegand Maagoe Energy People
Waycarbon, Brazil
Waycarbon, Brazil
WBCSD India
WRI
WRI
WRI
WRI
WRI
WRI
WRI
WRI
WRI
WRI
WRI
WRI
WRI
WRI
WRI
WRI
WSP Group
Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, USA

171

Disclaimer

Other Acknowledgments

The GHG Protocol Global Protocol for Community-Scale

Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories (GPC) is designed
to promote best practice GHG accounting and reporting. It
has been developed through an inclusive multistakeholder
process involving experts from nongovernmental organizations, governments, and others convened by WRI, C40, and
ICLEI. While the authors encourage the use of the GPC by
all relevant organizations, the preparation and publication
of reports or program specifications based fully or partially
on this standard is the full responsibility of those producing
them. Neither the author organizations nor other individuals
who contributed to this standard assume responsibility for
any consequences or damages resulting directly or indirectly
from its use in the preparation of reports or program specifications or the use of reported data based on the standard.

The standard development process was generously supported

by The Caterpillar Foundation, The Stephen M. Ross
Foundation, UN-Habitat, United Technologies Corporation, C40
Cities Climate Leadership Group, ICLEI - Local Governments for
Sustainability, and the Urban-LEDS project.
The Urban-LEDS project is funded by the
European Union. The views expressed in
this document can in no way be taken
to reflect the official opinion of the European Union.
A list of funders is available at
[Link]/city-accounting

172 Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories

World Resources Institute

C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group

WRI is a global research organization that works

closely with leaders to turn big ideas into action to
sustain a healthy environment the foundation of
economic opportunity and human well-being.

C40 is a network of large and engaged cities from around

the world committed to implementing meaningful and
sustainable climate-related actions locally that will help
address climate change globally. C40 was established
in 2005 and expanded via a partnership in 2006 with
President William J. Clintons Climate Initiative (CCI). The
current chair of the C40 is Rio de Janeiro Mayor Eduardo
Paes; the three-term Mayor of New York City Michael R.
Bloomberg serves as President of the Board.

Our Challenge
Natural resources are at the foundation of economic
opportunity and human well-being. But today, we
are depleting Earths resources at rates that are not
sustainable, endangering economies and peoples lives.
People depend on clean water, fertile land, healthy
forests, and a stable climate. Livable cities and clean
energy are essential for a sustainable planet. We must
address these urgent, global challenges this decade.
Our Vision
We envision an equitable and prosperous planet driven
by the wise management of natural resources. We aspire
to create a world where the actions of government,
business, and communities combine to eliminate poverty
and sustain the natural environment for all people.

C40 helps cities identify, develop, and implement local

policies and programs that have collective global impact.
Working across multiple sectors and initiative areas, C40
convenes networks of cities with common goals and
challenges, providing a suite of services in support of their
efforts: direct technical assistance; facilitation of peer-topeer exchange; and research, knowledge management &
communications. C40 is also positioning cities as a leading
force for climate action around the world, defining and
amplifying their call to national governments for greater
support and autonomy in creating a sustainable future.

ICLEILocal Governments for Sustainability

ICLEI is the worlds leading network of over 1,000 cities,
towns and metropolises committed to building a sustainable
future. By helping our members to make their cities sustainable, low-carbon, resilient, biodiverse, resource-efficient,
healthy and happy, with a green economy and smart infrastructure, we impact over 20% of the global population.

Printed on Chorus Art Silk, an FSC-certified paper with

30% pcw recycled content and with inks that are of soy content.

ICLEIs Low Carbon City Agenda outlines a pathway to urban

low-emission development. The focus is on the role and
influence of local governments in shaping and guiding their
local communities into becoming low-carbon, low-emission
or even carbon-neutral communities, as signposts to sustainability and global climate change mitigation. Technical
support is offered through ICLEIs carbonn Center (Bonn
Center for Local Climate Action and Reporting).

Stock photography: [Link]

Pg. 26 Sean Munson; pg. 28, 116, NASA; pg. 40-41 Tambako
The Jaguar; pg. 54 Doc Searls; pg.68-69 arbyreed; pg. 104 Peter
Gorges; pg. 127 Chesapeake Bay Program, pg. 131, 132, Kate
Evans, CIFOR; pg. 133 Tri Saputro, CIFOR; pg. 134 James Anderson,
WRI; pg. 135 Kris Krg; pg. 136 Duncan; pg. 144 Antony Tran,
World Bank; pg. 149 Nico Kaiser; pg. 171 Benoit Colin, EMBARQ.
Design: Alston Taggart, Studio Red Design, with assistance from
Elliott Beard and Alex Kovac.
ISBN: 1-56973-846-7
Printed in USA

Copyright 2014 World Resources Institute. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivative
Works 3.0 License. To view a copy of the license, visit [Link]

The Greenhouse Gas Protocol

provides the foundation for
sustainable climate strategies.
GHG Protocol standards are the
most widely used accounting tools
to measure, manage and report
greenhouse gas emissions.

[Link] [Link] [Link]

[Link]