The UNFCCC Secretariat hosted The Africa Regional Workshop on the Building of Sustainable National Greenhouse Gas Inventory Management Systems, and the Use of the 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories from 14 to 18 March in Maseru, Lesotho. The workshop was organized by the UNFCCC Secretariat in collaboration with the Technical Support Unit of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Task Force on National Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Inventories and the Consultative Group of Experts on National Communications from Parties not included in Annex I to the Convention.

A total of 57 experts from 41 countries in the region attended the workshop. The participants primarily consisted of government officials involved in the preparation of national GHG inventories, including UNFCCC national focal points.

The workshop was the first of its kind from the UNFCCC Secretariat, offering training on the 2006 IPCC Guidelines for non-Annex I Parties. The workshop was organized following the 42^nd Subsidiary Body for Implementation acknowledging the request from non-Annex I Parties for further technical support aimed at improving their domestic capacity to facilitate continuity in meeting reporting requirements through, among others, training on the use of the 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National GHG Inventories, as well as building of sustainable national GHG inventory management systems.

Therefore, the workshop emphasized both the importance of establishing a national inventory management system to support the regular development and submission of national GHG gas inventories, and provided hands-on training on the 2006 IPCC guidelines for national GHG inventories, including the IPCC inventory software. 

The workshop consisted of six sessions. The first session included a keynote address by the Honorable Minister Selibe Mochoboroane, Minister of Energy and   Meteorology (Lethotho), and the sharing of country experiences by representatives of Benin, South Africa, Swaziland, and Tunisia.

The second session focused on the key role of the national GHG inventory management system, including presentations and hands on materials to support the development of a national GHG inventory management system. This session concluded with a group discussion where participants shared their experiences in using the proposed templates.

Sessions three through five provided training on the 2006 IPCC Guidelines, including general guidance, reporting, and sectoral guidance. Following an overview of the 2006 IPCC Guidelines, including differences between the Revised 1996 and the 2006 IPCC Guidelines, participants were introduced to the IPCC inventory software and Emission Factor Database. The IPCC 2006 Guidelines were presented by sector —Energy, Industrial Processes and Product Use, Waste, and Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use. For each sector, participants reviewed source/sink categories and methodologies, and completed a hands-on exercise using the IPCC inventory software. Participants then learned how to utilize the IPCC inventory software for compiling various components of a national GHG inventory.

Presentations from the workshop are available on the UNFCCC website: http://unfccc.int/national_reports/non-annex_i_natcom/meetings/items/655.php

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