Importance of Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventories in Mitigation Analysis and Planning

Key Messages

The link between rising levels of greenhouse gases (GHGs) and changing climatic patterns was first definitively put forth in 1898 by Svante Arrhenius, a Swedish scientist. In the decades since Arrhenius, climate science has developed considerably, establishing with even greater conviction that climate change is closely connected to anthropogenic GHG emissions. As a result, there is a growing global awareness of the importance of reducing emissions in an effort to mitigate climate change.

However, reducing emissions necessitates a precise understanding of their sources. This is where greenhouse gas accounting comes into the picture. GHG inventories are essentially documentations of the emissions of countries over periods of time. They provide disaggregated data on levels and sources of emissions, often capturing in great detail activities under different sectors and the different greenhouse gases that result from them.