UN modernises guidance for greenhouse emission estimates

A United Nations climate change panel updated on Monday guidelines for governments to estimate greenhouse gas emissions so the most up-to-date scientific research is included.

Under the 2015 Paris Agreement, governments use common methodologies to measure how many greenhouse emissions they have produced and how many have been removed from the atmosphere.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) said the new 2019 guidelines built on 2006 methodologies by updating gaps and out-of-date science. They include new technologies and emissions sources across the energy, industrial processes, waste, agriculture and forestry sectors.

"The 2019 Refinement provides an updated and sound scientific basis for supporting the preparation and continuous improvement of national greenhouse gas inventories," said Kiyoto Tanabe, co-chair of the IPCC task force which prepared the report.