The training workshop on national systems for greenhouse gas (GHG) Inventories in the context of REDD+ brought together speakers and presenters from international and national organizations, as well as representatives from 35 developing countries.

• 60 per cent of the Parties had established a greenhouse gas inventory unit, but more than half of these were non-permanent.
• 91 per cent of the countries received support, mostly financial and to a lesser extent technical, from external sources and two-thirds indicated that they do not have any domestic budget dedicated for the inventory.
• 54 per cent of the national experts are not specialized enough in greenhouse gas inventories to meet future reporting requirements.

The questionnaire’s findings serve as the basis for a needs analysis and suggestions that are outlined in the proceedings’ final section.  Some of the suggestions in this section include:

• Given that in many developing countries there is no direct relationship between the GHG inventory unit and the REDD+ coordination, these countries need to strengthen institutional arrangements for GHG inventories. One approach to achieve this goal would be to create a climate change committee consisting of the head of the GHG unit, REDD+ coordination, the Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Action (NAMA) authority and the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) Designated National Authority (DNA) and representatives of relevant ministries.

• Training programmes, considered a necessary part of the GHG inventory process in many developing countries, should be carried out on a continuous basis to reduce the risk of high turnover of trained personnel and strengthen sustainability. Some developing countries, such as Brazil and India, have the potential to engage in regional cooperation for capacity development.

• Since data issues represent a major constraint for national GHG inventories for the agriculture, forestry and other land use (AFOLU) sector in most developing countries, a permanent process of data gathering should be established within the administrative structure of government agencies, relevant enterprises as well as local governmental administrations.

• Although there were increased pledges for international funding in the Copenhagen Accord, developing countries should attempt to lower their reliance on international support to ensure the long-term sustainability of national GHG inventory preparation.

The training workshop, held in January 2011, represented a joint effort of different agencies currently involved in three capacity building programmes: the UN-REDD Programme, CD-REDD II Programme and the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Programme implemented under the UNFCCC.