City GHG Accounting

Cities have become widely recognized as major contributors to global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Fifty-one percent of the world’s population, approximately 3.5 billion people, reside in urban areas. The 2008 World Energy Outlook estimated that cities accounted for over 70% of global carbon dioxide emissions from energy consumptions. To address growing urban GHG emissions it is necessary to understand each city’s emission patterns and identify the major sources of emissions as well as reduction opportunities from both direct and indirect sources.

Cities Invited to Pilot Test the Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Last May, the World Resources Institute (WRI), C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group (C40) and ICLEI- Local Governments for Sustainability (ICLEI) jointly launched the Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emissions (GPC) (Pilot Version 1.0) that helps cities consistently track and report their GHG emissions. The GPC represents the first harmonized framework to support city performance tracking and low-carbon development. To test the practicality and relevance of the framework and develop case studies of best practices, cities from around the world are invited to pilot test the draft GPC. We are seeking cities that have already conducted inventories and can compare their experiences to our methods; or cities that have the capacity to undertake an inventory process this year. The pilot phase will begin in March 2013 and last until September 2013 . Feedback from the pilot test will be integrated into the final draft, due early 2014.

The Terms of Reference and Application Form for the pilot project, and other relevant documents about the GPC are available below. Please contact Wee Kean Fong (wkfong@wri.org) about participating in the pilot test. The deadline for application is March 31, 2013.

Standards and Tools

GHG Protocol is developing a GHG inventory framework to guide citywide GHG accounting practices worldwide. As a first step, GHG Protocol is partnering with Local Governments for Sustainability (ICLEI), Cities Climate Leadership Group (C40) , the World Bank, United Nations Environment Programme, and UN-Habitat to develop the Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emissions (GPC). This Protocol serves as the single minimum protocol for accounting and reporting citywide GHG emissions that covers scope 1, scope 2, and some scope 3 emission sources.

Moving forward, in collaboration with ICLEI and C40, GHG Protocol also looks forward to developing a full value chain standard for cities (release planned for 2013). This standard will build on the GPC (release expected in May 2012) and will provide detailed scope 3 guidance, which will help cities measure their GHG emissions across a full range of direct and indirect emission sources. This comprehensive look at local-level emissions can help cities ensure that all emissions are being accounted for between different government municipalities.

Practical Application

In parallel with the development of tools and standards, GHG Protocol is implementing the standards to develop practical solutions. The pilot testing is being conducted in cities in China, India, and Brazil and will be represented in case studies. On-going and completed work includes a case study in the city of Rio de Janeiro , Brazil and pilot testing of the GPC in Xiaolan, China.

• Xiaolan, China
• Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Documents for Download