BC emissions inventories
Action 2.3: Lay foundations for potential future changes in black carbon emissions reporting requirements
The compilation and reporting of national black carbon emissions inventories is not a legal requirement under any international treaty/legislation.
2.3b Evaluate whether EU NECD has produced the desired level of black carbon reporting by EU Member States
2.3c. Solving technical issues for reporting black carbon emissions
2.3b Short-term: 2025
2.3b National
2.3b EU
Compiling and reporting black carbon inventories is formally encouraged under the Air Convention and AC while under EU NECD the reporting of black carbon inventories is conditionally mandatory – i.e., the reporting of black carbon emissions is compulsory if national black carbon inventories are available.
A process towards potential mandatory black carbon reporting would be long. To lay foundations for potential changes in the future, a good starting point would be the evaluation of whether the desired level of black carbon reporting is reached within the existing reporting schemes – under the Gothenburg Protocol (Component 2.3a) and under EU NECD (Component 2.3b).
Component 2.3a. Evaluate whether the amended Gothenburg Protocol produced the desired level black carbon reporting
A high level of black carbon emissions reporting has been achieved with international agreements that encourage, rather than oblige, compilation and sharing of the respective data - such as the Gothenburg protocol within the Air Convention. Approximately, 40 Parties out of the 51 Parties of the Convention provide BC emission estimates (ECE/EB.AIR/2022/3)[1]. However, significant inconsistencies exist between estimates, suggesting that the accuracy and completeness of submissions need to be improved. The Convention’s Working Group on Strategies and Review has reviewed the amended Gothenburg Protocol and concluded regarding black carbon emission reporting that scientific and policy work on setting metrics for BC should be continued and appropriate action considered (Report on the review of the Protocol to Abate Acidification, Eutrophication and Ground-level Ozone, as amended in 2012 ECE/EB.AIR/2022/3)[2]. Further, it was concluded that to limit negative effects of air pollution on climate change, more focus is needed on reducing emissions of air pollutants that have a warming effect, such as BC and O3 precursors (ECE/EB.AIR/2022/3)[3].
Even if the amended Gothenburg Protocol would be revised and such a revision enter into force (beyond 2030), any potential change in black carbon reporting requirements would only apply to the Parties that have ratified the revised Protocol (currently 28 Parties[4]) . Only a decision by the Executive Body on minimum reporting obligations could facilitate a change of Convention-wide reporting requirements. Such Executive Body decisions normally require consensus among the Parties. Increased capacity building to enable voluntary reporting of black carbon (Actions 2.1 and 2.2) along with raising the political awareness of the importance of reporting black carbon emissions would be vital in generating consensus on this issue.
[1] https://unece.org/sites/defaul...
[2] https://unece.org/sites/defaul...
[3]
https://unece.org/sites/defaul...
Component 2.3b. Evaluate whether EU NECD has produced the desired level of black carbon reporting by EU Member States
Under EU NECD, black carbon emissions reporting is compulsory if national black carbon inventories are available. While the level of reporting is high, as of 2023, Austria and Luxembourg remain the two EU countries yet to report black carbon emissions. The scheduled 2025 evaluation of the EU NECD could thus provide an opportunity for the European Commission to investigate whether the current legislation is producing the desired level of black carbon reporting by EU Member States.
Component 2.3c. Solving technical issues for reporting black carbon emissions
A recent survey organized by TFEIP (Task Force on Emission Inventories and Projections) among the TFEIP community underlined the strong interest in data on black carbon emissions (A consideration of future emissions inventory reporting under the CLRTAP A technical paper from the TFEIP[5]). There are currently no requirements to report similar metrics such as elemental carbon and organic carbon. The majority of respondents of the survey would like elemental carbon and organic carbon to be included in emissions reporting. Reasons for the interest are health impacts and use for modelling purposes. However, many respondents of the survey raised concerns about data availability and quality. The survey also showed that there is a need to improve the accuracy and specificity of BC emission factors in the existing EMEP/EEA Air Pollutant Emissions Inventory Guidebook (“EMEP/EEA Guidebook”) before consideration can be given to the inclusion of EC or OC emissions reporting.
Further developing guidance on reporting of emissions of BC is one of the items in the 2024–2025 draft workplan for the implementation of the Convention (ECE/EB.AIR/GE.1/2023/6−ECE/EB.AIR/WG.1/2023/6)[2].
[4] https://treaties.un.org/Pages/...
[5] https://unece.org/sites/defaul...
