Category: National governments, Emission inventories

Developing Saint Lucia’s GHG Inventory

Aether provided capacity building training to the national GHG inventory team of Saint Lucia. A new greenhouse gas inventory was developed together with a National Inventory Report and the inventory Biennial Update Report chapter.

The Challenge

As a non-Annex I Party to the convention under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Saint Lucia is required to submit Biennial Update Reports (BURs) every two years. One of the requirements of a BUR is the compilation of a greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory.

These regular reporting obligations to the UNFCCC can pose a challenge where institutional memory and technical resources are limited. Saint Lucia’s previous inventory was compiled by external consultants, and the information regarding methodologies, data sources and assumptions was not held within the current national inventory team. Therefore, the knowledge required to compile the GHG inventory was not fully retained by national institutions, leading to significant difficulties in the ongoing compilation and improvement of the inventory. Through funding provided by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) through the United National Environment Program, Aether supported the Department of Sustainable Development of Saint Lucia to compile a new GHG inventory. The key project objectives were to:

  • Fully engage national experts in hands-on data collection and inventory compilation
  • Compile and deliver a high quality GHG inventory by Saint Lucian experts
  • Establish a sustainable GHG inventory system run by Saint Lucian experts capable of producing GHG inventory updates and continuous improvement.

Achieving the above objectives, required direct hands-on interactive sessions. Unfortunately, the worldwide COVID-19 health crisis resulting in lockdowns in both Saint Lucia and Europe created an additional challenge in this regard. Participants and trainers were all working at home. As such, the two workshops were conducted remotely, rather than in-country as planned.

The Solution

Aether worked with the Department of Sustainable Development of Saint Lucia to compile a GHG inventory for the years 2000 – 2018. GHG estimates were produced in line with the 2006 IPCC Guidelines and are, therefore, suitable for international reporting needs. In order to document data and methodologies in a transparent manner all compilation spreadsheets and underlying data sets have been archived on Saint Lucia’s recently developed National Environmental Information System.

The key aspect of this project was the training and engagement of national experts and stakeholders. During this project, two workshops were undertaken to support the development of the national expertise. It was imperative that we enabled confident ownership of the GHG inventory by the appropriate Saint Lucian organisations (institutions, departments, private companies etc.). These workshops were supported by a training plan customised to the needs of the Saint Lucia inventory team, and mentoring sessions held throughout the project. A Quality Assurance/Quality Control (QA/QC) plan was developed, together with an improvement plan, in order to document the quality checks undertaken and identified improvements for future inventory cycles. The crucial steps taken in order to successfully train the national inventory team (despite a global pandemic) included:

  • A close collaboration between sectoral mentors and national inventory experts throughout the project
  • Short weekly training sessions to cover general inventory aspects during the second half of the project
  • Two interactive workshops utilising virtual breakout groups, short focused sessions and plenary group discussions

The Result

This project delivered the instruments needed for a sustainable GHG inventory compilation system with tailored inventory compilation spreadsheets, training manual, QA/QC plan and improvement plan. It marks the beginning of an enhanced institutional arrangement for the GHG inventory compilation process in Saint Lucia. The national GHG inventory team now has the necessary tools for compiling and further developing the inventory.

Testimonials:

 “The support provided by Aether for this project was especially remarkable considering the situation of the COVID-19 pandemic. The tools and methods used in order to engage local stakeholders really added value to the capacity building of the national team.” – Shanna Emmanuel, BUR Project Coordinator.

“Saint Lucia embraces the professional approach with which this project was undertaken by Aether, particularly their ability to develop mentorship relations with local government experts. This provides a basis for ensuring that the pool of local experts remain engaged and recognized over successive processes.” – Annette Rattigan-Leo, Chief Sustainable Development and Environment Officer.

Photo credit: Kris Charles Photography

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Testimonial

Don't just take our word for it...

“The team at Aether works very professionally and communicates very well which makes working with them a pleasure. Outputs are delivered on time to high quality. The team brings the rigour of technical knowledge and expertise and finds innovative ways of communicating complex messages. I would be happy to recommend the Aether team to organisations working on analysing and presenting emissions information in the public domain.”

Fiona Glover, States of Jersey

“The support provided by Aether for this project was especially remarkable considering the situation of the COVID-19 pandemic. The tools and methods used in order to engage local stakeholders really added value to the capacity building of the national team.”

Shanna Emmanuel, Saint Lucia BUR Project Coordinator

“It has been a pleasure to work with Chris Dore and Richard Claxton from Aether: they did their job in a very professional and timely manner. The workshop was organized and carried out in a cooperative spirit; the information provided to the workshop participants was complete and clear.”

Alina Novikova, UN/ECE Secretariat

“Aether's approach to couple innovative visualisation with high expertise manpower delivered valuable insights for our inventory work.”

Umweltbundesamt (Germany)

“Chris was excellent to work with and always very pro active in making suggestions, taking work forward and applying his considerable technical knowledge in effective ways.”

Robert Vaughan, Defra Air Quality Team

“From their winning bid to final delivery, Aether's work with North Norfolk District Council was positive and thorough. They brought a clear understanding of the challenges local authorities face regarding carbon emissions and quickly understood the unique nature of the Coastwise project. Communication was effective, and the outcomes combined a depth of research with real-world utility for the council's activities around carbon emissions and mitigation.”

Alastair Zangs, North Norfolk District Council

“The professional service provided by your company was of very high quality and completed within agreed timelines.”

Matthew Dudley, UNFCCC Secretariat

“Aether is a great partner for work in the area of European Air Emissions. The team was committed, reliable, well organised and had a deep technical understanding and motivated other partners with their good spirit.”

Umweltbundesamt: Environment Agency Austria

“We have worked with Aether since 2019 to baseline, and subsequently update, our council and borough greenhouse gas inventories. It is a pleasure working with Aether’s professional, responsive, collaborative and helpful team. ”

Merton Council

“I must congratulate each of you for your professional and tireless efforts. Let me point out that this has been the 'neatest' in-country review expert review team I have coordinated, and it has been a real pleasure.”

UNFCCC Secretariat

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