Category: National governments, Emission inventories

Devolved Administration Greenhouse Gas and Air Pollution Inventories

Aether is now leading on the compilation and reporting of greenhouse gas and air pollution inventories for England and the Devolved Administrations, as a part of the wider UK National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory programme.

Aether leads the compilation and reporting of greenhouse gas and air pollution inventories for England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, as a part of its role within the wider UK National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory programme. These inventories are a vital evidence-base for policy makers to track progress towards emissions targets, whilst also identifying the priorities for further policy intervention on a regional level. These Devolved Administration inventories are part of the UK NAEI programme, and are compiled and published annually on the NAEI website.

The challenge

Aether is required to publish the greenhouse gas and air pollution inventories annually, following the schedule in the table below.

Reporting obligation Publication deadline

Greenhouse gas emissions datasets for by-source, end-user, and traded / non-traded emissions

June

Air pollutant emissions datasets and accompanying report

September

The Devolved Administration inventories are based principally on the UK emissions inventory, which uses a wide range of data sources and modelling techniques to estimate emissions of greenhouse gases and air pollutants annually to a high degree of certainty. However, many of these data sources lack enough detail to enable the direct estimate of emissions for England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland individually. As a result, alternative models and calculations are required to disaggregate the UK-wide figures to each of the Devolved Administrations.

The solution

Aether staff are specialists in the preparation, management, and reporting of emissions inventories. Our team has a wealth of expertise and have significant experience in the development of inventories globally, as well as for the Devolved Administrations. We use this expertise to develop, test, and implement alternative modelling approaches to disaggregate emissions, particularly across the energy supply, domestic, industrial processes, and waste sectors. Our knowledge in this area ensures that the emissions inventories are as accurate and robust as possible. Our transparent approach to our work is appreciated by key stakeholders in each region ensuring the data is used with confidence and purpose. 

The result

Aether first led on the publication of the air pollution inventory for the Devolved Administrations in 2021 (link to NAEI report), and, with the support of other members of the NAEI consortium (Ricardo Energy & Environment, UKCEH, Rothamsted Research, Forest Research, ADAS, and Gluckman Consulting) will continue to publish these inventories annually for the next three years.

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Clare Bayley, Defra

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Matthew Dudley, UNFCCC Secretariat

“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

“Aether was a great asset in involving/engaging with Member States experts on highly technical subjects regarding GHG reporting. Very clear communication of issues and results.”

Andreas Pilzecker, DG CLIMA

“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

“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

“Aether delivered training workshops and generated learning materials for our SSN members, providing technical content in a manageable and comprehendible format. We particularly benefitted from their extensive knowledge and ability to interpret the needs of our members into the training materials.”

Jennifer Anderson, Sustainable Scotland Network

“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

“Professional team and very collaborative communication. Effective result in terms of suggestions for improvement in the quality of the inventory and proposals on how to streamline specific topics.”

Italian Institute for Environmental Protection and Research

“Engaging Aether to support us to develop the first GHG Inventory System and first Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) for the United Republic of Tanzania has been a rewarding experience due to their high level of professionalism, creativity, timeliness and value for money. We will definitely consider Aether in our future initiatives.”

Abbas Kitogo, Programme Specialist Energy and Climate Change, UNDP Tanzania

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