GHG Emissions Verification: Federal Experience Jackie Mercer Environment Canada Advancing GHG Verification in Canada - Workshop November 9th, 2009 Page 1

Federal Experience – GHG Division • Annual Review of Canada’s National Inventory by the UNFCCC • In-house Review of reported facility data – Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reporting Program • Third-Party Verification Experience: –Pilot Emissions Reductions and Removals Learning Initiative (PERRL) – Domestic Program Support for Environment Canada and other Federal GHG programs and initiatives. – Building Verification Capacity in Canada and International Standard Development

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UNFCCC Review Process • Canada’s Greenhouse Gas Inventory Submission (NIR & CRF) is submitted to the UNFCCC on an annual basis and is subject to a 3 stage inventory review process: Initial check – Immediate quality assurance check for completeness

Synthesis and Assessment – UNFCCC compiles and compares basic inventory information across Parties’ and over time. Used to identify potential problems.

Individual Review – International teams of sectoral inventory experts examine the data, methodologies and procedures used in preparing the national inventory. – Centralized review or in-country review

• The annual inventory review process increases Parties’ confidence in the quality of the inventories Page 3

UNFCCC – Individual Review Stage • During the Individual Review Stage, the independent expert review teams (ERTs) from the UNFCCC and Kyoto Protocol Parties assess: Transparency: Assumptions & methodologies clear Consistency: All inventory years internally consistent – data/methods Comparability: IPCC methods and UNFCCC reporting guidelines used Completeness: All sources/sinks, gases, years included Accuracy : Promoted via Good Practice Guidance, which strives to ensure that estimates are neither over nor underestimated as far as can be judged.

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Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reporting Program – In House Review • Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program (GHGRP) focuses on a limited number of emitters and basic reporting requirements. • Under current reporting requirements, no specific estimation methods are prescribed, but quantification methodology must be consistent with the IPCC Guidelines. • Reported emissions data not required to be verified by a third-party. – Instead authorized official signs a Statement of Certification attesting to the validity of the information contained in the attached emission report and certifying that it is accurate and complete, to the best of their knowledge. – Data is subject to an in house review and QA/QC checks by GHG Division staff. Page 5

GHGRP – In House Review Experience In house Review Experience: • Review submitted GHG emissions data and perform comparisons over time and flag emitters with significant changes in emissions • Review top emitters - do they belong to an expected industry sector? • Review expected emissions for specific sectors • Follow up with missing facilities.

Limitations: • Can not confirm if the reported data is complete, consistent, or accurate. • Lack of prescribed quantification methodologies makes it challenging to compare emissions from facilities in the same sector; • Lack of supporting information (such as fuel data) makes it difficult to tell if reported information is reasonable; • When the data doesn’t provide full sectoral coverage, can only perform “ball park” checks against the National inventory to assess the completeness and approximate level of inventory estimates. Page 6

Domestic Program Support Under Action Plan 2000, the GHG Division received funding to establish the ‘GHG Verification Centre” program. – key objectives of this project have been to facilitate greater consistency among approaches to calculating, reporting and verification of GHG emissions, and to build verification capacity in Canada.

• Pilot Emissions Reductions and Removals Learning Initiative (PERRL) Verification Experience: – Reviewed submitted Verification Plans and Verification Statements – Huge variation in quality of work, issues with impartiality, and shortage of competent individuals. – Led to the development of verification protocols for some project types • Provided technical assistance to TEAM (NRCan) during the development of their Verification Protocol • Led the development of the Verification Rules for Canada’s Offset System Page 7

Building Verification Capacity in Canada Environment Canada has been involved in several initiatives as part of our mandate to develop verification capacity in Canada: • Developed and delivered a GHG verification training course to over 200 people in 2005-2006 – A license agreement currently in place with CSA Standards

• Participated in the development of the National Occupational Standard for GHG Verifiers and GHG Verifier Certification program with ECO Canada • Assisted the Standards Council of Canada with the implementation of the Greenhouse Gas Accreditation Program. – Currently a member of ANSI’s GHG Advisory Committee to ensure consistency with the accreditation process in the US.

• Involved in the development of ISO Standards including ISO 14064-3, ISO 14065, and currently ISO 14066, which specifies competency requirements for validation and verification teams. Page 8

For More Information

Jackie Mercer Quality Management and Verification Section / Gestion de la qualité et vérification Greenhouse Gas Division / Division des gaz à effet de serre Science and Risk Assessment Directorate / Science et évaluation des risques Science and Technology Branch / Direction générale des sciences et de al technologies Environment Canada / Environnement Canada T : 819 994 7506 E-mail: [email protected]

Merci Page 9

Supplementary Material

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Building Verification Capacity in Canada

Program Rules and Requirements Reporting Facility / Project Proponent

Program Eligibility Requirements for Verification Bodies

ISO 14064-2

Accreditation of Verification Bodies (Firms)

ISO 14064-1

Standards Council of Canada

Facility/ Project Proponent hires an accredited Verification Body

Program specific accreditation requirements & MOU with SCC VB applies to become accredited by SCC and must demonstrate compliance with accreditation criteria

Verification Body

List of accredited VB’s published on SCC’s website

ISO 14065 SCC GHG Accreditation Program (GHGAP)

Accredited Verification Body

GHGAP launched: June 08 As per ISO 14065 / 66, VB must appoint competent teams prior to conducting verification activities. The processes for ensuring competent teams will be assessed by SCC during the accreditation process.

Verification Team Competence Team competence can come from education, work experience and/or training Professional Designation: •Professional Engineers •Chartered Accountants •Professional Foresters / Agrologists Certified GHG Verifiers (Personnel Certification) •ECO Canada: GHG Verifier certification •CSA America: GHG Verifier certification •GHG Management Institute: under development GHG Verification Training

ISO 14064-3 •Under the IAF, Multilateral Agreements can be developed between ANSI and SCC to facilitate the recognition of accredited VBs between Canada and the US.

ISO 14066 Available: 2011

Program Rules for Verification Verification Body conducts verification activities

ISO 17024

Certification of GHG Verifiers (Individuals) ECO Canada Personnel Certification Program • Based on the NOS & may be used to complement accreditation program • Certification programs seek accreditation by SCC under ISO 17024

National Occupational Standards (NOS) •Currently being developed by ECO Canada •NOS based on ISO 14064-3, but is proprietary to ECO Canada •Developed through limited stakeholder consultation. Certification is a way for an individual on a team to demonstrate competence

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