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Counting carbon:contextualization or harmonization in municipal GHG accounting
This article conducts an assessment of what should be considered best practice in municipal GHG accounting, contrasting the call for increased global harmonization with the need for local relevance and applicability. Taking as its point of departure an analysis of GHG accounting methodologies applied by local governments in Denmark, we identify eight Danish methodologies and assess them based on international good practice criteria. We observe a high degree of convergence among the Danish approaches in the application of data sources, quantification approaches, and scope, identifying data availability as the key barrier to improving the specificity and dynamic properties of local GHG accounts. In furthering an international best practice, the Danish approaches indicate that relevance to local planning necessarily involves an adaptation to the context of local systems and data sources, and that best practice guidelines should acknowledge limitations in inventory quality and provide guidelines for weighing trade-offs and exploring synergetic improvements. In Denmark, synergies can be found in improved data quality and regional cooperation on account development, which may improve relevance, quality, and comparability simultaneously, and act as an adaptive approach to methodology harmonization, without thereby reducing inventory relevance. ; The article contains an analysis of GHG accounting methodologies applied by local governments in Denmark. Eight Danish methodologies have been identified, a Danish best practice distinguished and assessed based on the criteria for good practice in GHG accounting: Relevance, comparability, transparency, completeness, consistency and accuracy. In doing so a number of key concepts are defined and compared, and the relative relevance of the different criteria has been discussed. We observe a high degree of convergence among the Danish approaches in the application of data sources, quantification approaches and scope, identifying data availability as the key barrier for improving the specificity and dynamicity of local GHG accounts, and with it the accuracy and ability to monitor changes in emissions. In furthering an international best practice the Danish approach indicates that an adaptive approach to methodology harmonization may be feasible, especially if driven by the development and promotion of improved methodologies and data sources for sectors in which current approaches are inadequate and by regional cooperation improving accuracy, completeness, consistency and comparability while driving down cost by economies of scale.
Counting carbon:contextualization or harmonization in municipal GHG accounting
This article conducts an assessment of what should be considered best practice in municipal GHG accounting, contrasting the call for increased global harmonization with the need for local relevance and applicability. Taking as its point of departure an analysis of GHG accounting methodologies applied by local governments in Denmark, we identify eight Danish methodologies and assess them based on international good practice criteria. We observe a high degree of convergence among the Danish approaches in the application of data sources, quantification approaches, and scope, identifying data availability as the key barrier to improving the specificity and dynamic properties of local GHG accounts. In furthering an international best practice, the Danish approaches indicate that relevance to local planning necessarily involves an adaptation to the context of local systems and data sources, and that best practice guidelines should acknowledge limitations in inventory quality and provide guidelines for weighing trade-offs and exploring synergetic improvements. In Denmark, synergies can be found in improved data quality and regional cooperation on account development, which may improve relevance, quality, and comparability simultaneously, and act as an adaptive approach to methodology harmonization, without thereby reducing inventory relevance. ; The article contains an analysis of GHG accounting methodologies applied by local governments in Denmark. Eight Danish methodologies have been identified, a Danish best practice distinguished and assessed based on the criteria for good practice in GHG accounting: Relevance, comparability, transparency, completeness, consistency and accuracy. In doing so a number of key concepts are defined and compared, and the relative relevance of the different criteria has been discussed. We observe a high degree of convergence among the Danish approaches in the application of data sources, quantification approaches and scope, identifying data availability as the key barrier for improving the specificity and dynamicity of local GHG accounts, and with it the accuracy and ability to monitor changes in emissions. In furthering an international best practice the Danish approach indicates that an adaptive approach to methodology harmonization may be feasible, especially if driven by the development and promotion of improved methodologies and data sources for sectors in which current approaches are inadequate and by regional cooperation improving accuracy, completeness, consistency and comparability while driving down cost by economies of scale.
Counting carbon:contextualization or harmonization in municipal GHG accounting
Damsø, Tue (author) / Kjær, Tyge (author) / Christensen, Thomas Budde (author)
2016-01-01
Damsø , T , Kjær , T & Christensen , T B 2016 , ' Counting carbon : contextualization or harmonization in municipal GHG accounting ' , Carbon Management , vol. 7 , no. 3-4 , pp. 191-203 . https://doi.org/10.1080/17583004.2016.1214475
Article (Journal)
Electronic Resource
English
DDC:
710
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