While the Paris Agreement sets the goal of staying well below 2 degrees of global warming compared to the pre-industrial era, it seems evermore obvious that we, as humanity, are not on track.  In 2018, IPCC highlighted the unprecedented scale of the challenge required to keep warming to 1.5°C. Five years later, that challenge has become even greater due to a continued increase in greenhouse gas emissions.  The pace and scale of what has been done so far, and current plans, are insufficient to tackle climate change. More than a century of burning fossil fuels as well as unequal and unsustainable energy and land use has led to global warming of 1.1°C above pre-industrial levels. This has resulted in more frequent and more intense extreme weather events as well as wide-scale slow onset events (such as chronic increasing temperatures, desertification, loss of biodiversity, land and forest degradation, glacial retreat and related impact, ocean acidification, sea level rise, salinization [1]) that further increase risks for human health and ecosystems.  “Almost half of the world’s population lives in regions that are highly vulnerable to climate change. In the last decade, deaths from floods, droughts and storms were 15 times higher in highly vulnerable regions,“ said IPCC Chair Hoesung Lee when presenting the last IPCC Synthesis Report (Climate Change 2023: Synthesis Report [2]) in March 2023.

Given this situation, while deep, rapid and sustained greenhouse gas emissions reductions in all sectors are needed –  emissions should be decreasing by now and will need to be cut by almost half by 2030, if warming is to be limited to 1.5°C, accelerated action to adapt to climate change is also essential to close the gap between existing adaptation and what is needed.

The solution lies in climate resilient development. This involves integrating measures to adapt to climate change with actions to reduce or avoid greenhouse gas emissions in ways that provide wider benefits. The choices made in the next few years will play a critical role in deciding our future and that of generations to come as climate resilient development becomes progressively more challenging with every increment of warming. Leading experts are calling for transformational changes in order to address key challenges ahead in a consistent way, with specific attention to interconnections between climate, ecosystems and society. “Urgent Climate action can secure a liveable future for all.” [3]

Building on its overall expertise on air and climate, Citepa is developing its portfolio on adaptation issues with a view to support public and private actors in designing, implementing, assessing their adaptation actions. Specific effort is drawn on Monitoring and Evaluation issues in alignment with the Enhanced Transparency Framework requirements from the Paris Agreement. A dedicated team is now in place.

Illustrative references:

• Ghana (2021): Preparation of the gap analysis report of the national MRV (mitigation) and M&E (adaptation) systems and definition of a roadmap to be in line with the ETF (Enhanced Transparency Framework)
• Pakistan (2021-ongoing): Preparation of the gap analysis report of the national MRV (mitigation) and M&E (adaptation) systems, development of adaptation MRE guidelines for the agriculture sector, implementation of a web-based adaptation tracking module, definition of a roadmap to be in compliance with the ETF (Enhanced Transparency Framework); Follow up project (extension to other sectors)
• Central Asian ReCATH (ICAT, 2022-2024): Technical support for the establishment of Regional Climate Action Transparency Hub (ReCATH) for all 5 countries of Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tadjikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan); member of a consortium led by GHG Mi, in charge of the coordination of adaptation-related tasks.
• MRV system for Uzbekistan (Expertise France, 2022): gaps and needs analysis and definition of a workplan to develop an ETF-compliant national MRV system by 2024
• Other projects are under development, more particularly in line with the preparation of CBIT initiatives and transparency projects.

Citepa is developing a very good knowledge of the sectors that emit pollutants and GHGs, the characteristics of their emissions, the potential sources of reduction and the means to mitigate these emissions. Emission reduction measures can be technical, structural, organizational, behavioural change, etc. Reduction measures are analysed in terms of short- and medium-term reduction potential, economic impacts, health impacts if relevant, legal feasibility, societal acceptability.

Citepa operates in all areas of activity such as transport, waste, energy production, industry, tertiary and domestic activities, agriculture and forestry, whatever the pollutants or GHGs. To carry out these services in France or abroad, Citepa can be associated with partners to complete its expertise.

Examples

Development of Serbia’s Air Strategy

In 2019 and 2020, Citepa is involved in a European pre-accession instrument project to develop Serbia’s Air Strategy. It is associated with Ineris, Expertise Advisors and many other local partners not mentioned above to help Serbia develop its Air strategy to facilitate its accession to the European Union. The Citepa is working more particularly on the technical and economic evaluation of the measurements and the Ineris is testing their impact on air quality. It also develops the DSIP (Specific Implementation Plan for the Directive) for the (EU) Directive 2284/2016 on the reduction of national emissions of certain atmospheric pollutants.

ECAMED – A technical feasibility study for the establishment of a low-emission area in the Mediterranean

France’s national plan to reduce air pollutant emissions (also known as PREPA), adopted in 2017, envisaged a feasibility study for the establishment of a low emission area in the Mediterranean in terms of NOx and SO2. An evaluation of the measures was therefore conducted in 2017-2018 to examine the potential benefits of implementing an NECA (NOx Emission Control Area) and a SECA (SOx Emission Control Area) in the Mediterranean. In this context, Ineris, Citepa, Cerema and Plan Bleu have set up a partnership project, coordinated by Ineris, to carry out this feasibility study based on a thorough scientific evaluation. Emissions were estimated by the Citepa from the trajectory data of the ships resulting from Cerema’s work. It also estimated the potential reductions of various reduction measures and their costs. Air quality modelling tools developed by Ineris were used to test the air quality impacts. The cost-benefit study carried out shows the interest of setting up such a low-emission area.  

Citepa is an expert reference body for greenhouse gas and air pollutant emissions inventories. In this context, it monitors and participates in the development and updating of the various rules and guidelines on issues of estimation methodology, accounting methods and reporting of emissions, discussed at international and European level.

Examples

Participation in the 2019 revision of the IPCC 2016 guidelines

The Citepa participated in the 2019 revision (Refinement) of the IPCC 2006 version guidelines on methodologies for estimating greenhouse gas emissions and removals for the preparation of national inventories. Citepa has been involved as an author (Céline Gueguen, expert in waste treatment) in improving the chapter on wastewater treatment and discharge. Etienne Mathias, expert in the agriculture-forestry sector, also took part in the 49th session of the IPCC in Kyoto (12 May 2019) as a member of the French delegation, for the official adoption of this Revision.

IPCC EFBDs

The Citepa is part of the editorial committee of the IPCC database on GHG emission factors (IPCC EFDB), which compiles inputs from different countries, researchers and other organizations on emission factors and other parameters for GHGs. This committee meets one week a year to review new emission factor proposals and advise on the admissibility of these data before their inclusion in the database.     

Participation in the TFEIP on air pollutants

Citepa is a member of the Task Force on Emission Inventories and Projections (TFEIP), which, under the aegis of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), is responsible for the EMEP/EEA guide of good practice on emission inventories of air pollutants. Citepa is also co-chair of the TFEIP Expert Group on Emission Projections. The TFEIP meets every year around May for 2 to 3 days to review developments in international guidelines on methodologies and reporting.

Citepa thus has recognised expertise in carrying out these inventories at regional level (as leader of the Territorial Inventory Coordination Poles and contributor to territorial methodologies), at national level (as state operator for carrying out national inventories), and at European and international level (as auditor of national inventories and as an active participant in improving international methods). With the expertise of its inventory experts, Citepa trains many people in the implementation of inventory systems, MRV aspects of inventories and the understanding and implementation of GHG and air pollutant emissions inventory methods. The training courses are aimed at both inventorists and decision-makers (staff of Ministries or agencies in charge of a specific sector), to provide them with an understanding of the inventories. 

Training is generally carried out in the destination country but can be carried out in France when accompanied by a study trip and observations of the French inventory system. They are often accompanied by an activity to support countries in the implementation of calculation methodologies. The training courses are adapted to the level and needs of the audience for which they are intended. In the case of inventorists, they aim at the autonomy of the participants in terms of understanding the methods but also in terms of application and improvement of these methods. To this end, these training courses are intended to be practical, with local examples, and leave room for the implementation of what has been learned during the training course through joint exercises. Maximum interactivity between participants and the trainer is encouraged through direct exchanges and discussion times. The training courses are thus enriched by the feedback from previous participants from countries with similar national contexts.

Examples of countries

• Cote d’Ivoire
• Cameroon
• Algéria
• Morocco
• Cambodia
• Guinea-Bissau
• Comores
• Mexico

Citepa has extensive experience in the management and development of emission inventories, in particular the operational implementation of the French national GHG and pollutant emissions inventory system. This has led it for some time to propose transversal tools to assist in the development and management of emission inventories for the administrations of foreign countries requesting such support. Citepa’s current flagship product in this area is the RISQ tool for integrated MRV management of GHG and pollutant inventories (“standalone” Access and/or online web versions). 

Citepa trains staff from national or local administrations, from developing countries, in the methods of inventorying pollutant and GHG emissions. The training courses are tailor-made according to the needs expressed by each country. It may be a national, local, spatialized or non-spatial inventory. Citepa teams train experts on site, develop tools that are made available. The Citepa makes sure that the teams are autonomous. It supports administrations in organizing their inventory systems.