What are the CRF requirements for the mitigation pillar?

3 October 2024

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The three tables below summarise the mandatory, recommended and optional components of:

1. The GHG emissions inventory

2. Mitigation targets

3. Mitigation actions

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Remember that the reporting framework uses precise language to indicate which provisions are requirements and which are optional.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory
Section	Mandatory components	Recommended components	Optional components
General principles	Local governments shall submit their greenhouse gas emissions inventory to GCoM within two years upon joining GCoM. At least every subsequent four years, a more recent greenhouse gas emission inventory shall be submitted to GCoM Greenhouse gas emissions inventories shall cover a consecutive period of 12 months.	The year for which the greenhouse gas emissions inventory data was collected (the “inventory data year”) should be no older than four years from the year in which the inventory itself is submitted to GCoM. Local governments whose inventories have an older inventory data year should provide a good reason, whether due to insufficient access to data or otherwise.
GHG accounting principles	In addition to the general reporting principles mentioned above, local governments shall follow the GHG accounting principles outlined below: The inventory shall be relevant to the local and/or regional situation: reflecting the specific activities and policy-making needs of the city; taking into account its capacity and regulatory context. Local governments shall consider all categories of emission sources and report all emissions that are significant and mandatory. Exclusion of mandatory emission sources shall be disclosed and justified (using the notation keys or a qualitative explanation). Local governments shall compile GHG inventories on a regular basis, to enable monitoring and tracking the impact of climate actions, also to ensure continuous improvement in data quality, resulting in a clearly defined inventory boundary, improved data sources and defined methodologies that shall be consistent through the years (e.g., clarify where there is an evolution, e.g. population growth), so that differences in the results between years reflect real differences in emissions and mitigation efforts by the local government and the city. Local governments shall ensure sufficient accuracy to give local decision makers and the public reasonable assurance of the integrity of emissions reported. Efforts shall be made to reduce uncertainties and make improvements over time. To the extent possible, all relevant activity data, data sources, methodologies, assumptions, exclusions and deviations shall be documented and reported, to allow for review, replication of good practice, and tackling challenges identified (e.g., lack of access to data in country X)
Notation Key	If a mandatory source of emission is not included in a GHG inventory, the local authority shall explain the reason for non-inclusion.		Notation keys (IE, NO or C) may be used to accommodate limitations in data availability and differences in emission sources between local governments, where it is not possible for a city to report emissions in a mandatory subsector. Where notation keys are used, an accompanying explanation may be provided.
Emission sources	Local governments shall report GHG emissions from at least three main sectors, namely stationary energy, transportation and waste. If a mandatory source of emission is not included in a GHG inventory, the local authority shall explain the reason for non-inclusion.		Local governments may also report GHG emissions from Industrial Processes and Product Use (IPPU) and Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use (AFOLU) sectors where these are significant. Additionally, local governments may report GHG emissions from upstream activities, such as material extraction, or other out-of-boundary sources.
Stationary energy	All GHG emissions from fuel combustion and the consumption of grid-supplied energy, in stationary sources within the city boundary shall be reported.	The emissions data should be disaggregatedSeparated into its component parts. by residential buildings, commercial buildings and facilities, and institutional buildings and facilities. The emissions data should be disaggregated by industry, agriculture, forestry and fisheries.	GHG emissions from sources covered by a regional or national emissions trading scheme (ETS), or similar, may be identified. All fugitive emissionsThe unintentional and undesirable emission, leakage or discharge of gases or vapours. within the city boundary may be reported.
Transportation	All GHG emissions from fuel combustion and use of grid-supplied energy for transportation within the city boundary shall be reported.	The emissions from the transport sector should be disaggregated by mode: on-road, rail, waterborne navigation, aviation, and off-road.	Waterborne navigation, aviation, and off-road are unlikely to occur or be significant in most cities. Where they are significant sources, GHG emissions may be included, unless they occur as part of transboundary journeys, in which case the notation key "Included Elsewhere" (IE) may be used (see below for more details). Where these sources do not occur, the notation key “Not Occurring” (NO) shall be used; where they are not significant, the notation key “NO” may be used. Local governments may further disaggregate road and rail travel by fleet type: municipal fleets, public, private and commercial transport.
Waste	All GHG emissions from disposal and treatment of waste and wastewater generated within the city boundary shall be reported and disaggregated by treatment type.	Where waste is used for energy generation, GHG emissions do not need to be reported. Instead, the notation key IE should be used. Instead, these GHG emissions will be captured in the inventory through the use of heat or electricity generated from the treatment of waste.
Energy generation		Local governments should report all activity data for distributed local renewable energy generation.	Additionally, local governments may report GHG emissions from energy generation activities. All GHG emissions from generation of grid-supplied energy within the city boundary, and all GHG emissions from generation of grid-supplied energy by facilities owned (full or partial) by the local government outside the city boundary may be reported and disaggregated by electricity-only, combined heat and power (CHP), and heat/cold production plants.
Activity data and emission factors	Local governments shall account for emissions of CO2 in their GHG EIs. GHG emissions shall be reported in metric tonnes of CO2 equivalent (CO2e).	Local governments should use activity-based emission factors (also referred to as IPCC emission factors), though may use Life-Cycle Analysis (LCA) based emission factors where this is required for GHG emissions reporting at the national level. Where possible, local governments should report CO2e emissions by individual GHG.	Local governments may report activity data (in MWh, PJ, etc.) and emission factors for all sources of emissions, disaggregated by activity/fuel type. Local governments may specify whether the emission factor used to estimate GHG emissions from the consumption of grid-supplied electricity is locally estimated or covers a regional, national or supranational grid. In all cases, the emission factor used may be fully referenced. Local governments may account for emissions of the following gasses: methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O).
Biogenic carbon emissions		Emissions from biogenic carbonBiogenic CO2 emissions, written as CO2(b), arise from the combustion (burning) of biomass materials that naturally sequester (absorb) CO2, including fuels produced from living organisms or biological processes, but excluding fossil sources. For example, trees absorb CO2 as they grow, and burning firewood made from trees emits CO2, which would then be counted as biogenic CO2. should be reported. When reported, biogenic carbon dioxide shall not be counted in emissions totals. When land use emissions are also reported (under AFOLU sector), biogenic emissions shall be categorised separately.

Mitigation targets
Section	Mandatory components	Recommended components	Optional components
Target setting	All local governments and cities are required to set and report city-wide emissions reduction targets. Local governments shall submit their greenhouse gas emissions reduction target(s) to GCoM within two years upon joining GCoM.	Local governments are recommended to report any sector-level targets alongside their city-wide target(s).
Boundary (geographic coverage, sectors and GHGs)	The target boundary shall be consistent with all emissions sources included in the GHG emissions inventory, with the possibility to exclude sources that are not controlled by the local government. If the target boundary does not align with the inventory boundary, any additions or exclusions shall be specified and justified.
Target type	Local governments shall use one of the following four target types: base year emissions target, base year intensity target, baseline scenario target, or fixed level target.
Target year	Local governments shall choose a long-term target year and interim target years.
Units	Targets shall be reported as a percentage (%) reduction from the base year or scenario year (for base year emissions, base year intensity and baseline scenario targets).

Mitigation actions
Section	Mandatory components	Recommended components	Optional components
Actions	Local governments shall report more than one key action per pillar.	Local governments should provide a description of the stakeholder engagement process. The implementation status and timing of the action should be reported. The policy instruments to implement the action should be reported. The assessment of the estimated energy saving, renewable energy production, and GHG emission reduction should be reported.	A description of the action may be reported.
Monitoring	The local government shall submit monitoring reports every four years after submitting the action plan. The monitoring reports shall provide information about the implementation status of each action contained in the action plan.	The local government should update and resubmit the action plan when there are significant changes to the existing plan.	The local government may also report the implementation cost for each action.

CoM SSA Sustainable Energy Access and Climate Action Plan (SEACAP) course

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What are the CRF requirements for the mitigation pillar?

3 October 2024

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