Background Information
In 2011, WRI/GHG Protocol partnered with Guangzhou Academy of Energy Testing and Inspection (GAETI) and Zhongshan Xiaolan Low Carbon Development Center to create a case study on citywide GHG inventory in the city of Xiaolan, China. Xiaolan is a medium-sized town located in Guangdong Province, southern China, and is one of China’s major industrial regions.
The inventory was conducted based on the GHG Protocol scope framework as well as the recently released draft Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emissions (GPC). The GPC, however, focuses only on scope 1 and scope 2 emissions. Xiaolan is one of the first cities in the world that has appliedthe GPC to its GHG inventory. This inventory is scheduled to be completed in Spring, 2012.
Using the inventory experience, GHG Protocol is developing a citywide GHG accounting tool for Chinese cities. The design of the calculation tool will be specifically customized to suit current data availability in China.The reporting format will be compatible with the GPC.
March 27, 2012: Experts and Officials Endorse Xiaolan Greenhouse Gas Inventory Report
March 27,2011, ISC China
On March 27, 2012, USAID's US-China Partnership for Climate Action (PCA) program organized a peer review workshop to evaluate the Xiaolan greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory report, jointly prepared by the World Resources Institute, Institute for Sustainable Communities, and their local partners. The workshop was chaired by the mayor of Xiaolan, a county of 500,000 people, and co-chaired by the Director of Resource Conservation, Environmental Protection Division, Guangdong Province Development and Reform Commission (GD DRC). The inventory report provides a comprehensive baseline for carbon emissions in Xiaolan, and a basis for meaningful low-carbon planning initiatives going forward.
Five independent experts nominated by the GD DRC endorsed the report after a thorough review its methodologies, data, and results. They praised the PCA partners for a timely and rigorous report that addresses local planning needs, while fulfilling international requirements.
"Today is a historic day," said Lin Yaojun, the GD DRC Direcor. "Xiaolan is the first town in Guangdong Province - and in the nation - to create a first-class GHG emissions inventory, and has become a shining example... Xiaolan is a low carbon development trailblazer in Guangdong." He went on to note that the work lays a solid foundation for implementing low-carbon development work in Xiaolan and throughout the province, and urged other local governments in Guangdong to learn from this example. The report will be announced and shared publicly at a launch event in April, and the Mayor of Xiaolan committed to updating the inventory and report annually going forward.