National Inventory Report 1990-2011: Greenhouse Gas Sources and Sinks in Canada - Executive Summary

The ultimate objective of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is to achieve stabilization of greenhouse gas (GHG) concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system. In support of this goal the Convention commits all Parties to develop, periodically update, publish and make available to the Conference of the Parties national inventories of anthropogenic emissions by sources and removals by sinks of all GHGs not controlled by the Montreal Protocol. Development, publication and maintenance of a national inventory is a key obligation of UNFCCC signatories.

Canada's National Inventory Submission is the annual communication through which Canada meets its annual reporting obligations under the Convention and serves as the authoritative indicator and basis of comparison of national performance. It is a source of reliable, detailed information for Canadians on key emission trends for specific sources, sectors and regions; and provides a core set of data for setting baseline emissions and further analysis.

Canada's 2013 National Inventory Submission to the UNFCCC, which consists of the National Inventory Report (NIR) and the Common Reporting Format (CRF) Tables, has been prepared in accordance with the "Guidelines for the preparation of national communications by Parties included in Annex I to the Convention, Part I: UNFCCC reporting guidelines on annual inventories."

Canada is committed to tackling climate change through sustained action to build a low-carbon economy that includes reaching a post-2020 global climate change agreement, working with our North American partners and taking action domestically. Under the Copenhagen Accord, Canada has committed to reducing its GHG emissions to 17% below the 2005 level by the year 2020.^[1] As the underlying data and methodology for estimating emissions are revised over time, emissions levels in all years are subject to change as both data and methods are improved.

^[1] See Copenhagen Accord.