Emissions of Greenhouse Gases

Thematic area - Climate change Name of Indicator - Greenhouse gas emission DPSIR - Pressure Indicator type - B – performance indicator Definition of the indicator The indicator shows the quantities of greenhouse gas emissions into atmosphere on national level. The emissions are presented by greenhouse gas type. The indicator provides information on emissions in the following sectors: energy, industrial processes and solvents, agriculture, waste and net removals from land use, land use change and forestry (LULUCF). Annual aggregated GHG per capita, per km2 and per unit of GDP. Units - Mt/year CO2 equivalent Policy relevance of the indicator: The Republic of Moldova is a non-Annex I Party to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (ratified in 1995). In 2003 Moldova ratified the Kyoto Protocol. Government of the of the Republic of Moldova adopted Environment Strategy for the period 2014-2023 (Government Decision #301 from 24.04.2014) and Strategy on adaptation to climate change till 2020 and it’s Action Plan (Government Decision #1009 from 10.12.2014). Targets: According to Copenhagen Agreement, Republic of Moldova aims to reduce, to not less than 25% compared to the base year (1990), the total national level of greenhouse gas emissions by 2020, by implementing economic mechanisms focused on global climate change mitigation, in accordance with the principles and provisions of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The Environmental Protection Strategy for the years 2014-2023 and the Action Plan for its implementation states that a 20 % GHG emissions reduction compared to the base line scenario has to be reached in the Republic of Moldova by 2020. Republic of Moldova’s iNDC states to reduce unconditional, by 2030, total emissions of national greenhouse gas emissions net, with no less than 67% compared to 1990, in support of the global effort on the trend of increasing global average temperature by 2100 in limit of up to 2 ° C. The objective of reducing emissions could increase up to 78% conditionally - according to an overall agreement that would address important issues such as financial resources with low costs, technology transfer and technical cooperation. Key question - What is the average trend of GHG emissions for the whole period? Specific question - What are the emission changes by sectors, by GHG, per capita, per km2, per unit of GDP? Assessment The base year for Republic of Moldova is 1990. The inventory data presents that for base year the total emissions of GHG in CO2 equivalent are 43,42 without net removals from LULUCF sector and 37,53 aggregated emissions including emissions/removals from LULUCF. For 1991-2013 (the last Inventory data) the net GHG emissions without/with removals decrease respectively from 43,42/37,53 Mt/year CO2 equivalent to 12,84/12,74 Mt/year CO2 equivalent compared with base year. This constitutes a reducing of GHG emissions with 30% and respectively 33% comparing with base year. Figure 1 presents the trend of the aggregated emissions (without and with LULUCF sector). Table 1 presents the aggregated emissions (without and with LULUCF sector), the main GHG emissions and the share of the total emissions compare with the base year. The analysis of the inventory presents that for the base year the big share of GHG type has CO2 emission (81%), followed by CH4 emissions (11%) and N2O emissions (7%). The trend is the same for the next years. So, in 2013 the share of CO2 emissions continue to be the highest (65%), CH4 emissions are the second with 21% and the third one are N2O emissions with 13% share from total emissions. The difference between 1990 and 2013 is the share from total emissions between these GHG. During 1990-2010 the share of CO2 emissions decreases, while the share of CH4 and NO2 increase. Nevertheless, during 1990-2013 the emissions of GHG decrease: CO2 emissions with 23,6%, CH4 with 55,3% and N2O with 52,1% (see Figure 2). Halocarbons emissions (HFCs, PFCs) and sulphur hexafluoride (SF6) emissions have been registered in the Republic of Moldova starting with 1995. This year is considered as a reference year for F-gases (HFCs, PFCs and SF6). Evolution of these emissions denotes a steady trend towards increase in the last years, though their share in the total national emissions structure is insignificant. The observed sectors in inventory are energy sector, industrial process, solvent and other product use, agriculture, land use, land use change, forestry and waste. The total GHG emissions by sectors are presented in Table 2 and the trend is presented in Figure 3. In general, Energy Sector has the greatest contribution to national GHG emissions, with an average share of 70% in 1990 and 65% in 2013 (see Figure 4 and Figure 5). Agriculture Sector was the second sector contributor with an average share of 10%, followed by Industrial Processes with average share of 4% for 1990. The trend of the share of different sectors for 2013 has changed and Industrial Processes has been replaced by Waste Sector with a share of 12% from the total emissions. Figure 6 shows that starting with 1992 till 2004 there was a reduction of total GHG emissions from the Waste Sector. This trend is explained by the economic decline that occurred in the Republic of Moldova during the period under review, by a significant drop in the wellbeing of population, and respectively, capacity to generate solid and other types of wastes. At the same time, starting with 2005, there has been a clear growing trend of direct GHG emissions from the Waste Sector. The main indicator for the assessment of the GHG emissions in the international aspects are GHG per capita. The emission of GHG per capita decrease from 9,95 tons CO2 equivalent in 1990 to 3,16 tons CO2 equivalent in 2013. The lower level was during 2007 – 2.18 tons CO2 equivalent per capita (see Figure 7). For comparison the average European level of this indicator is 9.4 tons CO2 equivalent per capita in 2013. The emission of the GHG are directly linked with economic growth of the country, because with increasing of economic activity the consumption of energy and resources increase to. For the period 1990 to 2013 aggregated GHG emissions per unit of GDP decrease from 4.39 tons CO2 equivalent to 1.91 tons CO2 equivalent. Between 1990 to 2007 emissions of GDP in the most European countries decrease for more than 30%. The trend in the aggregated GHG emissions per km2 is the same as the trends of GHG emission per capita and per GDP (see Figure 7). Key messages: For the period 1990 to 2013: • the total emission throughout the inventory have decrease with 30%. • the emissions of the GHG per capita decrease with 32%. • the energy sector has the greatest contribution to national GHG emissions. Trend - positive. Data coverage - 1990-2013 Data source - Republic of Moldova’s Third National Communication to United Nation Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Ministry of Environment. Methodology To calculate GHG emissions as well as GHG inventories, the methodology provided by UNFCCC/IPCC is used. Methodology is based on the calculation of GHGs as a product from the rate of activity for individual sectors and emission factors. The national inventory is structured to match the reporting requirement of the UNFCCC and is divided into six main sectors: (1) Energy, (2) Industrial Processes, (3) Solvents and Other Products Use, (4) Agriculture, (5) Land Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry and (6) Waste. Emissions of direct (CO2, CH4, N2O, HFCs, PFCs and SF6) and indirect (NOx, CO, NMVOC, SO2) greenhouse gases were estimated based on methodologies contained in the Revised 1996 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories. Reporting obligations - UNFCCC