The IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories are approved internationally and developed through an international process which has included:

• wide dissemination of drafts and collection of comments from national experts;
• testing of methods through development of preliminary inventories;
• country studies which ensure that methods are tested in a wide variety of national contexts;
• technical and regional workshops held in Africa, Asia, Latin America, Central Europe and Western Europe;
• informal expert groups convened to recommend improvements on specific aspects of the methodology.

The IPCC Guidelines were first accepted in 1994 and published in 1995. UNFCCC COP3 held in 1997 in Kyoto reaffirmed that the Revised 1996 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories should be used as "methodologies for estimating anthropogenic emissions by sources and removals by sinks of greenhouse gases" in calculation of legally-binding targets during the first commitment period.

The Revised 1996 IPCC Guidelines contain three volumes, each of which provides assistance to the analyst in the preparation of national GHG inventories. The Workbook (Volume 2) is also available in  French, Spanish and Russian. Click here for a summary of the changes between the 1995 Guidelines and the Revised 1996 Guidelines.

The series consists of three volumes:

1. The Reporting Instructions (Volume 1) provides step-by-step directions for assembling, documenting and transmitting completed national inventory data consistently, regardless of the method used to produce the estimates. These instructions are intended for all users of the IPCC Guidelines and provide the primary means of ensuring that all reports are consistent and comparable.
   
   

2. The Workbook (Volume 2) contains suggestions about planning and getting started on a national inventory for participants who do not have a national inventory available already and are not experienced in producing such inventories. It also contains step-by-step instructions for calculating emissions of carbon dioxide (CO₂) and methane (CH₄), as well as some other trace gases, from six major emission source categories. It is intended to help experts in as many countries as possible to start developing inventories.
   
   

3. The Reference Manual (Volume 3) provides a compendium of information on methods for estimation of emissions for a broader range of greenhouse gases and a complete list of source types for each. It summarises a range of possible methods for many source types. It also provides summaries of the scientific basis for the inventory methods recommended and gives extensive references to the technical literature.