Template 4 - Quality Assurance and Quality Control - GHG Inventory QA/QC Plan and Checklists

Sep 3, 2026

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Template 4 establishes the quality assurance and quality control framework for a national GHG inventory. It guides teams to convene a QA/QC plan launch meeting, assign roles and responsibilities, and develop a distribution timeline for QA/QC activities to internal staff and external experts. The template also defines crosscutting and category-specific QC procedures, documents expert recommendations, proposes inventory improvements, and provides QA/QC checklists covering data gathering, input handling, and transcription-error prevention with corrective measures and supporting documents.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryPresentations

FormatPDF

Pages26

Reading Time9 min

AccessFree to download

QA/QC Plan Setup

Roles and Responsibilities

QA/QC Procedures

QC Activities and Documentation

Data Gathering and Input Handling Checks

Transcription Error Controls

| Name: | | Organization name: | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Title/Position: | | Organization postal address: | | | Phone number: | | Organization web address: | | | Email: | | Organization phone number: | | | To complete this template, the National Inventory Coordinator (NIC) and QA/QC Coordinator, with support from other key inventory team members as required, should carry out the steps enumerated below by following the instructions above each table in this template.
When the tables are complete, delete the green text and green tables throughout this template. You may use the remaining text or tables for reporting or for your National GHG Inventory System Manual.
Step Purpose
| | | --- | --- | | 1. Convene a QA/QC Plan launch meeting and identify QA/QC personnel
2. Develop a timeline for distributing the QA/QC plan amongst the inventory team and external experts, considering the overall inventory schedule created in Template 1. How to Use the Templates
3. Establish general QC procedures for source/sink category leads to follow,
4. Establish category‐specific QC procedures for source/sink category leads to follow
5. Document recommendations received as a result of experts’QA activities
6. Propose GHG inventory improvements as a result of QA/QC activities
7. QA/QC Checklists | It is important to assign roles and responsibilities so people understand their duties. For countries with small inventory teams, one or more people may have multiple roles.
All stakeholders need to understand the importance of the QA/QC Plan and how it links to the inventory improvement plan. This will help maximize engagement.
These are crosscutting procedures that apply to the whole of the GHG inventory and aim to improve general quality.
These are category or sector specific procedures that focus on improving quality for specific categories, starting with key categories.
QA procedures are carried out by experts who are not part of the core GHG inventory team but who have considerable inventory expertise. Their experience and insight should help improve the quality of the inventory.
This is a vital step. The areas of inventory improvement that are identified throughout the implementation of QA/QC activities should be added the GHG inventory improvement plan. Prioritizing the improvement activities should thus result in incremental improvements to the GHG inventory.
These checklists can help keep track of the QA/QC work done, and the work which remains to be done. | | Title of role | QA/QC Responsibility | Name | Organization | Contact Information | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Inventory Lead | All aspects of the inventory program, cross‐cutting QA/QC | | | | | Title of role | QA/QC Responsibility | Name | Organization | Contact Information | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | QA/QC Coordinator | Develop and implement the overall QA/QC plan | | | | | Sector or Category Lead(s) | Develop and implement general, sector‐ specific (as appropriate) and/or category specific (as appropriate) QA/QC procedures listed in Tables 4‐2 and 4‐3 below. Focus on Key Categories | | | | | GHG Lead(s) | Develop and implement GHG specific QA/QC plan (e.g. for the F‐gas sector) | | | | | Outside Expert(s) | Expert review of the inventory. Ensure the role of the expert is carefully defined and agreed upon. The expert can be within the country, or an international expert | | | | | Task | Timeline
(when the task will occur) | Outcome
(description of the results of the task) | Potential Improvements (how the task may be modified to produce a better outcome) | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Create (or update) the QA/QC plan | | | | | Identify the best way to distribute the plan to each team member or external expert | | | | | Distribute the QA/QC plan | | | | | QC Activity | Procedures | Task Completed | | Corrective Measure Taken
(if applicable) | Supporting Documents | | --- | --- |

FAQs

Who should carry out the QA/QC steps in this template?

The National Inventory Coordinator (NIC) and QA/QC Coordinator perform the steps, supported by other key inventory team members as required.

What does the template ask teams to do during QA/QC plan launch?

It directs teams to convene a QA/QC plan launch meeting, identify QA/QC personnel, and assign roles and responsibilities so duties are clear.

Which QC activities are included for data handling and input checks?

The template includes checks that assumptions and criteria for activity data and emission factors are documented and archived, and procedures to prevent and detect transcription errors in data input and references.

Sep 3, 2026

Upload by Eden