Data & information generation

Building upon the UNFCCC's global, top down analysis of the costs of climate change, UNDP commissioned a User Guidebook to support developing countries to undertake a bottom-up, national sectoral analyses of the costs of adapting to the impacts of climate change and mitigating GHG emissions. The User Guidebook, which was developed by UNDP with a group of international experts and regional centres of excellence, comprises:

This financial tool (Excel spreadsheet - click "more info" below to download) supports the framework presented in UNDP's Derisking Renewable Energy Investment report to assist policymakers in selecting public instruments to promote renewable energy investment. The financial tool calculates the levelised cost of electricity (LCOE) for a given country’s baseline energy mix and the LCOE of onshore wid energy, before and after the introduction of public instruments.

The Global Protocol for Community-Scale GHG Emissions (GPC) resolves the differences between existing protocols. It is a joint mission between all interested stakeholders to develop an open, global protocol for community-scale accounting and reporting. Tis Protocol provides requirements and guidance for cities on preparing and publicly reporting a GHG emission inventory. The primary goal is to provide a standardized step-by-step approach to help cities quantify their GHG emissions in order to manage and reduce their GHG impacts.

Gapminder is a non-profit venture – a modern “museum” on the Internet – promoting sustainable global development and achievement of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals. The initial activity was to pursue the development of the Trendalyzer software. Trendalyzer sought to unveil the beauty of statistical time series by converting boring numbers into enjoyable, animated and interactive graphics.

HEAT has been successfully piloted in Albania and Uzbekistan. This experience has demonstrated how HEAT can help countries and energy sector stakeholders develop policies and projects that are robust in the face of climatic uncertainties, and assist them in managing existing energy concerns as the climate changes. HEAT identifies key direct risks to energy supply and demand and options for adaptation to establish where to focus subsequent in-depth analyses.

The Tool for Rapid Assessment of City Energy (TRACE) offers cities a quick and easy way to assess their energy efficiency and identify sectors to improve. This tool prioritizes sectors with significant energy savings potential, and identifies appropriate energy efficiency interventions across six sectors—transport, buildings, water and waste water, public lighting, solid waste, and power and heat. It is a simple, low-cost, user-friendly, and practical tool that can be applied in any socioeconomic setting.

This customised ArcGIS 9.3.1 toolbox has been developed at UNEP-WCMC for REDD+ multiple benefits analyses. It provides both novice and experienced GIS users with a series of analysis tools to help identify, map and understanding the spatial relationship between ecosystem carbon stocks, other ecosystem services, biodiversity, land-use and pressures on natural resources. The resolution of the analysis is defined by the user.

The SWERA Renewable energy Resource EXplorer (RREX) is an online Geographic Information System (GIS) tool for viewing renewable resource data. It encompasses a range of solar and wind datasets and maps. It relies on satellite and terrestrial measurements, numerical models, and empirical and analytical mapping methods. Results are integrated into a computer-based geo-referenced information system containing relevant infrastructure data, such as roads and transmission lines, and can be easily imported into common GIS software packages.

PRECIS is a regional climate modelling system developed by the Hadley Centre at the UK Met Office. It was designed with the intention of being a free resource for scientists in developing countries. PRECIS has been used to assist the development of climate change scenarios in regions around the world, whilst utilising existing climate expertise and improving domestic capacity.

The Energy Research Centre of the Netherlands (ECN) has been developing the Marginal Abatement Cost (MAC) curve for Non-Annex I countries since 1999. The curve results from compiled data of bottom-up country based studies at regional sectoral level and presents greenhouse gas (GHG) abatement opportunities by 2020. MAC curves describe the expected marginal cost and GHG abatement potential of several mitigation options.