Giacomo Grassi among the new members of the IPCC Bureau of the Task Force on greenhouse gas inventories
With his experience and expertise, he will contribute to improving the working methods of the IPCC and emissions estimates. More specifically, Giacomo Grassi will work on updating and promoting methodologies, with particular attention to developing countries.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change – IPCC elections took place at the United Nations Office in Nairobi, Kenya, from 25 to 28 July and marked the end of the sixth assessment cycle of the IPCC and the beginning of the seventh assessment.
During the 59th session, attended by 600 participants from 170 governments, the new IPCC Bureau was elected, composed of 34 members, including the new President Jim Skea (United Kingdom) and three Vice Presidents – Ladislaus Chang’a (United Republic of Tanzania), Diana Ürge-Vorsatz (Hungary), Ramón Pichs-Madruga (Cuba).
Giacomo Grassi (Italy), Scientific Officer at the Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Commission, was elected among the 12 new members of the IPCC Bureau of the Task Force on greenhouse gas inventories (TFI).
Every country that is a party to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) must periodically prepare estimates of greenhouse gas emissions and removals that occur within its territory. The TFI Bureau coordinates the development and dissemination of the methodologies necessary to make these estimates, according to criteria approved by the international scientific community. This work is essential because these estimates are then used by countries to account for the achievement of national climate goals under the Paris Agreement.
“As a new member of the TFI Bureau, I will contribute to updating and further promoting these methodologies, with particular attention to their dissemination in developing countries,” Grassi said. “I will rely on the experience gained at the Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Commission, where I work and where I have coordinated emissions estimates for the Land Use and Forestry sector (LULUCF) of the European Union greenhouse gas inventory for many years.”
The elections of Bureau members are very important moments in the work of the IPCC. “For the election of the TFI Bureau, there was excellent collaboration between the European Commission, MISE, and CMCC,” said Grassi. “Global climate policy is rapidly moving from emission reduction commitments made by countries in UNFCCC negotiations to their concrete implementation. As a result, attention to greenhouse gas estimates of national inventories is growing.”
According to Grassi, among the main challenges in this process are the estimates for the LULUCF sector, which are very complex and uncertain. In particular, the global models used by IPCC assessment reports employ different approaches to estimate anthropogenic contributions compared to national inventories. “As a member of the TFI Bureau, I will propose reconciling the methods used by global models with those applied by national inventories,” Grassi said, “through greater linkage between the IPCC Bureau (which coordinates the work of Working Groups 1-3 and their assessment reports) and the TFI Bureau. This work will be useful in increasing the quality and consistency of IPCC products, confidence in country estimates, and the independent assessment of where we stand with respect to the goals of the Paris Agreement. As an effective motto says, ‘if we don’t measure (or if we don’t trust our measure), we don’t manage’.”
Giacomo Grassi (Italy), Scientific Officer at the Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the EU.
Giacomo Grassi is a Scientific Officer at the Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Commission.
He was a Coordinating Lead Author for the “2013 Supplementary Guidance under the Kyoto Protocol”; Lead Author of the “2019 Methodological Refinement of the 2006 Guidelines”; Lead Author of the “Special Report on Climate Change and Land” (2019), Chapter 6.
Grassi has extensive experience in greenhouse gas analysis, reporting, and review, as evidenced by his long career in the LULUCF sector, his participation in many IPCC scientific and methodological reports, and over 80 scientific publications.
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