Remedying Discord in the Accord: Accounting Rules for Annex I Pledges in a Post-2012 Climate Agreement

This research paper by the World Resources Institute examines the need for harmonized accounting rules for developed country (Annex I) emissions reduction pledges in a post-2012 climate agreement. It argues that without consistent rules for greenhouse gas coverage, land use (LULUCF), offsets, and surplus allowances, it will be impossible to accurately assess the ambition of national pledges or track global progress toward temperature targets.

• The authors recommend that the Conference of the Parties (COP) adopt a decision to develop accounting rules that are "consistent, complete, comparable, transparent, and accurate" and a separate decision to clarify the assumptions underlying Annex I pledges.
• A lack of standardized coverage for greenhouse gases and sectors makes it difficult to assess comparability and ambition. The authors suggest that Parties should at minimum agree on a basket of at least the six Kyoto greenhouse gases or implement "quantified economy-wide emissions reduction pledges for 2020" that include all sectors, including aviation and marine.
• Accounting for land use, land-use change, and forestry (LULUCF) significantly impacts the assessment of pledges. The authors propose that the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA) develop harmonized rules for all LULUCF activities and carbon pools, including baseline calculations based on historical emissions.
• The use of international offsets can compromise environmental integrity if methodologies differ. The paper suggests requiring all Annex I Parties to use only CDM approved methodologies or to submit bilateral/multilateral methods to a third-party entity for review and approval.
• There is a risk of double counting emissions reductions if offsets are used to meet national targets but are developed outside of national compliance schemes, particularly when developing countries implement their own nationally appropriate mitigation actions (NAMAs).
• The potential use of surplus assigned amount units (AAUs) from the first Kyoto Protocol commitment period creates uncertainty. If these are used to meet post-2012 pledges, the actual level of abatement between 2013 and 2020 may be significantly lower than current estimates.
• To increase transparency, the authors propose a supplementary form for Annex I Parties to detail their pledges, specifically covering the scope of gases/sectors, LULUCF inclusion, the percentage of targets dependent on international offsets, and the use of surplus AAUs.

APA

Levin, K., Tirpak, D., Daviet, F., & Morgan, J. (2010). Remedying Discord in the Accord: Accounting Rules for Annex I Pledges in a Post-2012 Climate Agreement. World Resources Institute. https://wriorg.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/remedying_discord_in_the_accord.pdf

Chicago

Levin, Kelly, Dennis Tirpak, Florence Daviet, and Jennifer Morgan. Remedying Discord in the Accord: Accounting Rules for Annex I Pledges in a Post-2012 Climate Agreement. World Resources Institute, 2010. https://wriorg.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/remedying_discord_in_the_accord.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Levin |first1=Kelly |last2=Tirpak |first2=Dennis |last3=Daviet |first3=Florence |last4=Morgan |first4=Jennifer |title=Remedying Discord in the Accord: Accounting Rules for Annex I Pledges in a Post-2012 Climate Agreement |publisher=World Resources Institute |date=November 2010 |url=https://wriorg.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/remedying_discord_in_the_accord.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{levin2010remedying, author = {Levin, Kelly and Tirpak, Dennis and Daviet, Florence and Morgan, Jennifer}, title = {{Remedying Discord in the Accord: Accounting Rules for Annex I Pledges in a Post-2012 Climate Agreement}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, year = {2010}, month = nov, url = {https://wriorg.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/remedying_discord_in_the_accord.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }