Journal of the Korean Geographical Society ISSN:1225-6633(Print) 대한지리학회지

This article addresses potential errors in accounting greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions based on the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives’ (ICLEI’s) International Local Government Greenhouse Gas Emissions Analysis Protocol (IEAP). The IEAP seems to provide practical guidelines for local governments so that they can measure their GHG emissions. The outcomes are immediately convertible for any national GHG inventory analysis when one is constructed based on the methodology drafted by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Further, it provides a societal foundation at the global level in order for local governments to collectively deal with ‘double-counting’ and ‘allocation’ problems. However, ICLEI’s IEAP overlooks two major issues: (1) the protocol does not consider carbon dioxide emissions due to burning biological fuel as a type of GHG emission; and (2) it overlooks the possibility of indirect double-counting when producing emission factors at the local level. Thus, the limitations must be fixed so that the local governments can measure their GHG emissions more precisely, while the accurate GHG inventory will ultimately support reducing the local governments’ emissions to mitigate anthropogenic climate change.