Reference Emissions Level [MGD Sections]
Institutions involved in measurement, reporting and verification
Measurement, reporting and verification processes
Guiding principles – Institutional arrangements
UNFCCC decisions and requirements
Design decisions relevant to national forest monitoring systems
Definition of forest
Land cover, land use and stratification
Forest reference emission levels and forest reference levels
Guiding principles – Requirements and design decisions
Estimation methods for REDD+ activities
Estimation of emissions from deforestation
Estimation of emissions from degradation
Sustainable management of forests, enhancement of forest carbon stocks (within existing forest), and conservation of forest carbon stocks
Enhancement of forest carbon stocks (afforestation of land not previously forest, reforestation of land previously converted from forest to another land use)
Conversion of natural forest
Selecting an integration framework
Practical considerations in choosing an integration tool
Reporting forest reference emission levels and forest reference levels
Technical assessment of forest reference emission levels and forest reference levels
Guiding Principles – Reporting and verification of emissions and removals
Measurement, reporting and verification processes
Guiding principles – Institutional arrangements
UNFCCC decisions and requirements
Design decisions relevant to national forest monitoring systems
Definition of forest
Land cover, land use and stratification
Forest reference emission levels and forest reference levels
Guiding principles – Requirements and design decisions
Estimation methods for REDD+ activities
Estimation of emissions from deforestation
Estimation of emissions from degradation
Sustainable management of forests, enhancement of forest carbon stocks (within existing forest), and conservation of forest carbon stocks
Enhancement of forest carbon stocks (afforestation of land not previously forest, reforestation of land previously converted from forest to another land use)
Conversion of natural forest
Selecting an integration framework
Practical considerations in choosing an integration tool
Reporting forest reference emission levels and forest reference levels
Technical assessment of forest reference emission levels and forest reference levels
Guiding Principles – Reporting and verification of emissions and removals
REDD+ Reporting [MGD Sections]
Measurement, reporting and verification processes
Guiding principles – Institutional arrangements
UNFCCC decisions and requirements
Significance and key category analysis
Design decisions relevant to national forest monitoring systems
Definition of forest
Land cover, land use and stratification
Forest reference emission levels and forest reference levels
Quality assurance and quality control
Guiding principles – Requirements and design decisions
Estimation methods for REDD+ activities
Estimation of emissions from deforestation
Estimation of emissions from degradation
Sustainable management of forests, enhancement of forest carbon stocks (within existing forest), and conservation of forest carbon stocks
Enhancement of forest carbon stocks (afforestation of land not previously forest, reforestation of land previously converted from forest to another land use)
Conversion of natural forest
Integration frameworks for estimating emission and removals
Selecting an integration framework
Activity data x emission/removal factor tools
Fully integrated tools
Practical considerations in choosing an integration tool
Guiding principles – Methods and approaches
Reporting results of REDD+ activities
Technical analysis of the REDD+ annex to the BUR
Additional advice on REDD+ reporting and verification
Guiding Principles – Reporting and verification of emissions and removals
Financial considerations
Guiding principles – Institutional arrangements
UNFCCC decisions and requirements
Significance and key category analysis
Design decisions relevant to national forest monitoring systems
Definition of forest
Land cover, land use and stratification
Forest reference emission levels and forest reference levels
Quality assurance and quality control
Guiding principles – Requirements and design decisions
Estimation methods for REDD+ activities
Estimation of emissions from deforestation
Estimation of emissions from degradation
Sustainable management of forests, enhancement of forest carbon stocks (within existing forest), and conservation of forest carbon stocks
Enhancement of forest carbon stocks (afforestation of land not previously forest, reforestation of land previously converted from forest to another land use)
Conversion of natural forest
Integration frameworks for estimating emission and removals
Selecting an integration framework
Activity data x emission/removal factor tools
Fully integrated tools
Practical considerations in choosing an integration tool
Guiding principles – Methods and approaches
Reporting results of REDD+ activities
Technical analysis of the REDD+ annex to the BUR
Additional advice on REDD+ reporting and verification
Guiding Principles – Reporting and verification of emissions and removals
Financial considerations
Non-carbon Related Reporting [MGD Sections]
Institutions involved in measurement, reporting and verification
Guiding principles – Institutional arrangements
Guiding principles – Requirements and design decisions
Guiding Principles – Reporting and verification of emissions and removals
Financial considerations
Guiding principles – Institutional arrangements
Guiding principles – Requirements and design decisions
Guiding Principles – Reporting and verification of emissions and removals
Financial considerations
Internal + External Analysis [MGD Sections]
Institutions involved in measurement, reporting and verification
Measurement, reporting and verification processes
Operational requirements
Guiding principles – Institutional arrangements
Quality assurance and quality control
Guiding principles – Requirements and design decisions
Reporting forest reference emission levels and forest reference levels
Technical assessment of forest reference emission levels and forest reference levels
Reporting results of REDD+ activities
Technical analysis of the REDD+ annex to the BUR
Additional advice on REDD+ reporting and verification
Guiding Principles – Reporting and verification of emissions and removals
Measurement, reporting and verification processes
Operational requirements
Guiding principles – Institutional arrangements
Quality assurance and quality control
Guiding principles – Requirements and design decisions
Reporting forest reference emission levels and forest reference levels
Technical assessment of forest reference emission levels and forest reference levels
Reporting results of REDD+ activities
Technical analysis of the REDD+ annex to the BUR
Additional advice on REDD+ reporting and verification
Guiding Principles – Reporting and verification of emissions and removals
AFOLU GHG Inventory Reporting [MGD Sections]
Institutions involved in measurement, reporting and verification
Guiding principles – Institutional arrangements
UNFCCC decisions and requirements
IPCC good practice guidance
Relationship to UNFCCC
Design decisions relevant to national forest monitoring systems
Definition of forest
Land cover, land use and stratification
Forest reference emission levels and forest reference levels
Quality assurance and quality control
Guiding principles – Requirements and design decisions
Reporting forest reference emission levels and forest reference levels
Technical assessment of forest reference emission levels and forest reference levels
Reporting results of REDD+ activities
Technical analysis of the REDD+ annex to the BUR
Additional advice on REDD+ reporting and verification
Guiding Principles – Reporting and verification of emissions and removals
Financial considerations
Guiding principles – Institutional arrangements
UNFCCC decisions and requirements
IPCC good practice guidance
Relationship to UNFCCC
Design decisions relevant to national forest monitoring systems
Definition of forest
Land cover, land use and stratification
Forest reference emission levels and forest reference levels
Quality assurance and quality control
Guiding principles – Requirements and design decisions
Reporting forest reference emission levels and forest reference levels
Technical assessment of forest reference emission levels and forest reference levels
Reporting results of REDD+ activities
Technical analysis of the REDD+ annex to the BUR
Additional advice on REDD+ reporting and verification
Guiding Principles – Reporting and verification of emissions and removals
Financial considerations
![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() |
3.2.2 Activity data x emission/removal factor tools
There are three main tools that have been developed around the activity data x emission/removal factor method(1): EXACT
, ALU
and IPCC tools
. The IPCC and ALU tools have gained widespread use and are being continually updated to ensure compliance with good practice. Both generate outputs that meet the requirements of the 2006GL.



Tabulated activity data generated from remote sensing observations can be entered into all of these tools. The ALU tool (Box 12) is also capable of using GIS data to develop spatially-explicit estimates of emissions, but is not able to support the more sophisticated pixel or stand-based approaches and cannot easily track multiple changes in land use on a single land unit.
Box 12: Agriculture and land use greenhouse gas inventory (ALU) software
The agriculture and land use greenhouse gas inventory (ALU) software
guides an inventory compiler through the process of estimating greenhouse gas emissions and removals related to agricultural and forestry activities. The software simplifies the process of conducting the inventory by dividing the inventory analysis into steps to facilitate the compilation of activity data, assignment of emission/removal factors and completion of the calculations. The software also has internal checks to ensure data integrity. Many governments also have an interest in mitigating greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture and forestry. Determining mitigation potential requires an understanding of both current emission trends and the influence of alternative land use and management practices on future emissions. The ALU software program is designed to support an evaluation of mitigation potentials using the inventory data as a baseline for projecting emission trends associated with management alternatives.

ALU can be used to estimate emissions and removals associated with biomass C stocks, soil C stocks, soil nitrous oxide emissions, rice methane emissions, enteric methane emissions, manure methane and nitrous oxide emissions, as well as non-CO2 GHG emissions from biomass burning. Methods are based on IPCC guidelines.
Two versions of the ALU software are available:
- Version 5.0 based on the methods in the 2006GL
- Version 4.5 based on the methods in the revised 96GL and refined in the 2000 and GPG2003.
The software has several innovative features including:
- Accommodates Tier 1 and 2 methods as defined by the IPCC
- Allows compilers to integrate GIS spatial data along with national statistics on agriculture and forestry
- Designed to produce a consistent and complete representation of land use for inventory assessment
- Can develop an enhanced characterization for livestock
- Has explicit quality control and quality assurance steps
- Provides a long-term archive of data and results in digital format
- Generates emission reports that can be included in communications with interested parties.
(1) | These tools typically support Tier 1, and in some cases, Tier 2 methods |