Countries Measure Greenhouse Gas Emissions Accurately, with IAEA and WMO Support

The IAEA and WMO are working to establish a series of regional centres to train scientists to use isotopic fingerprinting to analyze GHG emissions, building capacity at the regional and international levels. This initiative is intended to strengthen countries’ efforts to meet global commitments for reduced emissions by harmonizing data analysis and interpretation to enhance comparability.

With IAEA support, Argentina is establishing the first regional training and analysis centre, which will provide support to the Latin American and Caribbean region. The laboratory space will be outfitted with the necessary equipment, including an isotope laser analyser. Two further regional centres are being founded in Asia and Africa, and the A*Star National Metrology Centre in Singapore will be hosting the Asia-Pacific regional centre.

IAEA-trained experts will be based at each regional centre to train scientists, allowing the centres to become self-sufficient in their new roles. In 2022, the IAEA trained an Argentinian expert to calibrate stable isotope measurements, and the African and Asian regional centre focal points are being trained in November 2024 at the IAEA laboratories in Seibersdorf.

A practical guide addressing the sampling, analysis, and interpretation of isotopic data for methane was published by the IAEA in collaboration with WMO and experts from four global laboratories, namely the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research of New Zealand, the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, the University of Heidelberg, and the Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research. This guide serves as a tool for technicians and scientists, helping to ensure a unified approach across the regional centres. Training materials are currently being developed to accompany the guide.

‘Isotopic fingerprinting’ is used by scientists to examine the different isotopes of greenhouse gases in air samples to determine their origin, history and sources. Atoms of a chemical element with different numbers of neutrons are called isotopes. An air sample will have its own ‘isotopic fingerprint’ as each compound of the sample will have a unique combination of different isotopes of different elements.

This article covers one of the many topics that will be discussed during the 2024 Ministerial Conference on Nuclear Science, Technology and Applications and the Technical Cooperation Programme. For more information about this conference, please go here.