The IPCC Guidelines provide a common structure for how to categorize Sectors and source and sink categories. This common structure is essential if Parties are to be compared under the Convention and is important so as to avoid double counting problems.

Click on the IPCC Sectors Table to see a summary of the IPCC’s Sectoral structure. With this structure, the Energy Sector tends to dominate most Party’s inventories because of the large fraction of total emissions resulting from fossil fuel combustion.

Although often confused by non-inventory experts, the Industrial Processes Sector does not include any emissions related to the use of energy by Industry. Instead this sector focuses on chemical processes.

Solvent and Other Product Use is in almost all cases a very minor sector, although some Parties do have emissions of CO₂ and N₂O from some products and medical practices.

The Agricultural Sector focuses on CH₄ and N₂O emissions resulting from biological processes.

Net carbon stock changes and anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions by sources and removals by sinks are included under the Land Use, Land-Use Change, and Forestry (LULUCF) Sector.

The Waste Sector includes a variety of waste management activities, except when waste is combusted for energy recovery, which should be included in the Energy Sector.