Data Methodology

The estimated data presented in Data Portal for Cities are calculated using various country-specific methods, assumptions and data sets based on established greenhouse gas accounting methodologies, developed for this purpose.

Technical summary - Brazil

Source
The SEEG (Sistema de Estimativas de Emissões e Remoções de Gases de Efeito Estufa - Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Removals Estimation System) is Latin America's leading platform for monitoring greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. It is one of the world's largest national databases, providing annual estimates for all sectors of the Brazilian economy. The data, available from 1970, can be accessed via an online platform.

Data PlatformSEEG Website

Data Download (CSV)Emission Data

SEEG's data is available at the municipal level (approximately 5,000 municipalities) and covers all relevant GHGs. However, activity data is not included. The emissions data follows the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) guidelines used for national inventories and the official Brazilian national inventory methodology.

Importing and Processing Data
The Data Portal for Cities (DPfC) utilizes the Common Reporting Framework (CRF) from the Global Covenant of Mayors (GCoM) for emissions reporting in cities. However, the CRF structure differs from the IPCC framework, which is designed for national inventories. Due to these differences, assumptions and data transformations are necessary when importing SEEG data into DPfC.

Additionally, SEEG data provides a higher level of granularity, with around 1,500 unique data points, compared to the DPfC, which contains about 150 points. This difference in granularity means that while most emissions are accurately transferred, some details may be lost during the mapping process.

Main Assumptions and Inconsistencies
Electricity Emissions: SEEG categorizes emissions from grid-energy production (electricity) into a single group. DPfC allocates these emissions to the specific sectors that use the energy. Therefore, these emissions cannot be imported and are excluded from the dataset.

Activity Data Calculation
Since SEEG only reports final emissions and not the underlying activity data, activity data for stationary energy and transportation sectors was estimated using reverse calculations. This was based on emission factors specific to
Brazil.

Carbon Sequestration (Removals)
DPfC does not currently support the inclusion of removals (e.g., carbon sequestration in forests). Moreover, SEEG pools removals at a regional, not municipal, level, making it impossible to import this data for cities.

Other Greenhouse Gases (GHGs)
Emissions from CFCs and HFCs are not covered by the DPfC structure and are therefore excluded. These emissions only affect three cities, and in some regions, the data is pooled at a regional level, which prevents allocation to specific cities.

Technical summary - other countries

The data included are preliminary estimates based on several draft methodologies that are undergoing a formal technical review. The finalized methodologies may result in changes as well as additional data.

For more information, please review the draft technical documentation provided here.