International Recommendations for Energy Statistics (IRES)

IRES (UN Statistical Papers Series M No. 93) is the internationally agreed standard for energy statistics, adopted by the United Nations Statistical Commission (UNSC) at its 42nd session, February 2011 [IRES, Ch. I, para. 1.12, PDF p. 16, 2018].

Purpose

Its overarching goal is to provide standards and guidance to national compilers covering concepts and definitions, classifications, data sources, data compilation methods, institutional arrangements, data quality assurance, metadata and dissemination policies [IRES, Ch. I, para. 1.2, PDF p. 14, 2018]. Its main purpose is to strengthen energy statistics as part of official statistics, improving consistency with other standard international classifications — the International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities (ISIC), the Central Product Classification (CPC) and the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System (HS) — and with recommendations for other economic statistics [IRES, Ch. I, para. 1.13, PDF p. 16, 2018].

Target audience

IRES addresses six user groups: compilers of national energy statistics, compilers of other statistics, policymakers, international and regional organizations, research institutions and energy analysts, and the general public [IRES, Ch. I, para. 1.3(a)–(f), PDF pp. 14–15, 2018].

History and authorship

IRES succeeds a line of earlier UN publications going back to a 1976 Secretary-General report to the UNSC, the 1982 UNSD technical report Concepts and Methods in Energy Statistics, the 1987 Energy Statistics: Definitions, Units of Measure and Conversion Factors, and the 1991 Energy Statistics: A Manual for Developing Countries [IRES, Ch. I, para. 1.5–1.7, PDF p. 15, 2018]. It is the product of close cooperation between UNSD, the Oslo Group on Energy Statistics and InterEnerStat, following mandates given by the UNSC at its 37th session (2006) [IRES, Ch. I, para. 1.10, PDF p. 16, 2018]. The draft was reviewed and endorsed by the Expert Group on Energy Statistics (EGES) at its 2nd meeting (New York, November 2010) before adoption [IRES, Ch. I, para. 1.31, PDF p. 21, 2018].

Structure

IRES contains eleven chapters plus three annexes and a bibliography [IRES, Ch. I, para. 1.35, 1.47, PDF pp. 21, 23, 2018]: Introduction (I); Scope of energy statistics (II); the Standard International Energy Product Classification (III); Measurement units and conversion factors (IV); Energy flows (V); Statistical units and data items (VI); Data collection and compilation (VII); Energy balances (VIII); Data quality assurance and metadata (IX); Dissemination (X); and Uses of basic energy statistics and balances (XI) [IRES, Ch. I, para. 1.36–1.46, PDF pp. 22–23, 2018].

Companion documents

The Energy Statistics Compilers Manual (ESCM) carries practical/technical guidance subordinate to IRES and is updated more frequently [IRES, Ch. I, para. 1.49, PDF p. 28, 2018]. IRES is also a complementary, coordinated document alongside the forthcoming System of Environmental-Economic Accounting (SEEA)-Energy, which builds on IRES’s data items, product classification and flow definitions; their relationship is elaborated in Chapter XI [IRES, Ch. I, para. 1.11, PDF p. 16, 2018].

Interpretive conventions and revision

IRES distinguishes “recommended” (a standard countries should comply with) from “encouraged” (a desirable, non-mandatory practice) — see Recommendations and Encouragements [IRES, Ch. I, para. 1.50, PDF p. 28, 2018]. Editorial amendments are UNSD’s responsibility; substantive revisions go through country/working-group discussion, EGES endorsement, and UNSC adoption [IRES, Ch. I, para. 1.51, PDF p. 28, 2018].