United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD)

UNSD is the secretariat body that has prepared the successive generations of UN guidance on energy statistics and coordinated the drafting of IRES.

Predecessor publications

Following requests from the United Nations Statistical Commission (UNSC), UNSD prepared a report on basic concepts and methods relevant to energy statistics, appreciated by the Commission at its 20th session (1979) for circulation to national and international statistical offices [IRES, Ch. I, para. 1.6, PDF p. 15, 2018]. UNSD issued this in 1982 as Concepts and Methods in Energy Statistics, with Special Reference to Energy Accounts and Balances: A Technical Report, and in 1987 issued Energy Statistics: Definitions, Units of Measure and Conversion Factors following the Commission’s 24th-session recommendation for a conversion-factors/units handbook [IRES, Ch. I, para. 1.6, PDF p. 15, 2018]. In 1991, UNSD published Energy Statistics: A Manual for Developing Countries [IRES, Ch. I, para. 1.7, PDF p. 15, 2018].

Role in developing IRES

UNSD convened the ad hoc expert group on energy statistics (New York, 23–25 May 2005) that recommended establishing the Oslo Group and InterEnerStat [IRES, Ch. I, para. 1.9, PDF p. 16, 2018]. IRES itself is the result of close cooperation between UNSD, the Oslo Group and InterEnerStat [IRES, Ch. I, para. 1.10, PDF p. 16, 2018]. During the revision process, UNSD coordinated and organized worldwide consultations, provided substantive input on various topics, and was responsible for consolidating and editing successive versions of the draft [IRES, Ch. I, para. 1.33, PDF p. 21, 2018].

Ongoing responsibility

Under the IRES revision/updating process, preparation of editorial amendments and clarifications beyond dispute is UNSD’s responsibility, while substantive changes require discussion with countries and working groups before endorsement and adoption [IRES, Ch. I, para. 1.51, PDF p. 28, 2018].