Mon, Aug 27, 2012 -
The manufacture of bricks in developing
countries is often linked with significant
emissions of toxic fumes, including black
carbon, and is the focus of early action
by the Climate and Clean Air Coalition.
Paris, 27 August 2012
- The urgent need to mitigate emissions
of short-lived climate pollutants to protect
human health and the environment now, and
slow the rate of climate change expected
by 2050 has prompted five leading non-government
institutions to add their weight to a growing
global Coalition.
The Clean Air Task Force,
ClimateWorks Foundation, the Institute for
Governance and Sustainable Development (IGSD),
the International Council on Clean Transportation
and the International Cryosphere Climate
Initiative are the latest partners admitted
to the Climate and Clean Air Coalition to
Reduce Short-Lived Climate Pollutants (CCAC).
Further Resources
Climate and Clean Air CoalitionClean Air
Task Force (CATF)ClimateWorks FoundationInstitute
for Governance and Sustainable Development
(IGSD)International Cryosphere Climate Initiative
(ICCI)International Council on Clean Transportation
(ICCT)It brings to 27 the number of partners
who have joined the voluntary partnership
since its launch in February 2012.
The addition of these
five respected non-government organization
(NGO) partners is seen as a significant
step in broadening the membership, reach
and voice of the Coalition, which aims to
catalyze major reductions in black carbon
(or soot), methane and some hydrofluorocarbons
(HFCs) - or "short-lived climate pollutants"
- from sectors such as brick production,
the diesel transport sector, municipal solid
waste and oil and natural gas production.
Compelling scientific
evidence indicates that fast action to reduce
these pollutants, especially methane and
black carbon, has the potential to slow
down the warming expected by 2050 by as
much as 0.5°C, as well as prevent over
two million premature deaths each year and
avoid annual crop losses of over 30 million
tonnes.
The IGSD has also been
selected as the first non-government representative
on the newly formed CCAC Steering Committee.
"This ground-breaking
Coalition has the potential to catalyze
fast action to help the people who need
it the most, and IGSD is honoured to represent
the NGO partners in this endeavour,"
a Senior Advisor to the IGSD and former
Secretary for Environment and Sustainable
Development for Argentina, Romina Picolotti,
said.
"Reducing these
climate pollutants not only harmonizes development
and climate concerns but it's also critical
for protecting the world's most vulnerable
regions and people, particularly women and
children, from the worst impacts of climate
change," Ms Picolotti said.
Further quotes from
the new NGO partners
Clean Air Task Force
(CATF)
"The formation
of the CCAC raises the visibility of the
need to reduce short-lived climate pollutants
to an entirely new level. It signals that
health and climate pollutants are tightly
linked and that attempts to stabilize climate
can benefit from swift attention to the
full suite of pollutants that impact it
- from those with the shortest lifetime
to those with the longest," said CATF
Senior Scientist, Ellen Baum.
"We have spent
the past decade working with scientists
and other researchers both in the US and
elsewhere on a number of initiatives directed
at understanding the health and climate
impacts of black carbon and methane. We
look forward to close engagement with the
CCAC and its initiatives in the years to
come," she said.
Established in 2000,
CATF is a non-profit organization dedicated
to reducing atmospheric pollution through
research, advocacy, and private sector collaboration.
See: www.catf.us
ClimateWorks Foundation
The President and CEO
of the ClimateWorks Foundation, Julie Blunden,
said: "ClimateWorks is committed to
cost-effective policies that prevent dangerous
climate change. There are several practical,
readily available interventions to reduce
short-lived forcers that meet these criteria.
The Climate and Clean Air Coalition is a
terrific mechanism to kick those into high
gear and we are very happy to be a part
of it."
The ClimateWorks Foundation
and its Network of grantees have been long-term
proponents and supporters of action to reduce
short-lived forcers. See: www.climateworks.org
Institute for Governance
and Sustainable Development (IGSD)
"The Coalition
has the potential to be the catalyst for
cutting the rate of climate change in half
for the next 30 to 40 years, while saving
millions of lives a year and preventing
significant crop losses," said the
President of IGSD, Durwood Zaelke. "IGSD
is fully committed to helping the Coalition
achieve these planet-saving goals."
The Institute collaborates
with leading national and international
and academic organizations and provides
the secretariat to the International Network
for Environmental Compliance and Enforcement.
See: www.igsd.org
International Cryosphere
Climate Initiative (ICCI)
The International Cryosphere
Climate Initiative's Director, Pam Pearson,
noted: "As an organization focused
on climate change in cryosphere regions,
such as the Arctic and Himalayas where climate
change is occurring at twice the rate elsewhere
on the globe, ICCI is committed to supporting
deep and immediate cuts in CO2. However,
for the cryosphere, even the deepest cuts
and the two-degree goal will allow these
regions to change far too much, and in ways
that present an added threat to the globe
such as sea level rise from glacial melting,
and increased release of methane and CO2
from permafrost and the Arctic sea bed.
This summer may already have seen a new
record low for Arctic sea ice extent, which
decreases the earth's albedo and thus lead
to additional potential warming.
"Cuts in short-lived
climate pollutants such as black carbon,
ozone and methane are therefore a necessary
and urgent complement to cuts in CO2, in
order to slow and bend the curve of warming
in the next few decades, which are critical
to cryosphere regions," Ms Pearson
said.
See: http://iccinet.org
International Council
on Clean Transportation (ICCT)
"The ICCT is very
pleased to become a partner in carrying
out the critically important work of the
Climate and Clean Air Coalition," said
Drew Kodjak, Executive Director of the International
Council on Clean Transportation. "Since
its founding 11 years ago, one of ICCT's
overarching principles has been to pursue
policies that address environmental problems
in mutually reinforcing ways at the local,
regional, and global levels. The CCAC offers
a rich opportunity to partner with countries
and organizations that also see the wisdom
of that approach.
"We are confident
that our particular technical expertise
in the transportation sector, and the global
reach of our Council members, will enhance
the work of the CCAC, and equally confident
that our partnership with the CCAC can aid
our efforts to curb black carbon emissions
from diesels, reduce the carbon content
of fuels, and end the use of climate-harming
refrigerants in vehicles worldwide."
The ICCT's mission is
to improve the environmental performance
and energy efficiency of road, marine, and
air transportation to benefit public health
and mitigate climate change.
See: www.theicct.org
How to join the Coalition
All CCAC partners are
committed to mitigating short-lived climate
pollutants and, where possible, to helping
others take similar actions.
Other non-government
partners interested in joining the Coalition
should visit the website for more information
on eligibility and application guidelines:
www.unep.org/ccac. Potential applicants
must endorse meaningful action to address
short-lived climate pollutants through the
Coalition and identify specific actions
already taken, or planned, to address near-term
climate change.
