Thu, Sep 20, 2012 -
Policy Makers, Scientists and Practitioners
Gather to Set Agenda for Combating Short-Lived
Climate Pollutants in Africa
Accra, 20 September
2012 - Today, high-level government officials,
policymakers, environmental experts and
industrial stakeholders from 15 countries
converged in Africa for the first time in
order to identify ways to reduce emissions
of short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs)
from the continent.
SLCPs are substances
emitted into the atmosphere as a result
of human activities which have impacts on
climate change and adverse implications
for public health and agricultural productivity.
Implementing measures to substantially reduce
concentrations of methane, black carbon
and tropospheric ozone in the atmosphere
would have substantial and immediate health,
crop yield and other environmental benefits
for Africa. In addition, their reduction,
along with reductions in the emissions of
many HFCs, would help reduce near-term warming
and climate impacts across Africa and globally
over the next few decades. At a global scale
it is clear that these actions need to be
complemented by deep and rapid cuts in carbon
dioxide emissions if global mean temperature
increase over the 21st century is to be
held below 2°C.Therefore, addressing
SLCPs is not an alternative to CO2 reduction
but is very important regarding warming
over the next few decades.
Further Resources
The 2011 UNEP Near-term Climate Protection
and Clean Air Benefits report and other
resourcesFast action on short lived pollutants
could have direct impact on climate changeArctic
sea ice thaw may be accelerated by oil,
shippingHosted by the Environment Ministries
of Ghana and Nigeria with support from the
Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC),
the African Climate Policy Centre (ACPC)
and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP),
this three-day event addresses the critical
need for national actions to address the
SLCPs and consequently mitigation of their
impacts. Countries participating besides
the hosts, Ghana and Nigeria, include Benin,
Côte d'Ivoire, Ethiopia, Gabon, Malawi,
Senegal, Togo and Zimbabwe. "Addressing
the issue of SLCPs, will foster achievement
of MDGs and their successors, specifically
issues of health, food security, municipal
waste management, access to cleaner cooking
and energy access.'' said Ghana Environment
Minister Sherry Ayittey. "Action on
SLCPs will help Africans to achieve development
goals in a sustainable way, for example,
by combatting the negative impact of indoor
air pollution, especially on women and children''.
Under the chairmanship
of Ms. Bahijjahtu Abubakar of Nigeria and
Prof. Youba Sokona of ACPC, participants
will explore methods of SLCP reduction for
African nations such as promoting best practices
and showcasing successful efforts for the
reduction of black carbon from cookstoves,
oil and gas flaring, and transport, and
the reduction of methane emissions from
fossil fuel production and from the agricultural
and waste sectors. The meeting will also
address raising awareness of the SLCP issue
in Africa and improving scientific understanding
of SLCP impacts and the socio-economic benefits
of mitigation strategies, and enhancing
and developing the capacity of policy makers
to take effective action at both national
and regional levels.
It is expected that
participants will deliver recommendations
for follow-up activities on the African
continent and future engagement with the
CCAC.
Further Quotations:
"Nigeria is poised
to promote the efforts of the Coalition
by targeting SLCPs in the Oil and Gas Sector,
reducing Black Carbon by the introduction
of a National Clean Cooking Scheme and Clean
Energy Transport Scheme and Integrated Methane
Capture. We will create wealth, improve
health and protect the environment."-MrsHadiza
Ibrahim Mailafia, Hon. Minister, Federal
Ministry of Environment, Nigeria.
"The leadership
shown by Nigeria and Ghana in bringing together
governments and experts from across Africa
demonstrates that tackling short lived climate
pollutants is a policy priority for the
continent. We welcome all countries in Africa
and across the globe to join the Coalition's
efforts to accelerate action on black carbon,
methane and HFCs and to reap the health,
environmental and climate benefits of this
action." - Kaveh Zahedi, Interim Head
of the CCAC Secretariat and Deputy Director
UNEP DTIE
"It is increasingly
clear that the challenges and solutions
of development, air quality, and climate
sustainability are deeply intertwined. I
salute the efforts of this meeting's Ghanaian
and Nigerian hosts, the Climate and Clean
Air Coalition, and all our African partners.
I am glad to see us working together to
take up climate change solutions that secure
benefits for human health, energy and food
security, and economic development on the
African continent." - Todd Stern, Special
Envoy for Climate Change, United States
State Department.
About The Climate and
Clean Air Coalition
The Clean Air and Climate
Coalition (CCAC) was launched in February
2012. The CCAC is a voluntary partnership
uniting governments, intergovernmental organizations
and civil society in the first global effort
to treat these pollutants as an urgent and
collective challenge.
The Coalition is voluntary,
and supported by a small secretariat hosted
by the United Nations Environment Programme
(UNEP). The Coalition is government-led
and serves as a forum for assessing progress
in addressing the challenge of SLCPs and
for mobilizing resources to accelerate action
for SLCP mitigation. The Coalition also
helps to provide funds to help create the
necessary enabling environment for action,
and leverage greater private sector investment
in SLCP mitigation.
Comprised of governments
and other stakeholders who are committed
to taking action on SLCPs, Coalition partners
must be committed to the objectives of the
framework, mitigating SLCPs in their own
countries and helping others take similar
action. Launched by six countries and UNEP
last February, the Coalition is growing
rapidly. As of August 2012, it has now has
close to 30 partners including seventeen
nation states from around the world (plus
the European Commission), along with non-state
partners that include (among others) the
World Bank, United Nations Development Programme,
United Nations Environment Programme, and
the Stockholm Environment Institute.
About Short-lived Climate
Pollutants
Short-lived climate
pollutants (SLCPs) are agents that have
relatively short lifetime in the atmosphere
- a few days to a few decades - and a warming
influence on climate. The main short lived
climate pollutants are black carbon, methane
and tropospheric ozone, which are the most
important contributors to the human enhancement
of the global greenhouse effect after CO2.
These short-lived climate pollutants are
also dangerous air pollutants, with various
detrimental impacts on human health, agriculture
and ecosystems.
Black carbon is a major
component of soot and is formed from the
incomplete combustion of fossil fuels, wood
and biomass. Key sources include emissions
from cars and trucks; cookstoves; forest
fires and some industrial facilities. It
affects the climate by intercepting and
absorbing sunlight and darkens snow and
ice when deposited, while also influencing
cloud formation. It is also a health hazard.
Methane (CH4) is a greenhouse
gas that is over 20 times more potent than
CO2, and has an atmospheric lifetime of
about 12 years. It is produced through natural
processes (i.e. the decomposition of plant
and animal waste), but is also emitted from
many man-made sources, including coal mines,
natural gas and oil systems, and landfills.
Methane directly influences the climate
system and also has indirect impacts on
human health and ecosystems, in particular
through its role as a precursor of tropospheric
ozone.
Other short-lived climate
pollutants include some hydrofluorocarbons
(HFCs). While HFCs are currently present
in small quantity in the atmosphere their
contribution to climate forcing is projected
to climb to as much as 19% of global CO2
emissions by 2050.
According to the 2011
UNEP Near-term Climate Protection and Clean
Air Benefits report, fast action on SLCP,
in particular black carbon, ground level
ozone and methane may help limit near term
global temperature rise and significantly
increase the chances of keeping temperature
rise below 2 degrees C, contingent on rapid
and sharp reductions in CO2. The focus on
reducing SLCP complements but in no way
replaces the need to reduce CO2 emissions.
SLCPs cannot contribute much to reducing
warming beyond the near-term.
There are also numerous
public health and food security opportunities
above and beyond those linked with tackling
climate change. Big cuts in emissions of
black carbon will improve respiratory health;
reduce hospital admissions and days lost
at work due to sickness. Big cuts in ground
level ozone could also contribute to reduced
crop damage equal to between one to four
per cent of the annual global maize, rice,
soybean and wheat production.
