Short-lived climate pollutants

Short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs) are agents that have a relatively short life 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 pollutants , with various detrimental impacts on human health, agriculture and ecosystems. Other short-lived climate pollutants include some hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). While HFCs are currently present in the atmosphere, their contribution to climate is as high as 19% of global CO2 emissions by 2050.^[2] [3]

Black carbon is a major component of soot and is produced by incomplete combustion of fossil fuel and biomass. It is emitted from various sources including diesel cars, trucks, residential stoves, forest fires, agricultural open burning and some industrial facilities. It has a warming impact on climate 460-1500 times stronger than CO2. Its lifetime of a few days to a few weeks. When deposited on ice and snow, black carbon causes both the atmospheric warming and the increase of melting rate. It also influences cloud formation and impacts regional circulation and rainfall patterns. In addition, black carbon impacts human health. It is a primary component of particulate matter in air pollution that is the major environmental cause of premature death globally. ^[2] [4]

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 (ie, the decomposition of plant and animal waste), but is also used by many people, 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. ^{[2] [3] [5] [6]}

HFCs are man-made greenhouse gases used in air conditioning, refrigeration, solvents, foam blowing agents, and aerosols. Many HFCs remain in the atmosphere for less than 15 years. Although they represent a small fraction of the current total greenhouse gases (less than one percent), their warming impact is particularly strong and, if left unchecked, HFCs could account for nearly 20 percent of climate pollution by 2050. ^{[7] [8] [9]}

Tropospheric or ground-level ozone (O3) is the ozone present in the lowest portion of the atmosphere (up to 10-15 km above the ground). It is responsible for a large part of the human enhancement of the global greenhouse effect and has a lifetime of a few days to a few weeks. It is not directly formed by sunlight-driven oxidation of other agents, called ozone precursors, in particular methane (CH4) but also carbon monoxide (CO), non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOCs) and nitrogen oxides (NOX). Tropospheric ozone is a harmful pollutant that has significant impacts on human health and is responsible for significant reductions in crop yields. ^{[2] [3] [5] [10] [11]}Potential Results of SLCP Mitigation

Potential Results of SLCP Mitigation

Health . Action to reduce SLCPs has the potential to achieve multiple benefits. For example, each year, more than 6 million people die prematurely from indoor and outdoor air pollution. Short-lived climate pollutants are largely to blame. Fast actions on short-lived climate pollutants, such as the widespread adoption of advanced cookstoves and clean fuels, have the potential to prevent over 2 million of premature deaths each year. ^{[2] [10] [11]}

Agriculture . Reducing methane and black carbon could also prevent major crop losses. Present day global relative yield to the tropospheric ozone exposure range between 7-12 percent for wheat, 6-16 percent for soybean, 3-4 percent for rice, and 3-5 percent for maize. In addition, black carbon influences the formation of clouds that have a negative effect on the photosynthesis that impacts plant growth. Rapidly reducing short-lived climate pollutants, for instance through the collection of landfill gas or the recovery of methane from coal mines, has the potential to avoid the annual loss of more than 30 million tons of crops. ^{[2] [4] [5] [10]}

Climate . Reducing SLCPs could slow down the warming expected by 2050 by about 0 ° C, almost halving projected near-term warming. SLCP is associated with elevated snow-and-ice-covered regions, and is also likely to reduce regional disruption of traditional rainfall patterns.

Though HFCs currently represent a small fraction of total greenhouse gases, their warming impact is particularly strong, and their emissions are projected to increase over the last few decades if their growth is not reduced. The most commonly used HFC is HFC-134a, which is 1,430 times more carbon dioxide.

HFC emissions could not be better than the Montreal Protocol. They are projected to be about 3.5 to 8.8 Gt CO2eq in 2050, comparable to total current annual emissions from transport, estimated at around 6-7 Gt annually. There are options available that could avoid or replace high-GWP HFCs in many sectors and also ways to reduce emissions. ^{[5] [7] [8] [9] [12]}

Objectives

The Coalition’s objectives are to address short-lived climate pollutants by:

• Raising awareness of short-lived climate pollutant impacts and mitigation strategies;
• Enhancing and developing new national and regional actions, including identifying and overcoming barriers, enhancing capacity, and mobilizing support;
• Promoting best practices and showcasing successful efforts; and
• Improving scientific understanding of short-lived climate pollutant impacts and mitigation strategies.

Actions

Since its launch in February 2012, the Coalition has been working on identifying and improving the health, environmental, and climate benefits of reducing SLCPs. As of March 2014 the CCAC has taken ten initiatives:

Reducing Black Carbon Emissions from Heavy Duty Diesel Emissions and Engines from the Carbon
and Particulate Matter (PM) emissions, particularly in the transport sector. A Green Freight Call to Action was issued in late 2013.

Mitigating Black Carbon and Other Pollutants from Brick Production
of pollutants from the production of pollutants

Mitigating SLCPs from the Municipal Solid Waste Sector
Addressing Methane, Black Carbon, and Other Air Pollutant Emissions from the Municipal Solid Waste Sector by Governments and National Governments

Promoting HFC Alternative Technology and Standards Targeting governments and the private sector HFC emissions

Accelerating Methane and Black Carbon Reductions from Oil and Natural Gas Production Working with key stakeholders to encourage and support the implementation of new and existing methane emissions from natural gas venting, leakage, and flaring. The CCAC Oil and Gas Methane Partnership, involving the public sector and private companies, is expected to be launched in 2014.

Addressing SLCPs from Agriculture Aiming to reduce emissions of methane and black carbon from the agricultural sector, not only

Reducing SLCPs from Household Cooking and Domestic Heating
Working with climate and climate change, agriculture and climate change

Cross-cutting efforts

The Coalition has also identified cross-cutting efforts to accelerate emissions of all pollutants. To date these actions are:

Financing of SLCP mitigation opportunities SLCP mitigation financing and will work with governments, private sector, donors, financial institutions, expert groups and investors’ networks to bolster these financial flows.

National Action Planning for Action on SLCPs (SNAP) This initiative has been developed to support national action plans for SLCPs, including national inventory development, climate change and development agreement, and assessment, prioritization, and demonstration of promising SLCP mitigation measures.

Regional Assessments of SLCPs The CCAC believes there is a need for in-depth assessments of SLCPs in the region, and to encourage new action. The Latin American and Caribbean region is the first target for this initiative. ^[13]

Partners

Founding Partners

• United Nations Environment Program
•  United States ($ 6 million USD initial donation $ 2.5 million USD in 2013)
•  bangladesh
•  Canada ($ 3 million USD initial donation, $ 10 million USD CAD in 2013)
•  Ghana
•  mexico
•  Sweden ($ 1.7 million USD initial donation, $ 2.5 million USD in 2013)

Additional Donor Countries (received and pledged as of February 2014)

•  Denmark ($ 1.8 million USD)
•  EU ($ 1.4 million USD)
•  Germany ($ 0.4 million USD)
•  Japan ($ 5.4 million USD)
•  Netherlands ($ 0.5 million USD)
•  Norway ($ 11.8 million USD)

Country Partners (March 2014)

Non-State Partners (March 2014)

See also

• Climate and Clean Air Coalition to Reduce Short-Lived Climate Pollutants
• United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and Accompanying Kyoto Protocol (CO2 Regulations)
• 2013 United Nations Climate Change Conference
• 2012 United Nations Climate Change Conference
• 2011 United Nations Climate Change Conference
• Post-Kyoto Protocol negotiations on greenhouse gas emissions
• Green Climate Fund
• Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer and accompanying Montreal Protocol (Ozone Regulation – Context)

References