While carbon dioxide is the primary focus of climate change discussions, almost half of global warming recorded to date comes from pollutants that disappear from the atmosphere within weeks. Known as “super pollutants,” their presence is rapid but mighty, trapping heat far more effectively than carbon and therefore commanding a greater warming effect. But super pollutants are nowhere to be found on the official agenda of the 30th United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP30, in Belem, Brazil, except for a few nods to methane.

Still, super pollutants are starting to gain more attention. A report from the United Nations Environment Programme released at COP30 found that methane emissions are still rising but that proven, low-cost measures could cut them by up to 45% within 15 years — avoiding significant near-term warming. There’s a slow and rising push for super pollutant reduction efforts to count toward countries’ climate change mitigation plans, which could potentially unlock the climate finance that comes with those targets.

“If we want to bend the curve quickly, this is how you do it,” Kiff Gallagher, founding executive director of the Global Heat Reduction Initiative, told Devex. “Because they don’t stay in the atmosphere for a long time, if you address them, then you can bend the curve quickly.”

Super pollutants is an umbrella term for several climate-warming and health-harming emissions: methane, which comes from agriculture and organic waste; black carbon, or soot, the fine particulates produced by diesel engines, coal combustion, and wood and biomass burning; hydrofluorocarbons, which are used in air conditioning, refrigeration, fire suppression and aerosols; and tropospheric ozone, a greenhouse gas and component of smog formed when sunlight reacts with other pollutants.

Action on super pollutants is often framed as a public health intervention, as they contribute to cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, from asthma to heart disease. Many experts say counting these efforts toward climate mitigation as well could benefit both the environment and human health.

Read the full article about the countries taking action on super pollutants by Jesse Chase-Lubitz at Devex.