Giving Compass' Take:

• Phil McKenna reports that the countries involved in the Climate and Clean Air Coalition have agreed to cut climate super pollutants: black carbon and methane. 

• How can funders work to ensure that countries reach their climate goals? What stakeholders need to be involved in the decisionmaking and execution of climate actions? 

• Learn about the role of cities in climate action


The more than 60 countries that are part of the United Nations-led Climate and Clean Air Coalition agreed to cut these pollutants enough to help put the world on a pathway that rapidly reduces near-term warming while maximizing public health benefits.

"We can avoid about 0.6 degrees [Celsius (about 1°F)] of warming between now and mid-century by taking action on short-lived climate pollutants," Dan McDougall, a senior fellow at the Climate and Clean Air Coalition said. The estimate is based on a 2011 United Nations Environment Program and World Meteorological Organization assessment that looked at 16 measures to cut black carbon and methane emissions across the agriculture, energy, transportation, industry, buildings and waste management sectors.

Reducing black carbon and methane also has tremendous health benefits by improving local air quality.

"We are going to avoid the annual loss of 3 million lives prematurely because of the air pollution aspects," McDougall said of efforts to reduce black carbon and ozone-forming methane. "It's incalculable how important that is."

About 7 million people die prematurely each year from air pollution, and roughly 3 million of those premature deaths could be prevented annually by 2030 by reducing short-lived climate pollutants, according to a 2015 World Health Organization report that considered the same 16 emissions reduction measures.

Where Are Countries Promising Progress?
As countries prepare to recommit to a new round of emissions reduction targets under the Paris climate agreement in 2020, the coalition is urging countries to place a much stronger focus on short-lived climate pollutants.

Only nine countries had emissions reduction goals that specifically targeted short-lived climate pollutants in their initial "Nationally Determined Contributions" (NDCs) agreed to as part of the Paris Agreement, according to the 2018 report by the World Resources Institute.

Mexico, for example, set a goal of reducing black carbon emissions by 51 percent by 2030, and Japan planned to reduce methane emissions from rice paddies.

Read the full article about countries taking action against climate super pollutants by Phil McKenna at InsideClimate News.