In a substantial step toward combating climate change and improving air quality, the Initiative for Climate Action Transparency (ICAT) and the Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC) have jointly launched a comprehensive guide aimed at assisting decision makers in integrating inventories of air pollutants and greenhouse gases.
The publication, titled “Integrating Air Pollution and Short-Lived Climate Pollutants into Climate Change Transparency Frameworks: A Practical Guide,” provides valuable insights to track the impact of climate change mitigation actions on air pollution, as well as the reciprocal relationship.
Addressing the global environmental and health concerns posed by poor air quality, particularly in developing nations, this guide emphasizes the often-underestimated linkages between air pollution and climate change.
By recognizing the interconnectedness of these issues, decision makers can make informed choices that simultaneously address local and global challenges.
The guide acknowledges the direct impact of air pollutants on local communities, including severe health effects, especially in urban areas. Consequently, efforts to reduce air pollution have the potential to directly benefit urban residents by improving their health outcomes.
Furthermore, as many air pollutants contribute to climate change and often originate from the same sources as greenhouse gases, tackling air pollution can also have a global impact on mitigating climate change.
However, it is important to consider that certain climate change measures may inadvertently increase air pollutants, while some air pollution reduction measures could inadvertently raise greenhouse gas emissions.
The new guide provides decision makers with a practical methodology to assess the benefits and trade-offs of their actions in these domains. It encourages decision makers to integrate their assessments and leverage existing emissions inventories, which are already available in most countries.
Moreover, the guide offers a pathway for countries with limited capacity and without formal air pollution and climate change planning processes to enhance their national capabilities in addressing these critical environmental issues.
It serves as a foundation for establishing systems that strengthen their capacity in tackling air pollution and climate change.
Ultimately, the guide’s primary objective is to equip decision-makers with a clear understanding of how and why air pollutants should be integrated into their climate change measurement, reporting, and verification frameworks.
By incorporating air pollution tracking into these frameworks, decision-makers can adopt a more comprehensive approach to address the detrimental effects of greenhouse gas emissions on climate change, which is projected to cause nine million deaths annually by the end of the century.
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Simultaneously, it is estimated that poor air quality will also contribute to millions of deaths each year. These interconnected issues are already impacting human health in various regions across the globe.
The newly released guide is part of ICAT’s Toolbox, a collection of advanced methodologies and tools designed to help countries assess the climate impacts of policies and actions. By utilizing this resource, decision makers can make more informed choices and contribute to a sustainable and healthier future for all.