Climate and Clean Air Coalition
Environmental risk management - Conference of the Parties.
(CCAC).
Author: Charitarth Sindhu', Environmental Sustainability & ESG Consultant.
The Climate and Clean Air Coalition to Reduce Short-Lived Climate Pollutants is a global initiative to combat climate change, formed voluntarily in 2012 by participating nations including the United States, Canada, Mexico, Sweden, Ghana, and Bangladesh, in partnership with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). It now comprises more than 160 government and non-state members, united in their mission to combat short-lived climate pollutants, often referred to as super pollutants or forcers.
Non-CO2 super pollutants, including methane, black carbon, and Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), possess a brief lifespan in nature. Although their annual emissions are significantly lower than CO2, they contribute to 40% of the greenhouse effect, resulting in global warming. Due to their substantial impact and short lifespan, reducing the emissions of super pollutants holds the potential to swiftly mitigate global warming.
The CCAC actively works to reduce these potent, short-lived pollutants through immediate actions, aligning with the objectives of the Paris Agreement. Furthermore, it aims to support global economic development, health objectives, and food security goals through the following strategies:
Collaboration with major short-lived climate polluters and other stakeholders from around the globe to support, empower, and catalyse emission reduction action.
Enhancement of technological and administrative capabilities to facilitate the exchange of information, experiences, and skills, fostering climate change mitigation actions.
Advocacy for the inclusion of short-lived climate pollutants in policy discussions at all levels of government, businesses, and civil societies.
Mobilization of financial resources to facilitate the effective implementation of transformative and replicable actions.
Advancement of scientific understanding to assist decision-makers in scaling up actions and highlighting the numerous benefits of addressing short-lived climate pollutants.
The CCAC's initiatives have yielded notable successes, such as the reduction of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) used in refrigeration and air conditioning. The global warming potential from releasing a single 30-pound (14kg) HFC tank is equivalent to the CO2 emitted by driving over 14 additional cars annually. The coalition played a crucial role in the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol, aiming to decrease HFC production and consumption by 80% before 2046.
Additionally, the CCAC serves as the secretariat for the Global Methane Pledge, launched at COP26 in 2021. With member governments representing over 50% of global human-caused methane emissions, these members commit to voluntary national actions, aiming to reduce collective methane emissions by 30% below 2020 levels before 2030. To support this ambitious pledge, the CCAC introduced the Methane Roadmap Action Programme (M-RAP), facilitating coordinated and accelerated progress in identifying and developing relevant methane-targeted measures and supporting policies.
See also
- Biodiversity
- Carbon credits
- Carbon dioxide
- CBD COP 15
- Climate change
- Climate change: testing the resilience of corporates’ creditworthiness to natural catastrophes
- Climate change adaptation
- Climate change mitigation
- Climate finance
- Climate risk
- Conference of the Parties
- Conference of the Parties - historical milestones
- Convention on Biological Diversity
- COP27
- COP28
- COP29
- COP30
- Developing country
- Ecosystem services
- Emissions
- Fossil fuel
- Fund
- Global Cooling Pledge
- Global Methane Pledge
- Green Climate Fund
- Greenhouse effect
- Greenhouse gas
- G7
- Hydrocarbons
- Kyoto Protocol
- Loss and damage
- Methane
- Methane Roadmap Action Programme (M-RAP)
- Nationally determined contribution (NDC)
- Net zero
- New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG)
- Paris Agreement
- Ratification
- REDD+
- Risk management
- Short-lived climate forcers (SLCFs)
- Super pollutants
- Transition
- Transparency
- Treaty
- United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)
- United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
- United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
- Voluntary carbon markets (VCM)
- V20
- World Bank
