Air pollutants and greenhouse gases are closely interlinked, so we need integrated approaches to air quality management and climate change mitigation. This event calls for action by COP26 to catalyze clean air efforts around the world, to simultaneously achieve climate, health and sustainable development goals. It is organized by the World Bank, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Environmental Defense Fund and World Resources Institute.
The link will be open for participants to join the online event from 7:00 EST (12:00 noon GMT) on Thursday 11 November.
Air pollutants and greenhouse gases are often emitted from the same sources, such as coal-fired power plants and diesel-fueled vehicles. Fine particles are the most damaging air pollutants to health responsible for more than 90% of approximately 7 million premature deaths per year caused by air pollution.
Methane is a precursor of ground-level ozone and is 80 times more potent at warming the planet than carbon dioxide over a 20-year period. Exposure to ozone causes some 1 million premature deaths every year. Furthermore, some components of fine particles, such as black carbon, are also powerful short-lived climate pollutants. Reducing fine particles therefore helps to achieve local benefits of improving air quality and health, and global benefits of climate change mitigation. These linkages between air pollution and climate pollutants call for integrated approaches to air quality management and climate change mitigation to ensure that global benefits of air quality management are realized, and at the same time, climate change mitigation choices do not result in increased local air pollution and harm to health.
The main objective of this event is to call for catalyzing clean air efforts around the world to simultaneously achieve climate, health and sustainable development goals.
This event is being organized jointly by the World Bank, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Environmental Defense Fund and World Resources Institute. It runs over two sessions: Wednesday 10 November 7:30–10:30 EST and Thursday 11 November 7:30–10:30 EST.
SEI’s Eleni Michalopoulou is one of the speakers in the second session (Thursday) and will address the issue of supporting the private sector in reducing short lived climate pollutants.
presentations followed by Q & A
Chair: Jessica Seddon, Global Lead for Air Quality at World Resources Institute
conversation based on a series of questions panelists will be invited to respond
Chair: Sergio Sánchez, Senior Policy Director, Global Clean Air Initiative, Environmental Defense Fund
Design and development by Soapbox.