Enhancing climate change commitments to achieve local air pollution benefits: practical examples from Latin America and the Caribbean

Why was it important to include action on short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs) and air pollution benefits from climate change action in their country’s updated NDC? What process was followed in the NDC update? And what are the next steps in making the clearly articulated objectives on SLCPs and air pollution benefits in their NDC a reality?

These are the questions representatives from Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Mexico and Uruguay will share their experience on during this Latin America and the Caribbean Climate Week 2021 event, organized by the Climate and Clean Air Coalition and co-hosted by SEI.

Background

In 2019, 6.6 million premature deaths were attributable to air pollution exposure. In 2020, in many locations, air quality improved due to the measures put in place to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. However, we are already seeing air pollution levels increasing, which highlights the need for implementing actions that can sustainably reduce air pollution emissions.

There is a large opportunity to sustainably improve air quality through climate change mitigation actions. Over 1 million premature deaths could be avoided annually, if actions are taken globally to limit global temperature increases to ‘well below 2°C’.

Air pollutants share many of the same sources as greenhouse gases (GHG), and therefore many actions that target major GHG sources also reduce air pollutants. A subset of pollutants, called Short-Lived Climate Pollutants (SLCPs), including black carbon, and methane, also directly contribute to air pollution and its health impacts, and to global temperature increases.

For these health benefits to be realized, they need to be prioritised and reflected in countries’ climate change commitments (Nationally Determined Contributions, NDCs). In 2015, only a few countries included SLCP mitigation, or air pollution benefits from climate change mitigation actions in their NDCs. As countries are now updating their NDCs, that is changing, and countries in Latin America and the Caribbean are leading the way.

In 2020, five countries in Latin America and the Caribbean: Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic and Mexico, submitted updated NDCs, that increase their climate change mitigation ambition, and include targets, actions and activities that focus on achieving local air quality benefits and meeting international climate change commitments.