Linking the Paris Agreement to Africa Agenda 2063: the integrated assessment of air pollution and climate change for sustainable development in Africa

Africa has a huge opportunity to continue developing sustainably, improve human well-being, and protect nature by investing in solutions to fight climate change and air pollution together. A new report  – Integrated Assessment of Air Pollution and Climate Change for Sustainable Development in Africa – by the African Union Commission (AUC), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Regional Office for Africa, and the Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC), and developed through a process led by the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI), shows how African leaders can act quickly across five key sectors — transport, residential, energy, agriculture, and waste — to fight climate change, prevent air pollution, and protect human health.

The report presents 37 clean air measures, which can achieve cost-effective results, and whose implementation can enable individual countries to pursue their development goals while improving air quality, as well as meeting their Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) targets under the Paris Agreement. The measures also contribute towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Africa and set the continent on a cleaner development pathway towards meeting the goals of the African Union Agenda 2063 – The Africa We Want – as well as the objectives of the African Union Climate Change and Resilient Development Strategy and Action Plan (2022-2032).

The key recommendations and plans for implementation of the Assessment findings were presented and adopted at the 18th Session of the African Ministerial Conference on Environment (AMCEN) which noted in its AMCEN decisions 18/1 (c) and 18/4, the completion of the integrated Assessment of Air Pollution and Climate Change for Sustainable Development in Africa and its report, in response to AMCEN decision 17/2, and urged  African countries to support further development and implementation of the 37 recommended measures as a continent-wide Africa Clean Air Program, coordinated by strong country-led initiatives, cascaded to the Regional Economic Communities and higher levels of policy.

This side event will present to stakeholders the key messages and recommendations from the Assessment and mark the launch of the Summary for Decision Makers (SDM) of the Integrated Assessment of Air Pollution and Climate Change for Sustainable Development in Africa. It will also enable discussions across the key areas of actions – agriculture, energy, residential, transport, and waste – on how to fast track implementation of the recommended measures. Key interventions on finances, technology and legal frameworks that are required to facilitate the development of the Africa Clean air Program will be discussed.

Programme