Workshop: Accelerating actions to address non-CO2 emissions in Africa through community of practice for methane

This workshop has an overarching aim to outline how to build on and coordinate the community of practice of science and policy makers assembled from three key sectors, energy, waste, and agriculture.

Context

The reduction of anthropogenic short-lived climate pollutant (SLCP) emissions together with the limiting of CO2 and other long-lived GHG emissions has long-term benefits for climate change as well as near-term benefits in reduction of environmental pollution, protection of biodiversity, human health, and livelihoods.

At the 19th Ordinary session of the Africa Ministerial Conference for the Environment (AMCEN), reduction of non-CO2 emissions was included in climate change actions, while the 18th and 17th AMCEN Sessions included support for integrated actions on greenhouse gases and SLCPs.

The political momentum in Africa also echoes the global pledge to reduce methane emissions by at least 30% anthropogenic from 2020 levels by 2030 with more than 30 countries signing onto the pledge by October 2023.

The 18th session of AMCEN in 2022 urged African countries to support further development and implementation of the 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.

Objectives

• Outline how to enhance engagement, interrogation, and discourse of global, regional, and national scientific assessments on non-CO2 by African experts;
• Mapping of the stakeholders in the Energy, Waste, and Agricultural sectors including climate, health, air and water pollution, and biodiversity communities;
• Identify the gaps in capacity for African scientists so as to meaningfully engage with long term efforts on data gathering, modeling, and monitoring for methane emission assessment;
• Map out the priorities in Energy, Agriculture, and Waste on the down-scaling and domestication of global assessments underpinning pledges to the regional, national, city, and local scale where the majority of decision making and implementation is executed;
•  Identify the existing knowledge gaps on multi-sectoral and multi-disciplinary scientific impact assessments integrating multiple benefits of SLCPs and non-CO2 emissions reductions;
• Develop the outline of the proposal document with key stakeholders on a continental program to accelerate the actions to address non-CO2 emissions in Africa through a Community of Practice for Methane.