In March 2024, the 6th session of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA-6) in Nairobi passed a resolution on air pollution. The resolution aims to spur “regional cooperation on air pollution to improve air pollution globally”. To do so, it tasks UNEP with setting up a global cooperation network on air quality, working with member states to develop regional programs to boost air quality.

The text of the resolution specifically acknowledges the progress made by the Integrated Assessment of Air Pollution and Climate Change for Sustainable Development in Africa – and the Africa Clean Air Program that it proposes.

The assessment was coordinated and co-authored by SEI and was published in 2022.

Pioneering assessment charts course

Africa is one of the fastest-growing economies in the world and will contribute to more than half of global population growth between 2022 and 2050. At the same time, the continent’s high levels of poverty leave it especially vulnerable to the impacts of climate change and jeopardize progress on the Sustainable Development Goals. For more sustainable growth that avoids major increases in air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, policymakers must rapidly enact realistic and effective solutions.

In response, SEI began a collaboration with the African Union Commission (AUC) and UNEP’s Climate and Clean Air Coalition and Regional Office for Africa to coordinate and author the integrated assessment.

The assessment provides a comprehensive roadmap for African governments and development partners to act on 37 key measures across five sectors: transport, residential, energy, agriculture, and waste management.

If African governments follow the assessment’s recommendations, they could prevent an estimated 200 000 premature deaths annually by 2030 and 880 000 deaths annually by 2063. Also, by 2063, they could reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 55%, methane emissions by 74%, and nitrous oxide emissions by 40%. Moreover, they could improve food security by reducing desertification and increasing crop yields for staples like rice, maize, soy, and wheat, while making substantial contributions to achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement and limiting the impacts of regional climate change.

The assessment team understood that to successfully fulfil the recommendations it would be essential to coordinate efforts at national and regional levels, supported by international partners and organizations. Therefore, one of its key recommendations, in line with the AUC’s initiative, is to establish an Africa Clean Air Program that can integrate and drive action on air pollution across the continent.

Political stepping stones to the resolution

The assessment has received substantial support for its implementation across the continent. In 2022 it was endorsed at the Eighteenth Session of the Africa Ministerial Conference on Environment (AMCEN-18) in Dakar, Senegal, which called on African countries to develop and implement the recommended measures as a continent-wide initiative, coordinated by country-led initiatives and cascading to the Regional Economic Communities and beyond.

In November 2023, the African Union’s Specialised Technical Committee (STC) on Agriculture, Rural Development, Water, and Environment recommended that the AU Commission lead work with the Regional Economic Communities and AU member states to mobilize finance and technology to pursue the measures in the integrated assessment under a continent-wide Africa Clean Air Program.

In March last year the UN passed its resolution on air pollution, commissioning UNEP to boost regional cooperation and formulate national programs, pointing to an Africa Clean Air Program as a platform for this work in Africa.

Success factors

For the assessment to succeed, it was essential that African authors were at the heart of the work. Nearly three-quarters of the more than 100 scientists who contributed are from African countries, providing all-important regional perspectives and ensuring that the assessment accurately reflects Africa’s unique challenges and potential solutions.

Alongside the integrated assessment, SEI helped fill a critical gap by establishing national-level inventories of greenhouse gases, short-lived climate pollutants, and air pollutants for all African countries. This comprehensive data can support each country’s ongoing action on air pollution and climate action.

Work already under way in Kenya

For instance, the assessment will contribute towards Kenya’s ambition to achieve 100% renewable power by 2030. This commitment aligns with Kenya’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) – the country’s climate action plan under the Paris Agreement.

Speaking at the Africa Climate Summit, Soipan Tuya, Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for Environment, Climate Change and Forestry, said: “The Ministry of Environment and Forestry is developing a National Action Plan (NAP) on short-lived climate pollutants. The NAP will provide a roadmap for the implementation of the 37 measures identified in the integrated assessment across the five key areas of transport, residential, energy, agriculture, and waste to fight climate change, prevent air pollution and protect human health and wellbeing.”

Kenya’s NAP is being developed with support from SEI Africa and will define mitigation actions and strategies for reducing the country’s emissions and air pollution.