Context: 

The Climate and Clean Air Conference 2024 emphasized global cooperation to eliminate short lived climate pollutants, such as methane, black carbon, and hydrofluorocarbons.

Climate and Clean Air Conference 2024: Key Highlights

• In the conference, there is a provision for the development of a shared agenda in key carbon emitting sectors such as fossil fuels, agriculture, heavy-duty vehicles, engines, and cooling and waste. 

About Short Lived Climate Pollutants:

• They are also known as Super Pollutants.
• Short lived climate pollutants (SLCPs) are greenhouse gases and air pollutants that have a significant impact on climate change and air quality.
• Short lived climate pollutants are responsible for up to 45% of current global warming.
• These pollutants stay in the atmosphere for a shorter time than carbon dioxide
  • SLCPs can have a much stronger warming effect than carbon dioxide.

Policy Framework for Short Lived Climate Pollutants on the International Level

• Paris Agreement’s: The main objective of this agreement is to keep low temperatures below 2 degrees. 
• Kyoto Protocol: Its main objective is the reduction of global warming. 
  • It covers 7 greenhouse gases – carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs), sulphur hexafluoride (SF6) and Nitrogen Triflouride (NF3).
• International Gothenburg Protocol: This protocol deals with the issue of air pollution. 
• Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer (Montreal Protocol): This protocol addresses the issue of ozone depletion by substances such as hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs). 

Benefits of Taking Action On Short Lived Climate Pollutants:

• Improved air quality: Eliminating super pollutants can improve air quality worldwide. 
• Health Benefits: Removing short-lived pollutants will lead to significant health benefits and save millions of lives, especially among children suffering from asthma.
• Food security: Protecting crops from pollutants like tropospheric ozone can enhance food security.

Drawbacks

While addressing short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs) has significant benefits, there are also some drawbacks and challenges associated with taking action on them:

• Incomplete Mitigation:

• • SLCPs, such as methane and black carbon, have shorter atmospheric lifetimes than long-lived greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide (CO₂).
  • Despite their potency, reducing SLCPs alone won’t fully mitigate long-term climate change. 
• Removal of cooling and warming aerosols: Intensified Global action on air pollution can be beneficial for air pollution removal, but it is causing the elimination of both cooling and warming aerosols. 
  • This can lead to new heat extremes.
• Complex Interactions between pollutants and climate:
  • The interactions between SLCPs and other pollutants are intricate.
  • For example, reducing black carbon (which warms the climate) may inadvertently impact cloud formation and regional weather patterns.
• Inadequate funding: There is little funding for action against less high-profile pollutants like nitrous oxide and black carbon.
• Regional Variability:
• • SLCP impacts vary by region. Some pollutants have more pronounced effects in specific areas.

Other Agreements to Remove Super Pollutants From the Atmosphere.

• Kigali Amendment : The Kigali Agreement is a global deal that aims to decrease consumption and production of HFCs. 
• The Montreal Protocol: It is a global treaty that aims to protect the depletion of ozone layer by reducing the production of the substances that impact ozone depletion. 
• The Global Methane Pledge: This pledge was launched in 2021 at COP26 for reducing methane emission by at least 30% below 2020 levels by 2030.

News Source: Down to Earth