In the closing session of the two-week talks on Thursday evening, many countries expressed their disappointment and frustration at the lack of any outcome on the Mitigation Ambition and Implementation Work Programme (MWP), noting the urgency of stepping up efforts to curb greenhouse gas pollution this decade.

The co-chairs of the talks said those discussions had not reached any conclusion and would need to resume at the annual climate summit in Azerbaijan in November, unleashing a stream of disgruntled interventions from both developed and developing countries.

Samoa’s lead negotiator Anne Rasmussen, speaking on behalf of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), emphasised that “we really can’t afford these failures”. “We have failed to show the world that we are responding with the purpose and urgency required to limit warming to 1.5 degrees,” she said.

Anne Rasmussen of Samoa, speaking on behalf of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS). Photo: IISD/ENB – Kiara Worth

Governments, from Latin America to Africa and Europe, lamented the lack of progress on the MWP because of its central role in keeping warming to the 1.5C temperature ceiling enshrined in the Paris Agreement.

Current policies to cut emissions are forecast to lead to warming of 2.7C, even as the world is already struggling with worsening floods, droughts, heatwaves and rising sea levels at global average temperatures around 1.3C higher than pre-industrial times.

Mitigation a taboo topic?

Despite the clear need to act fast, a deep sense of mistrust seeped into talks on the MWP in Bonn, with negotiators disagreeing fundamentally over its direction, according to sources in the room.

Developed countries and some developing ones said that the Like-Minded Group of Developing Countries (LMDCs), led primarily by Saudi Arabia and China, as well as some members of the African Group, had refused to engage constructively in the discussions.

“The reason is that they fear this would put pressure on them to keep moving away from fossil fuels,” an EU delegate told Climate Home.

Bonn bulletin: Fossil fuel transition left homeless

Bolivia’s Diego Pacheco, speaking on behalf of the LMDCs, rejected that view in the final plenary session, while describing the atmosphere in the MWP talks as “strange and shocking”. He also accused developed countries of trying to bury data showing their emissions will rise rather than fall over the course of this decade.

The EU and Switzerland said it was incomprehensible that a body charged with cutting greenhouse gas emissions had not even been allowed to discuss them.

“Mitigation must not be taboo as a topic,” said Switzerland’s negotiator, adding that otherwise the outcome and credibility of the COP29 summit would be at risk.

Rows over process

Before MWP negotiations broke down in Bonn, its co-facilitators – Kay Harrison of New Zealand and Carlos Fuller of Belize – had made a last-ditch attempt to rescue some semblance of progress.

They produced draft conclusions calling for new inputs ahead of COP29 and an informal note summarising the diverging views aired during the fraught exchanges. For many delegates, the adoption of those documents would have provided a springboard for more meaningful discussions in Baku.

But the LMDC and Arab groups refused to consider this, arguing that the co-facilitators had no mandate to produce them and calling their legitimacy into question – a claim rebutted by the UN climate secretariat, according to observers. Frantic efforts to find common ground ultimately came to nothing.

A session of the Mitigation Work Programme in Bonn. Photo: IISD/ENB – Kiara Worth

Fernanda de Carvalho, climate and energy policy head for green group WWF, said the MWP discussions must advance if the world is to collectively reduce emissions by 43% by 2030 and 60% by 2035 from 2019 levels, as scientists say is needed.

The MWP should be focused on supporting countries to deliver stronger national climate action plans (NDCs) – due by early next year – that set targets through to 2035, she said.

“Instead, we saw [government] Parties diverging way more than converging on hard discussions that never made it beyond process,” she added.

‘Collective amnesia’

Some developing countries, including the Africa Group, pushed back against what they saw as efforts by rich nations to force them to make bigger cuts in emissions while ducking their own responsibilities to move first and provide more finance to help poorer countries adopt clean energy.

Brazil – which will host the COP30 summit in 2025 – said the MWP was the main channel for the talks to be able to find solutions to put into practice the agreement struck at COP28 to transition away from fossil fuels in energy systems in a fair way.

But to enable that, “we have to create a safe environment of trust that will leverage it as a cooperative laboratory”, he said, instead of the “courthouse” it has become “where we accuse and judge each other”.

Observers in Bonn pointed to the absence of discussions on implementing the COP28 deal on fossil fuels, which was hailed last December as “historic”.

“It seems like we have collective amnesia,” veteran watcher Alden Meyer, a senior associate at think-tank E3G, told journalists. “We’ve forgotten that we made that agreement. It’s taboo to talk about it in these halls.”

‘Detour on the road to Baku’

After the exchange of views, UN Climate Change executive secretary Simon Stiell noted that the Bonn talks had taken “modest steps forward” on issues like the global goal on adaptation, increased transparency of climate action and fixing the rules for a new global carbon market.

“But we took a detour on the road to Baku. Too many issues were left unresolved. Too many items are still on the table,” he added.

The closing plenary of the Bonn Climate Change Conference. Photo: Lucia Vasquez / UNFCCC

Another key area where the talks failed to make much progress was on producing clear options for ministers to negotiate a new post-2025 climate finance goal, as developed countries refused to discuss dollar amounts as demanded by the Africa and Arab groups, among others.

Bonn talks on climate finance goal end in stalemate on numbers

Developing nations also complained about this in the final session, while others expressed their concern that a separate track of the negotiations on scientific research had failed to address the topic in a rigorous enough manner.

In his closing speech, Stiell reminded countries that “we must uphold the science”, and urged them to accelerate their efforts to find common ground on key issues well ahead of COP29.

The next opportunities to move forward on the new finance goal – expected as the main outcome from the Baku summit – will be a “retreat” of heads of delegations in July followed by a technical meeting in October, including a high-level ministerial dialogue on the issue.

But several observers told Climate Home that highly contentious issues – such as the size of the funding pot and the list of donors – are beyond the remit of negotiators and are unlikely to be resolved until the political heavyweights, including ministers, take them up in Azerbaijan in November.

Rising costs of climate crisis

“Business-as-usual is a recipe for failure, on climate finance, and on many other fronts, in humanity’s climate fight,” Stiell said. “We can’t keep pushing this year’s issues off into the next year. The costs of the climate crisis – for every nation’s people and economy – are only getting worse.”

Mohamed Adow, director of Kenya-based energy and climate think-tank Power Shift Africa, warned that “multiple factors are setting us up for a terrible shock at COP29″, saying this “ticking disaster threatens to undermine” the NDCs and in turn the 1.5C warming limit.

North Africa’s disappearing nomads: Why my community needs climate finance

In comments posted on X, formerly Twitter, Adow called for justice for those dying from the impacts of climate change such as extreme heat in India and Sudan in recent days, arguing that climate finance remains “a vital part in securing a safe and secure future for us all”.

But, he said, Bonn did not deliver a beacon of hope for vulnerable people. “Developing countries are expected to slay the climate dragon with invisible swords, having gotten zero assurances on the long-term finance they need,” he added.

(Reporting by Megan Rowling and Matteo Civillini, editing by Joe Lo)

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Spain’s parliament voted in favour of the long-awaited climate law, which commits the country to cut emissions 23% by 2030, compared with 1990 levels. 

The law bans all new coal, gas and oil exploration and production permits with immediate effect, prohibits the sale of fossil fuel vehicles by 2040 and enshrines a goal to generate 74% of the country’s electricity with renewable sources by 2030.

Lawmakers agreed that production of fossil fuels must end on Spanish territory by 31 December 2042 and restricted the use of fossil fuel subsidies by mandating that they be “duly justified by social, economic or social interest”.

“For the planet, for our future and for the next generations. From today, Spain has a climate law on which to build a green, sustainable, fair and prosperous future for all,” prime minister Pedro Sanchez tweeted following the vote on Thursday. 

Spain’s energy and environment minister Teresa Ribera described the legislation as “an essential law we must continue to build on”. In an interview with Spanish newspaper El Pais, Ribera acknowledged it “should have been put in place 10 years ago”.

Women and youth are leading Kenya’s coral reef revival

Spain’s 2030 emission reduction target is significantly lower than goals set by other major European emitters. Germany announced last week it would cut emissions 65% between 1990 and 2030 and the UK committed to 68% cuts during the same period. The EU finalised discussions to raise the bloc’s 2030 target from 40% to at least 55% last month. 

But unlike the UK and Germany, Spain’s emissions rose between 1990 and 2007, and are currently at levels seen in the late 1990s. Spain failed to meet its targets under the Kyoto Protocol, exceeding its emissions cap.

This is one argument the Spanish government uses to justify its lower target for 2030. When compared with a 2020 baseline, the new target is among the most ambitious in Europe.

“The argument is if you take present-day emissions as your baseline and look forward, then Spain is in line with that EU commitment and is among the highest,” David Howell, head of environmental governance at NGO SEO Birdlife, told Climate Home News.

But when compared against a 1990 baseline, the targets are far less ambitious. “Spain has only just dropped down below 1990 levels,” Howell said. 

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Howell said Spain would have to make a “huge effort” to catch up with other EU nations that have been on a decarbonisation pathway for a long time. “We think 55% is what Spain should be setting out to achieve as an industrialised nation with historic responsibility,” he said.

The law states that climate goals should be reviewed periodically, with the first consultation scheduled for 2023. Campaigners hope the government will choose to raise its ambition then. 

“Only by increasing its emission reduction targets will Spain be able to decisively combat the climate emergency,” Greenpeace said in a statement.

Campaigners have called on the government to establish an independent climate committee that would advise on enhancing Spain’s climate goal from 2023. 

UK calls on leaders to ‘consign coal to history’ at Cop26

“I do regret that the Spanish climate law doesn’t have an independent science expert committee, nor carbon budgets like the UK does,” said Peter Sweatman, CEO of consultancy climate strategy and partners in Madrid.

Despite these omissions, the law “is a step in the right direction,” Sweatman told Climate Home News.

The law is the first in the world requiring all companies to set out clear climate action plans with emissions reduction targets that must be achieved over a period of five years. “This is a win for leading firms, and Spanish listed businesses in reducing climate risks,” said Sweatman.

For Romain Ioualalen, senior campaigner at Oil Change International, the decision to end fossil fuel production in less than 12 years is “a welcome development”.

“It is further proof that the escalating climate crisis means that no country can claim to be a climate leader if they don’t put an end to fossil fuel expansion and commit to phasing out production,” he said.

The post Spain to end fossil fuel production by 2042 under new climate law appeared first on Climate Home News.

6°C has often been described as the ‘doomsday scenario’ of climate change.

Forests could burn, seas could rise and life could become a battle for survival as food and water resources steadily diminish.

Scientists are warning this could be closer to reality than previously thought. Since the industrial revolution, the world has warmed by around 0.7°C. Most scientists believe we have committed ourselves to at least the same again given current emissions

But a recent report from consultancy PwC warned current emission reduction pledges must be drastically increased to keep the world below 6°C. Some suggest an average global warming of 6°C could be seen as early as 2100.

This echoes the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the International Energy Agency (IEA) whose Chief Economist, Fatih Birol warned: “With current policies in place global temperatures are set to increase by 6°C, which has catastrophic implications.”

6°C is often described as the doomsday scenario where forests will burn and oceans will rise (Source: giumaiolini/Creative Commons)

How much do we know about 6°C?

Very little is currently known about what the world might look like 6°C warmer. Most climate models to date have focused on 2°C and 4°C rises, and even these involve some guesswork.

There are also few comparable events in the past to learn from, making it harder for scientists to predict potential changes.

So what do we know?

“There are some very basic rules,” Corinne Le Quéré, Director of the UK’s Tyndall Centre told RTCC. “Like more heatwaves… More floods and more droughts are [also] typical of a warmer climate because you have essentially more energy in the system.”

To an extent we already know how a 2°C temperature rise will affect life. Arid regions will get drier, wet ones wetter. At 6°C, scientists say all of these will still occur, but they will be more extreme.

“When you are talking about this level of warming, I think tipping points are a very serious possibility; especially if the six degrees happens very quickly,” said Le Quéré.

Such tipping points include the disintegration of the polar ice sheets, causing sea level rises and methane discharges, and the collapse of forests, one of the world’s vital carbon sinks. Once these have been passed there is little chance of turning back the clock.

In the Arctic, warming could see tree types suited to more temperate climates replace Boreal forests. If this happens rapidly it could lead to fires, diseases or pests which could drive the forests to destruction.

With any warming from 2°C to 6°C, it is expected that desertification will become a greater problem, since the movement of water between the earth and the atmosphere will be intensified and biodiversity and ecosystems will be adversely hit.

6°C average

At 6°C forest fires, pests and diseases could spread and destroy the world’s woodlands, releasing more CO2 into the atmosphere (Source: Jaako/Creative Commons)

It is important to note 6°C refers to the average temperature. This does not mean a 6°C rise in the US would also mean a 6°C rise in Africa.

Much of the land temperatures will actually be higher. Air over water warms at a slower rate than over land, so ocean temperatures are likely to be at the lower range of the scale.

The UK Met Office’s Hadley Centre has mapped this change in the 4°C world, where they estimate much of Africa could see 6°C to 7°C rises, and northern latitudes could see anything from 8°C to 14°C temperature rises.

“Normally the high latitude, Russia and Canada for instance, would warm twice as much as the global average,” said Le Quéré. “You can’t say for sure but you would be looking at 12°C of warming over and around the Arctic and surrounding countries [with a 6°C average].”

These variations would also differ throughout the year. It is usual to experience above-average hot days and the same could be expected in a 6°C world.

Take for instance the 2003 heatwave across Europe (the UK witnessed temperatures over 38°C) which caused 35,000 deaths on the continent. Those above average days in a 4°C world could be 6 to 8°C hotter than they were in 2003, warn scientists.

In Beijing or New York, this could be even more extreme, taking temperatures 8°C to 12°C higher than the hottest day in Europe in 2003.

While much of the developed world can hide away in air-conditioned offices, in the developing world working life is expected to become much more difficult.

Working outside during the summer months would be impossible, and manual workers would have to start working through the night or seasonally.

Waterworld

Higher concentrations of CO2 will mean more ocean acidification.

This is a relatively new area of research, but scientists say the pH of the oceans has already decreased by 30% since the industrial revolution (the lower the pH the more acidic a substance is). They predict the oceans could become 150% more acidic by 2100.

This could have dire consequences for life in the sea. Current studies suggest that ocean acidification causes calcium carbonate – the stuff of shells, skeletons, corals and much of the ocean’s phytoplankton – to dissolve.

This could impact the formation of coral ecosystems and disrupt ocean food webs, as the phytoplankton which forms its base is removed.

A combination of melting ice caps and the expansion of oceans as they warm will also mean a hotter planet could also experience sea level rises.

How high the seas could rise involves a significant amount of guess work, but Le Quéré is more certain on what this could mean.

Warming waters and ocean acidification could both break down coral ecosystems, which one billion people currently rely on for their food and livelihoods (Source: Prilfish/Creative Commons)

“It is very very difficult to adapt to high levels of sea level rise. Above a metre it becomes really difficult,” she said. “Even in richer countries. We have seen what happened in New York last week – where you had storm surges of 11 to 12 feet (three metres) and if the sea level is a metre higher than that you would easily get half of your infrastructure flooded.”

One recent study predicted sea levels could rise by one metre by the year 3000, although other studies have predicted a much more rapid rise in levels.

And with drier conditions on land, rising sea levels and a potential wasteland in the oceans, life on Earth will be harder for its inhabitants.

Life on Mars

The world population is expected to hit nine billion by 2050, and worsening climate change will make feeding this population much more difficult as the land on which to grow food shrinks.

Today the world already has one billion people going hungry, while another two billion are what is termed the ‘hidden hungry’ where they do not have the right balance of nutrients.

Water will also become scarcer – with consequences both for agricultural systems and daily life for many communities.

“It become more problematic,” said Le Quéré. “A warmer climate means that the water cycle is intensified. You get more rainfall and you get more evaporation – everything goes a bit faster.

“So if you live in a dry area, it is likely that it will get drier. So in drier areas you have less water access. A lot of places live on one river, like the Nile River Basin. If you are reliant on a particular storage to have your fresh water availability then when that runs out it simply runs out.”

Le Quéré said that these impacts will disproportionately affect the poor, who have less resources to help them adapt, and are often much more reliant on the natural world.

An apocalypse?

There is one episode in history which shows what 6°C may look like, but this takes us back 251 million years ago to the end of what is called the Permian era.

Here, a 6°C rise in temperatures resulted in the extinction of 95% of the planet’s species, and is considered the worst event ever endured by life on Earth.

Sea-levels are said to have risen 20 metres, and flash floods engulfed many coasts. Only one large land animal species was left alive and it took 100 million years for the variety of the planet’s species to return to normal level.

How the planet will react to such a warming, and how far people can adapt is still widely debated amongst circles of scientists, analysts and environmentalists alike.

“If you add all these things together, then it becomes really difficult to maintain our current level of wealth and our capacity to provide food for the citizens,” said Le Quéré.

One thing is widely agreed on; life in a world that has warmed by 6°C will be tough for all living organisms on the planet.

Related Articles:

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World headed for 6°C of warming, says new study

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A key goal of the 2012 Bangkok climate talks is to establish exactly how the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action (ADP) can proceed.

It’s a tortuous process as the new negotiating stream overlaps with discussions that have been rumbling on for the past decade, with little or no results.

But with 2015 the agreed deadline for a deal – the pressure is now on – and there have been a variety of interesting and often confusing suggestions put forward in Bangkok.

“We heard a lot of countries recognising that the old divisions between developing and developed countries are breaking down,”  Kyle Gracey from SustainUS told me.

“There was much more dialogue on how, under the ADP, an agreement should apply to all countries, even if there are various levels or gradients for what each “tier” of countries was expected to do.”

#UNFCCC ADP roundtable on near-term ambition surprisingly constructive – but they’re sharing ideas, not negotiating

— Kat Watts (@watts_kat) September 4, 2012

Singapore set out the three criteria it feels countries emissions targets should be determined by – context, constraints and contributions.

This tiny nation is a unique example. It’s widely regarded as a state that is investing in green technologies and energy efficiency, making the most out of a tiny area of land for its five million residents.

Yet it also has a high rating for per-capita emissions, and WWF recently rated it was being the 12th worst country in the world for its ‘ecological footprint’.

In Bangkok Singapore proposed emissions targets should be based on considerations including the socio-economic, political and geographical context of a country.

Other factors that need to be taken into account include the political, financial and geographical constraints a state faces, and the contributions made both domestically and internationally to the climate process.

Countries set out their vision for the Durban Platform and how it can incorporate all countries (Source: UNFCCC/flickr)

USA negotiator Johnathan Pershing suggested that a “flexible” and “dynamic” approach rather than one that stresses the legally binding nature of talks is vital.

Micronesia and the US also stressed the value of taking place outside of the negotiations such as those focusing on HFCs, black carbon and methane (check our Climate Change A-Z for more information on these)

Switzerland:ADP: need international cooperation on HFCs in Montreal Protocol, int’l shipping& aviation, enabling envt for clean tech #UNFCCC

— Kat Watts (@watts_kat) September 1, 2012

South Korea argues that emission target expectations for individual countries should account for the renewable energy potential of countries, population size, and how much coastline a country has.

Ecuador proposed that an emissions reduction compliance mechanism be linked to the International Court of Justice.

And Columbia suggested the climate change discussions be framed in the broader context of the UN Security Council agenda.

“Countries are starting to have quite profound discussions around what a nature of an agreement should look like and parties are starting to get a better understanding of where each other are at,” Liz Gallagher from E3G, who’s in Bangkok, told me.

“They are not coming to any conclusions but it is a good first go at getting a better understanding of what parties think they can deliver.”

Outstanding issues

While there are still so many outstanding issues in the other tracks of the negotiations, however, a vision for the ADP is likely to remain vague for some time.

Many countries, including Brazil, called for the LCA and Kyoto Protocol to be the focus of COP18 in Doha.

Brazil says it fears the ADP could become the dumping ground for discussions not completed under the other tracks.

In stocktaking meeting LCA Chair calls for more progress over the next 3 days.#UNFCCC

— Christiana Figueres (@CFigueres) September 3, 2012

While we are beginning to see the vision begin to take shape on how the Durban Platform might look, the ideas remain rough and are likely to do so until the outstanding issues from other negotiations are resolved.

Observers have told RTCC discussions on the Durban Platform may not make true headway until 2013.

Related Articles: 

Bangkok 2012: NGOs warn of climate finance complacency

Bangkok 2012 – USA accused of backtracking on legally binding UN climate treaty

Bangkok 2012 – Future of climate finance and adaptation trigger debate as LCA talks heat up

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Increased levels of air pollution can be expected around the world unless urgent action is taken to cut man-made emissions, according to a new study.

Published in the journal Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, the study predicts that without new policies citizens  40 years from now will face similar air quality to that of East Asia today.

In 2008 a NASA satellite tracked the progress of a massive plume of pollution from China, caused by forest fires, urban exhausts, power and manufacturing plants – a result of China’s rapid industrialisation.

Researchers warn that without legislation to lower emissions, citizens of 2050 could face degraded air quality and possible health impacts (Source: theseoduke/Creative Commons)

The World Health Organisation estimates that 1.3 million deaths are caused every year from urban outdoor air pollution.

The study found that eastern China and Northern India could be especially affected by air pollution – due to their high population density.

It suggests that if no major policy changes are implemented, East Asia could be exposed to high levels of pollutants such as nitrogen dioxide, sulphur and fine particulate matter – such as those found in smoke and haze as early as 2025.

Air quality would also be reduced in Europe and North America, but to a lesser extent than Asia, say the researchers, largely due to mitigation policies which have been in place for the last two decades.

In Northern India and the Arabian Gulf Region, a marked increase in ozone levels would be expected.

Call for action

The researchers examined the impact of man-made emissions on air quality on the assumption that past emissions trends continue and no additional climate change and air pollution reduction measures are taken – beyond what has been in place since 2005.

Their findings add urgency to the quest for a binding global greenhouse gas emissions deal – which is scheduled to be agreed by 2015.

“Post-Kyoto climate negotiations are progressing slowly and it is unclear how air quality policies will develop globally,” report co-author Greet Janssens-Maenhout explained.

The first period of the Kyoto Protocol comes to an end at the end of the year – and countries are currently working to come up with a new agreement for an extension to the Protocol.

Related Articles:

25/07/2012 – UK, Germany & France join coalition against black carbon and methane pollutants

19/03/2012 – Experts: Climate change to increase lung disease

09/02/2012 – Beijing announces drastic action to slash air pollution

The post Report: World’s air pollution could be as bad as China’s by 2050 without urgent action from governments appeared first on Climate Home News.

Report calls for UK to be more open about its 'outsourced' emissions (© UN Photo)

The UK must recognise and be more open about the emissions it ‘outsources’ to other countries, the energy and climate change committee of MPs has said.

The report, released by the committee said the UK government should be more straightforward about the impact the country’s consumption is having on climate change if it is to encourage reductions in countries that manufacture and export goods to the UK.

They say acknowledging this could increase the country’s leverage to help secure a binding global agreement on carbon cuts.

Tim Yeo, Chair of the committee said: “The UK can scarcely lecture countries like China for failing to sign up to binding emissions cuts when much of their pollution is produced making products for us and other high-consumption economies.

“We are not saying that consumption emissions should form the basis of a new global climate treaty but a more honest approach about our contribution to rising CO2 levels could help to break the stalemate.”

Mixed results

The official CO2 figures from the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) count territorial emissions from power stations, transport and other industries within the UK.

According to these figures the UK has achieved an almost 20% reduction between 1990 and 2009.

However, if consumption based emissions – from imported goods – are included, research from the Department for the Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) show emissions to be 20% higher in 2009.

The latest report says emissions reductions have not necessarily been a consequences of the Government’s climate policy but from a shift in manufacturing away from the UK.

Speaking at the a select committee on this subject, Minister for Energy and Climate Change, Greg Barker told the committee a switch to consumption-based emissions reporting could jeopardise the UN climate negotiations.

Today’s report, however, argued that the difficulty involved in switching reporting should not be used as an excuse for inaction.

It stressed that DECC should no longer exclusively rely on territorial emissions, saying new policies should be looked at to identify carbon-intensive behaviours previously overlooked.

They say consumption-based emissions data should be used to help set emissions targets at national level.

The post UK must be more open on ‘outsourced’ emissions, say MPs appeared first on Climate Home News.

Limiting soot and methane could not only slow global warming but improve health and agriculture (Source: Viernest/flickr)

Simple measures to cut emissions of methane and soot could slow global warming, boost crop production and save lives, according to a new study.

The group of international scientists led by NASA and Columbia University found that putting immediate focus on these two non-CO2 pollutants could reduce projected mean warming by 0.5°C by 2050.

They also found that the measures could boost annual crop yield by 30 to 135 million metric tonnes and help avoid 0.7 to 4.7 million premature deaths annually from air pollution.

“We’ve shown that implementing specific practical emission reductions chosen to maximise climate benefits would also have important ‘win-win’ benefits for human health and agriculture,” said lead researcher Drew Shindell of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) in New York.

The study, published in Science, analysed 400 actions that could be taken by policymakers – focusing on the 14 that would yield the greatest climate benefits.

While most methods to combat climate change currently deal with the ‘headline’ greenhouse gas – carbon dioxide – which is the primary driver of global warming over the long term, these are often expensive, difficult and slow to implement

Shindell believes limiting black carbon (soot) and methane alongside actions on CO2 could have an immediate impact as these two pollutants circulate out of the atmosphere more quickly.

While all regions would benefit, countries in Asia and the Middle East would see the biggest health and agricultural gains from emissions reductions, according to the study.

Some of the methods suggested by the research include capturing gas escaping from coal mines and oil and natural gas facilities, reducing leakage from long-distance pipelines, preventing emissions from city landfills, limiting emissions from manure on farms and banning agricultural burning, installing filters in diesel vehicles and upgrading cooking stoves.

RTCC Video: Check out this great video of NASA Scientist Dr Piers Sellers from the Climate Change Studio in Durban where he discussed climate modelling and the use of satellites:

NASA Astronaut and climate expert Dr Piers Sellers from Responding to Climate Change on Vimeo.

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