The launch of the first-ever integrated assessment of air pollution and climate change for sustainable development in Africa

Abstract

November 2022 saw the release of the “Integrated Assessment of Air Pollution and Climate Change for Sustainable Development in Africa - the Summary for Decision Makers Report” (UNEP, 2022), by the African Union Commission (AUC), the Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC), and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) at Climate COP27 (Figure 1). Developed by African scientists and supported by the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI), the report unpacks how short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs), greenhouse gases and other polluting emissions play a role in sustainable development in Africa. It also considers strategies, policies, and measures to mitigate these pollutants, while supporting development and human health and wellbeing in Africa on a warming planet. This is the first time that such detailed and harmonized Pan-African assessment on air quality and climate change has happened. Not only will the results of the Assessment provide a critical evidence base for decision-makers across the continent, but the underlying emissions data and tools will be open access to support further studies, and policy measures. In 2022 at the Eighteenth Ordinary Session of the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN-18), African Ministers stated their support of the Assessment and of measures to mitigate SLCPs and ‘’urge African countries to support further development and implementation of the 37 recommended measures as a continentwide Africa Clean Air Program, coordinated by strong country-led initiatives, cascaded to the Regional Economic Communities and higher levels of policy” (UNEP and AMCEN, 2022).