AIDA together with CEDHA, CEMDA and RedRacc have produced a briefing paper on short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs) for presentation at the 19th Conference of the Parties (COP19) on climate change, which is running November 11 to 22 in Warsaw, Poland.
SLCPs are agents that contribute to global warming and have a relatively short lifetime in the atmosphere, from a few days to a few decades. That’s different from CO2, which remains in the atmosphere for centuries or millennia after emission. CO2 contributes an estimated 55% to 60% to global warming, while the remaining 40-45% comes from the emission of SLCPs. The latter seriously affect human health and ecosystems, meaning that any reduction in their emissions also brings significant social benefits.
The fact that these contaminants remain so little time in the atmosphere means that their mitigation brings short-term benefits, in particular to the most vulnerable regions of the world already suffering the impacts of climate change. We must seize the opportunity to reduce SLCPs in the fight against the effects of this global challenge.
Our paper explains what SLCPs are, which are the most relevant ones, and what are the reasons we should work to regulate and reduce their emissions. The paper also provides recommendations for taking on the challenge.
Read the Fact Sheet (in Spanish)
