Air Pollution, Clean Energy and Climate Change. Anilla Cherian
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private sector‐driven partnerships focused on meeting clean energy for all (SDG 7) and climate change objectives (SDG 13)?
Given the central role of the energy sector in climate change and the linkages between the lack of access to clean energy and SLCPs, what exactly is the existing scope of global guidance that allows for distinguishing between partnership mechanisms/modalities related to SDGs 7 (Sustainable Energy) and SDG 13 (Climate Change)?
What does an examination of UN‐related partnership databases and portal reveal in terms of integrated action on clean energy access, curbing air pollution and addressing climate change?
How can integrated action that mitigates SLCPs and increases access to clean air and clean energy be scaled up for regions where these challenges are most urgent? What broad lessons can be learned from the CLRTAP and its Gothenburg Protocol, as well as the landmark assessment done by UNEP/WMO (2011) that are relevant for the most polluted cities in world?What are the broad parameters for scaling up linked action on clean air, access to clean energy and climate change for countries like India and Indian cities which are impacted by some of the highest levels of PM pollution?
The constant thread in all the chapters is that partnerships which integrate action on clean air, clean energy and climate action are crucial. The UN‐led global community has long focused on partnerships for sustainable development (PSD) as a means of delivering on an overarching pledge to eradicate poverty for the past decades so what for example is the track record of such partnerships in delivering on poverty eradication and access to clean energy? Chapters 2 and 3 examine the record of key UN global goals and partnership efforts focused on climate, increasing access to clean energy and air pollution. Chapter 2 begins by providing context as to the global neglect of climate related health impacts that have particular relevance for poorer and more vulnerable communities and countries. It then focuses on the agreed global guidance and the implementation record of the global partnership mechanism for the precursor to the SDGs – the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to see whether increasing access to sustainable energy and curbing air pollution have been dealt with in the context of the SDGs. Chapter 2 provides a historical analysis of the global record on partnerships mechanisms/modalities related to sustainable energy and climate action within the context of UN’s 2030 SDA. It provides evidence as to whether definitional clarity or confusion exists in terms of PSDs in particular those related to sustainable energy, climate change and clean air.
Chapter 3 focuses on examining the agreed UN record on global partnerships mechanisms related to climate change including the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) of the 1997 KP and the PA’s proposed Article 6 mechanism. Globally agreed climate change outcomes within the UNFCCC framework are examined in terms of integrated partnerships aimed at addressing poverty eradication, reducing energy related air pollution and climate change goals. The chapter concludes by reviewing the online partnership portal – the Non‐state Actor Zone for Climate Action (NAZCA) hosted by the UNFCCC. Given that the NAZCA portal is expressly aimed at partnership actions that cities, companies, investors and regions – i.e. NNSAs – are taking to address climate change, the aim is to critically examine this portal and the extent to which NNSAs actions within it are aimed at addressing SDGs on clean energy and climate change including most importantly SDG 1 – poverty eradication.
The need to focus on integrated action to curb SLCPs and air pollution that are not nation‐state driven but sectoral and city/community‐driven is the focus of Chapters 4–6. The most recent projection by the UN’s Population Division is that, ‘Africa will have 22 per cent of the world’s urban population‐ 1.5 billion urban dwellers, while Asia, with 3.5 billion persons residing in urban areas, will have 52 per cent of the world’s urban population by 2050’ (UNDESA 2018, pp. 24–25). Integrated partnership actions focused on addressing the linkages between urbanization, air pollution and poverty are critical in the most populous cities in Africa and Asia. In a world where more than half the global population currently lives in cities, civil society/NSAs based in the largest cities of the world arguably holds the key to global action on clean air, clean energy and climate change. Cities are the loci where climate, clean air and clean energy needs and related health/morbidity burdens are the greatest, and where integrative change can occur.
Innovative forms of NNSA partnerships on curbing air pollution, mitigating SLCPs and increasing access to clean energy for the poor are essential in averting the air pollution catastrophe. The role of NNSAs including cities in driving climate responsive and clean energy actions especially in regions of the world where air pollution threatens lives is undeniable. Chapter 4 examines the urgency of urban air pollution by focusing on the linkages between urbanization and PM air pollution. It also discusses the role of cities as the new loci for integrated climate and clean air responsive action and then moves on highlighting the significance of PM pollution for India and Indian cities. India is the third‐largest aggregate GHG emitter, but it has the lowest per capita emissions amongst the top ten leading national GHG emitters, and it has long argued that poverty eradication and equity considerations need to be factored in its climate change response. But now the toxic problem of air pollution threatens future development in India at many levels. The chapter’s conclusion urges the need for cleaner, inclusive and greener future for cities.
Chapter 5 delves into the issue of curbing SLCPs as a means to address not just climate change but also health, food and water insecurities experienced primarily in developing countries. Global environmental problems such as climate change are broadly defined as global challenges which cannot be contained within the confines of a state, or a set of adjoining states, and are therefore viewed as requiring multilateral or global responses within the UN. In contrast, air pollution within the UN context has been defined as a transboundary regional problem for the most part. Chapter 5 focuses on the importance of curbing SLCPs in particular BC emissions. It also focuses on providing a brief overview of the UN’s only regional air pollution treaty – the CLRTAP a and its Gothenburg Protocol, which is the world’s first protocol aimed at PM2.5 emissions reductions. The idea is to highlight a few key lessons learned and implications for other regions in the world that are faced with the toxic levels of PM pollution. This chapter also focuses on specific measures for curbing SLCPs that have been highlighted by CCAC which endorsed the 2011 recommendations made by UNEP/WMO in their joint integrated assessment. The role of the CCAC as the only globally relevant yet voluntary partnership network that could serve as a model for improving air quality and mitigating SLCPs is also briefly touched upon.
Chapter 6 focuses on summarizing that integrated action on the nexus between climate change, air pollution reduction and access to clean energy matters for millions whose voices are not heard in intergovernmental negotiating fora. It further highlights the role of NNSAs such as the private sector by looking at shifts towards low and zero carbon strategies proposed by the CEOs of the two of world’s biggest corporations and asks what if anything fossil‐free divestments mean for clean energy and clean air for the poor? The chapter then provides an overview of the importance of innovative partnership initiatives, modalities and measures that are expressly focused on the reduction of SLCPs. It concludes by providing a brief update on the outcomes of the 2021 COP‐26 (Glasgow) and by arguing that segregated goals/silos on sustainable energy and climate do not enable SLCPs and PM pollution reduction. The absence of integrated and inclusive clean air, clean energy and climate action only worsens the lives of those who already suffer the costs of carbon and air pollution inequities.
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