Global Linkages

Climate change

energy reflected back into space, and increase the absorption of sunlight, leading to accelerated melting. This in turn uncovers darker land and water surfaces that are more heat absorbent and thus contributes to a cycle of continued melting. In 2017, the Arctic Council approved the shared goal of reducing black carbon emissions by 25 to 33 per cent from the 2013 levels of member countries by 2025. The Council’s SCLP task force identified transport, domestic heating and burning from agriculture, forestry and wildfires as the main sources of black carbon in the region (Arctic Council, 2011). Another example of regional action is the Arctic Council’s Arctic Contaminants Action Programme (ACAP) and its Black Carbon Case Studies Platform, developed “to showcase mitigation projects or policies relevant to the Arctic.” The Platform is a repository of case studies produced by ACAP project partners

showing how existing technologies can reduce black carbon emissions (ACAP, 2014).

The short lifetime of SLCPs provides an opportunity for rapid mitigation benefits that can slow the rate of warming through the implementation of instant measures. However, Arctic states are only responsible for 20 per cent of total anthropogenic emissions of methane and 10 per cent of total anthropogenic emissions of black carbon (AMAP, 2015b) and a significant proportion of Arctic warming can be attributed to SLCP emissions from outside the Arctic. This highlights the urgent need for global action to reduce SLCPs to compliment regional efforts to reduce emissions. One example is the Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC), a voluntary partnership of more than 120 state and non-state partners working to raise awareness and reduce emissions across multiple sectors (UN Environment and CCAC, 2014).

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Global Linkages