Wednesday morning’s high-level plenary session discussed the contributions of national policies and integrated plans to overall SLCP mitigation. Keynotes included Mahmoud Mohieldin, the UN Climate Change High-Level Champion for Egypt, who underlined that his country is tackling climate change by adopting an “holistic approach”; and Ali Zaidi, Deputy White House National Climate Advisor, United States, who praised the momentum building on reducing emissions, including the recent ratification of the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol by the United States.
A panel discussion explored topics such as: the relationship between oil companies and countries in reducing methane emissions; the need for technological and financial assistance for countries in the Global South; the importance of a proper project design in achieving financing; how to operationalize concept notes into projects; and how to achieve a systemic shift in the way companies address emissions reduction and climate change.
Participants received a preview of the CCAC Africa Assessment that will be released at UNFCCC COP 27 in November in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. The report’s key findings include that:
- if nothing is done to mitigate SLCPs in the region, there will be significant risks to public health and economic development;
- there is quantified evidence that tackling pollution and climate change in Africa will have environmental, social, economic, and health benefits; and
- while climate change in Africa is largely driven by global emissions, implementing regional measures can significantly reduce local climate change impacts.
Meetings of the Global Methane Initiative’s Waste Hub, as well as the CCAC’s NGO group, took place at lunchtime.
In the afternoon, participants met in parallel technical sessions to discuss different aspects of SLCP reductions. Sessions addressed, among others:
- closing the air quality gap;
- measuring and reducing oil and gas emissions;
- tools for measuring and estimating agricultural emissions; and
- designing national clean cooking strategies.
All ENB photos are free to use with attribution. For photos from the Global Methane, Climate and Clean Air Forum, please use the following attribution: Photo by IISD/ENB | Diego Noguera.
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High Level Plenary: Policy and Planning to Achieve Fast Climate Action
The dais during the high-level plenary
Cécile Siewe, Acting Associate Assistant Deputy Minister, Environmental Protection Branch, Environment and Climate Change Canada, and Chair, Global Methane Initiative (GMI) Steering Committee
Ali Zaidi, Deputy White House National Climate Advisor, US
Aniruddha Dasgupta, President and CEO, World Resources Institute (WRI)
Representatives from Egypt raised their hands during the intervention by Mahmoud Mohieldin, UN Climate Change High-Level Champion for Egypt.
Pradeep Yadav, Ministry of Forests and Environment, Nepal
Fagr Abdel-Gawad, National Research Center, Egypt, takes a photo of Mahmoud Mohieldin, UN Climate Change High-Level Champion for Egypt, during his intervention.
The dais during the Policy and Planning Plenary
Fred Krupp, President, Environmental Defense Fund
Pacifica Achieng Ogola, Ministry of Environment and Forestry, Kenya
Eric Haxthausen, US Trade and Development Agency
Andreas Ahrens, IKEA Group
Putting Development in the Lead: Food Security, Health and Poverty Alleviation Benefits
A panel briefs participants on the CCAC Africa Assessment, providing examples of climate action through priority actions on food security and health.
Kenza Khomsi, CCAC Scientific Advisory Panel
Martina Otto, Head of Secretariat, CCAC, UNEP
A participant takes a photo of the panel.
Johan Kuylenstierna, CCAC Scientific Advisory Panel
Siwaporn Rungsiyanon, Pollution Control Department, Thailand
José Abraham Ortinez Álvarez, Instituto Nacional de Ecología y Cambio Climático, Mexico
A panel gave policy and planning highlights from countries including innovative actions, successes, and challenges.
A panel discusses the importance of an inclusive and diverse stakeholder consultation process to implement SLCP emissions reductions.
Martial Bernoux, Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO)
Janine Kuriger, Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC)
Shonali Pachauri, CCAC Scientific Advisory Panel
Lawrence Mashungo, Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Water, Climate and Rural Resettlement, Zimbabwe
Closing the Air Quality Gap – Source-based Approaches
Shonali Pachauri, CCAC Scientific Advisory Panel, moderates the technical session.
A slide from the online presentation by Michael Brauer, University of British Columbia, and CCAC Scientific Advisory Panel
Pallavi Pant, Health Effects Institute
Household Energy – Designing National Clean Cooking Strategies
Forrest Robinette, Clean Cooking Alliance
A slide from the presentation by Forrest Robinette, Clean Cooking Alliance
Measuring Emissions
Matthew Johnson, Carleton University, presents on the Energy and Emissions Research Lab (EERL) 2021 National Survey.
Tools for Measurement and Estimation of Agricultural Emissions
John Tauzel, Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), presents on MethaneSAT - Data to action for agriculture.
Open Burning of Municipal Solid Waste: Resources and Solutions
Panel speakers of the technical session
A view of the room during the session
Best Practices in Scaling Mitigation from Paddy Rice
Tran Dai Nghia, Viet Nam
Moderator Jack Okamuro, US Department of Agriculture
Around the Venue
L-R: Andreas Ahrens, IKEA Group; Aniruddha Dasgupta, President and CEO, WRI; and Pacifica Achieng Ogola, Ministry of Environment and Forestry, Kenya
Cécile Siewe, Environment and Climate Change Canada, and Eric Haxthausen, US Trade and Development Agency
Participants network before the plenary.
Members of the CCAC Secretariat