Ponente
Descripción
The impact of air pollution and climate change constitutes a serious and growing public health across Africa. Sustaining economic growth without a large increase in problems associated with air pollution and climate emissions will depend on whether policy makers in the region adopt and implement cost-effective solutions to air pollution and climate change. Furthermore, Africa is considered particularly vulnerable to climate change due to high levels of poverty, vulnerable water resources and dependency on rain-fed agricultural production. Not surprisingly, climate adaptation is a key issue in Africa’s future development. Taking people out of poverty is a major goal, and this will need to be accompanied by increasing access to clean energy services, ramping up sustainable agricultural practices, tackling growing waste challenges and curbing transport and industrial emissions.
It is in this context, the Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC) in partnership with the United Nations Environment Programme’s (UNEP), the African Union Commission (AUC) and the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) is developing an assessment on air pollution, climate change and sustainable development in Africa to identify priority measures that reduce emissions while maximizing the multiple-benefits for human wellbeings, health, ecosystems, climate, and food security. The assessment is bringing together academics, experts, and practitioners working across Africa to address the growing air pollution and associated climate threats while promoting capacity mobilisation and building, and action to reduce air pollution and climate change. The analysis being undertaken is framed around ’development pathways for Africa and their air quality and climate consequences’ to determine how Africa can meets its development aspirations and priorities. The paper will outline how the Africa Assessment process has been actively linking to the atmospheric science community and highlight the capacity building and consultation processes to develop the modelling and scenarios and present the emerging results.
