Short-Lived Climate Pollutants: A Closer Look into Near- and Long-Term Benefits from Their Reduction

Abstract

According to several commenters, the encouraging figures included in the recently released Chinese Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDC) should be regarded as the latest battle in the “pollution war” – using the words by Premier Li Keqiang – declared by China in recent years. Protecting climate would be mainly driven by the national interest in reducing the toxic air pollution levels resulting from the rapid coal-driven economic growth and safeguarding public health, food, water and energy supply. It is widely acknowledged that acting on the so-called Short-Lived Climate Pollutants (SLCPs) can both provide important climate and societal benefits in the near-term. In this article, we review the most recent literature on SLCPs mitigation by focusing especially on its implication for achieving the 2°C target, and with the aim of complementing and directing policy debate accordingly with the latest scientific evidence.

Keywords: Short-Lived Climate Pollutants, climate change mitigation, air pollution, co-benefits

JEL Classification: Q53, Q54