Annual report: 2020-2021

Message from our Co-Chairs

2030 Strategy: The work begins

We are heading into a pivotal decade for climate action. A decade in which there must be increasing ambition and action to rapidly slow the rate of warming by 2030, while also taking steps to decarbonize and reach net-zero carbon emissions as soon as possible.

The Coalition’s work over the last ten years has set us up to contribute significantly to achieving these goals  We have raised awareness of the need to rapidly reduce the rate of warming in the near term by acting fast on a group of powerful climate forcers and air pollutants called short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs), which include hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), black carbon, methane, and tropospheric ozone.

We have shown that reducing these pollutants comes with additional and immediate benefits for health, food security, economic development, and sustainable development, and that by doing so we can achieve our national economic, development, and health priorities, while also contributing to global climate goals.

Over the last ten years the Coalition has improved the science behind SLCPs, shared what we have learned and carried out activities in different sectors to test and prove the feasibility of available solutions. Many of our country partners have developed national action plans and policies that integrate climate, air quality and development goals, and we continue to build capacity and catalyze action to enable more partners and new organizations to take up the challenge.  

The CCAC has been instrumental in changing the trajectory of some of these pollutants. The number of countries acknowledging the importance and opportunity of ambitious action on SLCPs in their NDCs has more than doubled in 2021 NDCs. There has been a large increase in the number of countries including methane mitigation actions in their NDCs.

Black carbon emissions are going down thanks to improved practices in the brick and agriculture sectors, improved fuel and vehicle standards, cleaner household energy, better access to finance and technology, and a global push for clean air, and they are expected to continue falling as improvements in efficiency and the electrification of cars and other vehicles continue.

The Coalition’s high-level efforts toward the adoption of the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol, means we are all now working together to phase down HFCs. The Coalition is working to ensure the proper disposal and destruction of HFCs and to increase the phase down’s climate benefits by making the next generation of cooling technology ultra-energy efficient.  

The curve is bending in the right direction for black carbon and HFCs and know we can do more to speed their reduction.

However, methane emissions continue to increase at an alarming rate. Halting and reversing this trend is a priority focus for the Coalition going forward. Over the past year a series of reports – including the CCAC and UN Environment Programme’s (UNEP) Global Methane Assessment, The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) AR6, UNEP’s Emissions Gap report, and reports from the International Energy Agency (IEA) – point to methane as the stand-out option to keep us on a pathway to 1.5ºC.

Our Global Methane Assessment says there are available technical measures directly targeting methane that can achieve reductions by 2030 consistent with keeping warming to 1.5⁰C, and measures that target other greenhouses gases that indirectly lead to additional reductions.  

We know we can do it and countries are rallying around the cause. As of November 2021, the Global Methane Pledge to reduce emissions by at least 30% (below 2020 levels) by 2030 has seen 105 countries sign up and over $300 million pledged by philanthropies to jump start the process. The benefits of collectively achieving the Global Methane Pledge’s goal are significant and the CCAC’s demonstrated success at reducing SLCP emissions makes it a key enabling institution to achieve the goals of the Global Methane Pledge. 

In 2022 we will launch the CCAC Methane Flagship, a two-year campaign that aims to foster and strengthen high level commitments to reduce methane, amplify and raise awareness, support planning and delivery of strategies and plans, provide analysis and tools to support action, and scale up financing.

With our new 2030 Strategy the Coalition will build on its past achievements and increase our focus on national action by working with countries to plan and deliver SLCP reductions. We will support targeted sectoral interventions through our hubs and continue to support and provide the cutting-edge science and research needed to identify new mitigation opportunities.

As we enter this new phase, we would like to thank all our partners for getting us this far and look forward to your continued support to drive the momentum we have built forward.

Thank you.

Key figures

In its first phase, the CCAC leveraged its Trust Fund
and diverse partnership to drive action.

The partnership

Trust Fund

Increasing NDC ambition

Many new and updated NDCs submitted in 2021 include actions to reduce methane, covering almost 40% of global methane emissions from oil and gas, 25% from livestock, 25% from rice, and 37% from solid waste. For black carbon, there has been an increase in the number of countries including actions that target the major black carbon sources in transport and residential sectors. 33 countries have included reducing HFC consumption as a measure to achieve their climate change mitigation target, up from 10 in 2015.  

Over the past year, 60 CCAC Partners have submitted new or updated NDCs. All 60 have included methane, 12 black carbon, and 44 HFCs. Through our funded projects, the CCAC has supported 17 countries to incorporate actionable SLCP solutions into their NDCs. Key outcomes include:

#CutMethane

A look back at our milestones and achievements.

Through our funded projects and actions by our partners, the CCAC has raised awareness and political will for the large-scale implementation of methane mitigation measures in the agriculture, oil and gas, and waste sectors.  

Thanks to our collective efforts, methane is now recognized for its unparalleled potential to slow global warming in the near-term and avert the worst impacts on public health, food security and economic development.

National action

CCAC Partners are delivering on their commitment
to act on SLCPs.

The CCAC completed many funded projects in 2021 with the close of its first phase, while our Partners introduced new policies and initiatives. 

2020-2021 national planning support

The CCAC continued to increase its support to countries to integrate SLCPs into climate, clean air and development plans and policies.

Results achieved

Phase 1 achievements

Since 2012, the CCAC has developed a methodology and set of tools to support countries in short-lived climate pollutant planning efforts.

HFCs

A look back at our milestones and achievements.

The CCAC successfully campaigned globally for actions to reduce HFCs. Our funding has supported country efforts to survey HFC use, find the most cost-effective and relevant sectors to reduce consumption, and transition to HFC-alternative technology.

Action in SLCP source sectors

CCAC Partners are delivering on their commitment to act on SLCPs.

The CCAC completed many funded projects in 2021 with the close of its first phase, while its Partners introduced new policies and initiatives.

Main results in 2020-2021:

• We supported Vietnam to develop their Monitoring, Reporting and Verification (MRV) framework.
• We built capacity in Eswatini‘s Ministry of Tourism and Environmental Affairs and Ministry of Agriculture to model greenhouse gas emissions and identified options for low carbon livestock development.
• In Thailand, we funded an assessment to identify finance strategies to scale up low emissions rice production.
• CCAC funding helped FAO and NZAGRC prepare action plans for increased action on methane in Indonesia, Costa Rica and Kenya.
• We trained staff in open-source geospatial data and technology monitoring methods in our open burning project in Nigeria.
• We helped Bangladesh, Ethiopia and Uruguay identify low-cost strategies to reduce enteric methane from livestock. This mainstreamed mitigation measures in World Bank and GEF large-scale investment projects for each country (worth a total of $US 866 million).
• In India we are assessing the use of rice straw to produce sustainable energy. With FAO we are considering the development of green supply chains for crop residue.
• We featured our work on the Koronivia Joint Work on Agriculture during Asia Pacific Climate Week

More CCAC work in the agriculture sector →

Black carbon

A look back at our milestones and achievements.

We have championed the message that acting on black carbon will not only have an immense impact on public health, it will also contribute to addressing climate change and slow the melting of glaciers, snow and ice. Our efforts have led to mounting support for action in the health and climate communities.

The Coalition

Delivering on our 2030 Strategy.

2021 was a year of transition for the Coalition, as we began putting in place the structural changes needed to deliver the new strategy.  

Investing in climate action

We rely on the support and expertise of our Partners to carry out our work. We wish to thank all Partners that have supported the CCAC since 2012.