CCAC Approves $6 Million in Funding for Super Pollutants

In the CCAC’s most competitive funding round to date, the third round of transformative action projects bring innovative approaches and technologies to improve the speed, scale, and access of mitigation actions in developing countries around the world.  

This year’s cohort of transformative action grantees bring together NGOs, IGOs, inter-governmental organizations, and the academic community to tackle methane, black carbon, and hydrofluorocarbon emissions while achieving development benefits for millions of people around the world.  

Read more about our selected projects below.  
 

The six selected projects are:
 

Agriculture

Enabling Platform for the Participation of Male and Female Rice Producers in Carbon Markets, Including Digital MRV [AGR-24-007]

Rice consumption in South America is on the rise.  While rice is the fastest growing staple food in the region, rice production is also a major source of methane emissions. In many cases, farmers lack economic incentives for upscaling low-methane production practices, despite being part of the commitments made in international agreements such as NDCs.

This project, implemented by the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) takes a gender-inclusive approach to enabling the participation of rice producers in Latin America to participate in carbon markets – seeking to scale the adoption of water management techniques like Alternative Wetting and Drying (AWD) and System of Rice Intensification (SRI) which are effective in reducing emissions, but face barriers due to economic risks and gender inequalities. The project will include the development of a digital measurement, reporting, and verification (MRV) business model accompanied by capacity development to transform the rice sector and foster methane reduction through collaborative efforts across countries. 

The project complements ongoing initiatives by the Global Methane Hub, FONTAGRO, Agricultural Carbon Partnership (ACP), and CCAC's project Accelerating methane reductions in rice production systems through market-based mechanisms (AMR).  

Crop Residue Improvement to Reduce Emissions from Livestock: Action Plan for Ethiopia and Nepal [AGR-24-006]

Sub-Saharan Africa  and South Asia account for approximately half of the world's bovine population. However, due largely to poor feed quality, these regions produce between two to five times more emissions per kilogram (kg) of milk and meat compared to developed countries. Low-digestible feeds result in similar or higher methane production per kg but lower growth or milk production. Consumption and production in these regions are expected to increase substantially with rising incomes and population growth. Additionally, in some areas, the low value of crop residues leads to their burning, resulting in significant methane emissions and poor local air quality.

Reducing emissions while promoting income growth for smallholder farms requires improvement in the feed efficiency of meat and milk production. Though relatively simple strategies exist for improving crop treatment, they are greatly underutilized.  

This project, implemented by the World Resources Institute (WRI) and the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), this project will enhance the digestibility of crop residues through breeding, chemical treatments, and new technologies, to improve livestock productivity while reducing methane emissions – with a focus on Ethiopia and Nepal.

A key focus is on piloting advanced treatment methods like "strawlage" and second-generation biofuel technologies, which have shown promising results in improving animal growth and milk yield. The project also promotes the development of small-scale enterprises to collect and treat residues, and advocates for policy changes and breeding programs to incorporate higher feed quality standards. Ultimately, it aims to create sustainable feed systems that benefit both the environment and smallholder farmers. 
 

Cooling

Pathways to Stop Dumping of Climate-Harming Room Air Conditioners in Latin America and the Caribbean - [CLG-24-004]

Environmental dumping of inefficient new room air conditioners (RACs) is widespread in developing countries. Many of these appliances use ozone-depleting and high global-warming potential (GWP) refrigerants which are targeted for phase-down under the Montreal Protocol.

The Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) region has the third-largest RAC market with over nine million units sold in 2023, however the region lacks policies to stop environmental dumping of cooling appliances.

Developing tailored solutions for environmental dumping requires filling knowledge gaps concerning the region’s RAC market, especially efficiency levels and refrigerants in use.

Greater awareness on the use and extent of ozone- and climate-damaging refrigerants will motivate national governments and citizens to demand affordable access to best-available cooling equipment.  

This project, implemented by the Institute for Governance and Sustainable Development (IGSD) and the Collaborative Labeling and Appliance Standards Program (CLASP) seeks to spur action on the national level across the LAC region to increase availability of next-generation RAC technologies for consumers and to stop the dumping of inefficient and high-GWP technologies.

The project will conduct a region-wide RAC market study and a review of trade practices, policy landscapes, and other factors to gather detailed evidence on environmental dumping and the underlying factors that enable it in LAC. It will also support the adoption and strengthening of stop-dumping policies such as high-GWP refrigerant bans and more stringent performance requirements.

Furthermore, the project will support to regional efforts, including those of the CARICOM and the Central America Integration System (SICA), to inform regional policies that have been under development for several years, such as CARICOM’s comprehensive Efficiency Labelling Scheme.
 

Heavy-Duty Vehicles and Engines

Collaborative action and innovation to transform freight corridors in South America and Eastern Africa - [HDV-24-004]

Both South America and Eastern Africa have large emission reduction potential from freight movement. In Latin America, road transport accounted for an average of 85% of freight transported from 2019–2021, while the Africa Northern Corridor handles over 30 million tons of cargo a year, with an annual growth rate of 10%.

Demand for freight transportation is booming – expected to double between 2015 and 2050 with population growth. The sector is critical to economic development but is also a major source of air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. Truck fleets in the region are mostly old and have low fuel efficiency and high emissions producing large quantities of black carbon.  

The regions also currently face data gaps including on vehicle fleets, fuel consumption & efficiency, emissions, and resulting environmental impacts which hinders informed decision-making and policy development.  

This project, implemented by the Smart Freight Centre and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) aims to improve fuel efficiency and reduce particulate matter emissions of black carbon, NOX, and CO2, in line with country and regional priorities, from road freight corridors in South America and Eastern Africa. The objective of this project is to improve baseline data, identify policy gaps, and develop policies and strategies to reduce SLCP emissions along both the Bi-Oceanic and Northern corridors.

It builds on successful green freight programmes from CCAC, Smart Freight Centre, and UNEP across South Asia, and East & Central Africa.  
 

Household Energy 

Accelerating E-Cooking Uptake in Africa and South Asia [APP-24-334]

Cooking with heavily polluting biomass fuels (such as wood, charcoal and dung) continues to be widespread across Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Despite some progress, current figures suggest that 2.3 billion people remain without access to any kind of clean cooking, while at least a further billion only have access to lower tier solutions that continue to impose health, deforestation and carbon costs. This has profound impacts on climate, health, deforestation and women's economic development and human security.  

Electric cooking can instigate real progress in scaling affordable decarbonised cooking solutions across the large tracts of Africa and Asia still characterised by widespread use of polluting biomass fuels.  

Significant progress has been made in building the academic and political case for electric cooking but much still needs to be done in terms of creating the appropriate regulatory environment, building supply chains, and raising the public profile of the flexibility and affordability of electric appliances.

To rapidly scale electric cooking and achieve universal access and net-zero emissions by 2050 requires a comprehensive joining of specialist electric cooking technical knowledge with organisations supporting large-scale delivery and funding of energy access and emissions reduction initiatives. 

This project will act as a flag-ship initiative of the Global Electric Cooking Coalition launched at COP28 as a vehicle for promoting electric cooking – implemented under the Modern Energy Cooking Services (MECS) Programme (UKAid funded). The project seeks to mainstream electric cooking components within comprehensive energy sector and clean air programming.

This project activities will provide eCooking support to the World Bank’s ASCENT Regional Energy Access Financing Platform in East and Southern Africa and the World Bank’s Uttar Pradesh Clean Air Management Program in India, including advice on the digitization of modern cooking devices and on carbon and other impact financing mechanisms for eCooking.

The project will also support Indian states to design eCooking interventions in contexts where electricity access is already in place but where traditional cooking remains a major source of harmful air pollution. 

Fossil Fuels

Optimising Methane Emissions Governance and Abatement in ASEAN Oil and Gas Sector (Omega) [FOS-24-001]
 

The Association of Southeast Asia Nations (ASEAN) region is projected to be the fourth largest economy in the world by 2050. Fueling this growth is the rapid increase of the region's energy demand. By 2050, ASEAN's energy demand is projected to triple that of 2020 levels, reaching approximately 1.28 million tonnes of carbon-dioxide-equivalent emissions, with oil and gas taking account 47% of the mix.

It is predicted that energy-related GHG emissions are projected to reach 4,503 MtCO2-eq by 2050; and within this emissions mix, methane accounts for 15.2%, making it the second largest pollutant in ASEAN. Of these, the oil and gas sector was the largest contributor accounting for 53.2%.

Today, all ASEAN countries have included methane abatement in their NDCs in the GHG coverage, and 6 out of 10 countries are part of the Global Methane Pledge. However, as of January 2024, only Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam have established policies that deal with some portion of methane emissions reduction specifically for the oil and gas sector.  

This project, implemented by the ASEAN Centre for Energy (ACE), aims to strengthen regional capacity and knowledge on oil and gas methane abatement – supporting the development of policy and regulatory frameworks in line with the objectives of the Fossil Fuel Regulatory Programme (FFRP). The project is expected to align with regional policy processes including the 44th ASEAN Ministers on Energy Meeting (AMEM) in September 2026, as well as seeks to integrate explicit methane emissions reductions measures from fossil fuels into the next APAEC (2026-2030), as the regional blueprint for the energy sector. 

 

Waste

Waste to Wealth: Using innovative gender-responsive business models to turn organic market waste into organic fertiliser and animal feeds (WAWE) [WST-24-007]

 Across Sub-Saharan Africa, more than 174 million tons of organic waste is generated annually, where it is predominantly disposed of in landfills and open dumpsites. Here, it decomposes anaerobically, releasing methane and generating harmful odors as well as dangerous levels of leachate. Urban markets are a primary source of loss, which can be avoided. In the urban markets of Nairobi and Kiambu in Kenya, and Soroti in Uganda, up to 40% of fruits and vegetables are wasted, reaching 60% during the rainy season.

Wasteful organic waste management not only contributes to environmental degradation and global warming through GHG emissions, but also impacts human health due to the loss of food and nutrition. Food loss and waste also adversely impacts farmers, and their incomes. These issues cause economic losses across the agricultural value chain and degrade the quality of life for local communities. Yet, both Kenya and Uganda lack comprehensive policies, frameworks and guidelines for managing, recycling, and reusing market biowaste, a gap this project seeks to address.  

Currently, 75% of market waste in Africa is biodegradable, but there is a notable deficiency in technical expertise for waste separation, recycling, and the commercialisation of sustainable products generated from the process. This is particularly so for women, who form a large proportion of informal sector workers in the waste sector but are less visible in formal business and SMEs. This project will therefore address this gap, by co-developing gender responsive and market-oriented biowaste business models and collecting data to understand the gendered barriers towards a more equitable and empowering waste management system in both Kenya and Uganda.  

This project promotes regenerative practices in the urban markets of Nairobi and Kiambu in Kenya, and Soroti in Uganda to address these challenges, advocating for the conversion of organic waste into valuable products like biofertilizer and animal feed, thus supporting a circular food economy. It also explores sustainable alternatives such as cultivating black soldier fly (BSF) larvae to create a viable protein source for animal feed, which could substantially lower feed costs and environmental impacts, and support agricultural systems and urban development through a more sustainable and business-oriented approach to the use of urban organic waste.