CCAC NDC Watch: Latest on Non-CO₂ Pollutants in National Climate Plans – February 2025

New National Climate Change Commitments Further add to collective action to reduce Short-Lived Climate Pollutants

Countries are due to submit updated national climate plans (Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs 3.0) in 2025. While many, including those receiving CCAC support, are still finalizing their plans, they are actively working to develop ambitious and impactful climate targets ahead of COP30 in Brazil. 11 countries submitted updated NDCs in February[1]. 

Analysing the content of these NDCs provides many useful examples of how Short-lived Climate Pollutants (SLCPs), co-benefits for air quality and human health, can underpin ambitious climate change mitigation targets. There is no requirement for countries to include SLCPs within their NDCs. This means that the way they are included varies from document to document, depending on national circumstances. In those NDCs updated in February 2025, there are five key areas where SLCPs are reflected. 

Targets

A core purpose of Nationally Determined Contributions is the communication of a country’s climate change mitigation target. All NDCs reviewed included a target defined as a reduction in Greenhouse Gases. SLCPs like methane and HFCs are included within the scope of this target for all NDCs. This is an important starting point to provide motivation to reduce these pollutants because any reduction will contribute to achieving their climate change mitigation target. However, some countries went further than this and specified SLCP-specific targets. Canada committed to targets to reduce methane that exceeds the global reduction target within the Global Methane Pledge. 

Across all sectors, Canada committed to a 35% reduction in methane emissions by 2030. Within oil and gas, Canada committed to reducing fugitive methane emissions by 75% by 2030 compared to 2012 levels. New Zealand’s updated NDC commits to a 51-55% GHG reduction target by 2035 from 2005 levels. Methane emissions from agriculture contribute almost half of New Zealand’s GHG emissions, and this 2035 target was developed to be in line with their long-term ambition to reduce ‘biogenic’ methane emissions by 24-47% from 2017 levels by 2050. Reductions in SLCPs are not a substitute for the necessary fast, large reductions in carbon dioxide. The targets set in Canada and New Zealand are useful examples of clear, unambiguous commitments to reduce SLCPs that are additional to carbon dioxide reductions. 

Sectoral Pathways

A positive development in the latest round of NDC updates has been the larger number of countries specifying emission reduction pathways by sector (e.g. energy, industrial processes, agriculture, forestry and waste). These emission reduction pathways provide a clearer understanding of how overall climate change mitigation targets will be achieved. They also highlight how SLCPs can contribute to achieving that target by highlighting the contribution of major SLCP-emitting sectors to overall mitigation targets. 

For example, Zimababwe’s updated NDC outlines an overall 40% GHG reduction target that will be achieved by reducing waste sector emissions by 35%. Methane is the largest contributor to GHG emissions in the waste sector. Lesotho committed to reducing industrial process GHG emissions by 50% as part of achieving its overall GHG reduction target, which will be achieved through reductions in Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). These sectoral pathways demonstrate that key SLCP emitting sectors are on the table in Zimbabwe and Lesotho for mitigation projects to achieve NDCs.  

Co-benefits

The founding principle of the Climate and Clean Air Coalition is that by integrating action on climate change and air quality, both issues can be dealt with more quickly and effectively. NDCs submitted in February 2025 provide a clear indication that this principle is shared by countries as they develop their climate change plan and have the backing of the public. 

For example, Lesotho’s NDC commits to reduce GHG emissions by 29% from the energy sector. To achieve this, communities will be supported to switch from using traditional biomass stoves to alternatives, including efficient wood and charcoal stoves or cooking using cleaner fuels such as LPG or electricity. Lesotho highlights that this component of its climate change plan will not only help meet its climate change goal but also reduce ‘negative health effects’ from the air pollution households are exposed to. 

Further emphasising the importance of co-benefits is President Heine of the Marshall Islands in their updated NDC. She writes, ‘the transition away from fossil fuels to solar has not only offered greater energy security and cleaner air, but also new employment opportunities for women’.  Canada also highlighted that the actions that would achieve its NDC would improve air quality and achieve health benefits, as well as bring 235-400,000 jobs. Importantly, Canada’s NDC also reported the outcomes of their public engagement around the NDC update. Eleven thousand participants in an online engagement platform were asked which co-benefits of climate change action should be prioritised in Canada. 79% of participants thought that air quality and public health should be prioritised in climate change planning. This underlines that climate change plans, which include provisions on SLCPs and air pollution, can help to broaden public support for climate change action. 

Actions

Realistic climate change mitigation targets are underpinned by actions that can achieve emission reductions. In many cases, NDCs specify actions to achieve an overall GHG emission reduction goal. The list of actions to achieve a goal also provides an opportunity to understand how an NDC might implicitly reduce SLCPs, even if these SLCP emission reductions are not explicitly stated. 

For example, Saint Lucia, Singapore, and Ecuador all identify implementing the Kigali Amendment as a contribution to their NDC, which will achieve HFC emission reductions. Ecuador further outlines how landfill gas capture, waste separation and wastewater improvements will achieve its goals. Andorra’s NDC states that its 63% reduction in GHG emissions will be achieved in part by increasing travel by public transport, which is free of charge across the principality and would SLCPs like black carbon alongside carbon dioxide emission reductions. Opportunities to reduce SLCPs at the same time as GHGs from the implementation of an NDC are made substantially clearer when the specific actions that will be implemented are specified. 

Collaboration to mitigate overlooked sectors

The attention given to different emission sources is not equally distributed. More NDCs highlight the role of renewable energy than the role of mitigation in the agriculture sector, for example. The NDCs submitted in February 2025 provide some helpful information on efforts to reduce emissions from those sectors which have not received the most attention. For example, international shipping is not covered by national climate change mitigation targets, and, as a substantial source of greenhouse gas emissions, it is also a large source of black carbon and air pollutant emissions. 

The Marshall Island’s NDC highlights that they are collaborating with the International Maritime Organisation to meet their shipping GHG reduction goals and have developed a low-carbon shipping vessel that is powered by a combination of wind, solar and fuel-efficient engines. Reducing emissions from agriculture has also received less attention, but it is critical for New Zealand to meet its climate change goals, as methane from agriculture contributes just under half of total GHG emissions. New Zealand’s updated NDC highlights how they are actively working to develop solutions to reduce methane emissions from agriculture both domestically and internationally through groups like the Global Research Alliance on Agricultural GHG emissions. The development of these solutions will not only help New Zealand reach their targets, but can also be rolled out internationally to further reduce methane emissions. 

The eleven Nationally Determined Contributions submitted in February 2025 reemphasise the enthusiasm of national Governments for actions that simultaneously reduce GHGs, SLCPs and air pollutants. This is expressed differently in each submission. Some include the explicit inclusion of SLCPs through targets or statements of co-benefits. Others offer implicit opportunities to tackle SLCPs by detailing mitigation actions that are known to reduce SLCPs alongside greenhouse gases. In both cases, the resources put into achieving these targets should be targeted to those actions that achieve multiple benefits. From Canada’s NDC, we have strong evidence that the public welcomes action that prioritises climate and clean air.