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

Moldova and Nepal lead the way on ambitious climate and clean air commitments in their Nationally Determined Contributions

Two key benefits are typically used as motivation for action to reduce Short-Lived Climate Pollutants. Firstly, having contributed 45% of today’s global heating, deep SLCP emission cuts, especially to methane and hydrofluorocarbons to meet Paris Agreement goals. Even better, because SLCPs, once emitted, spend a relatively short time in the atmosphere, their climate change benefits are achieved quickly. This cuts warming in the near time as the necessary fast and deep cuts in carbon dioxide help to limit long-term warming. Secondly, reducing SLCPs bring immediate benefits to public health by reducing exposure to toxic air pollutants. Black carbon and tropospheric ozone are health-damaging air pollutants in their own right, and many of the measures that target these SLCPs, and methane, also reduce other air pollutants like particulate matter and nitrogen oxides. 
 

In May, Moldova and Nepal submitted updated Nationally Determined Contributions that, if translated into action, are among the most comprehensive in grasping both key benefits that actions on SLCPs offer. 

MOLDOVA

Moldova becomes one of only a few countries with a methane-specific target in its NDC. Moldova commits to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 75% by 2035 compared to 1990 levels, and to achieve climate neutrality by 2050. Moldova highlights their participation in the Global Methane Pledge (GMP) and outlines that achieving its overall GHG target will also reduce its methane emissions by 64% by 2030 and by 68% by 2035 compared to 1990 levels. This target is equivalent to it reducing its methane emissions by 11% by 2030 and 21% by 2035 compared to 2020 levels. 

To achieve these reductions, Moldova will need to focus on reducing methane emissions from solid waste, which make up about half of national methane emissions; the energy sector, particularly pipeline leaks, which make up 19% of methane emissions; and livestock, which contributes 18%. Moldova’s NDC could further reduce the rate of warming in the near term through reductions in hydroflurocarbons. The updated NDC outlines that Moldova has legislated to phasedown HFCs according to the Kigali Amendment schedule, and specifically highlights this as an opportunity to further reduce greenhouse gas emissions by improving the energy efficiency of refrigeration at the same time. 

Moldova’s NDC is clear about the burden its citizens suffer from exposure to poor air quality, and the opportunity of the NDC to achieve cleaner air. The NDC states that every year up to 3,000 people die early due to air pollution levels Moldova, and highlights results from a World Bank study that estimates that emission reduction efforts in the energy sector alone could reduce particulate matter concentrations by 84% and prevent 4,100 premature deaths by 2050. Because these actions focus only on the energy sector, the true health benefits from Moldova’s NDC are likely higher. 

The air pollution benefits from Moldova’s NDC could play an important role in building public support for climate action. According to a public survey cited in the NDC, while 68% of respondents expressed concern about climate change, only 20% were aware of the Moldovan Government’s efforts to address the issue. The same survey highlighted even higher levels of concern (84% of respondents) about air pollution. Emphasising the NDC’s potential to contribute to cleaner air therefore supports climate action while also addressing other issues of significant concern to citizens.

NEPAL

Nepal’s NDC increases transparency on how it aims to achieve its emissions reduction target. The updated NDC of Nepal commits to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 27% by 2035 compared to a baseline emissions projection. Nepal’s NDC also provides useful, and detailed, information as to how this goal will be achieved, which in turn allow the impact on Short-Lived Climate Pollutants to be understood. In common with many of the updated NDCs, an upgrade to Nepal’s NDC is the inclusion of sectoral pathways, showing how the overall target will be achieved through reductions in different sectors. For example, achieving Nepal’s NDC will result in emissions from the waste sector being 44% lower in 2035 compared to the baseline – and will require deep cuts in methane emissions. 

Nepal sets a target to reduce the number of air pollution related deaths. The country’s capital Kathmandu,  located in a valley, frequently experiences high pollution episodes and is often reported on as one of the most polluted cities in the world. It is clear that the NDC could achieve substantial air pollution benefits, including a specific target to reduce air pollution-related mortality - to 77 premature deaths per 100,000 people in 2030, and to 60 per 100,000 by 2035. Given that current mortality rates from air pollution are more than 150 premature deaths per 100,000, according to the Global Burden of Disease, these targets would more than halve air pollution’s health burden in Nepal, transforming public health. 
 

The NDC includes specific actions and targets that can help achieve its air quality goal alongside greenhouse gas emission reductions. By 2035 Nepal aims to have 2.1 million households cooking using electricity, 1 million households using improved efficiency biomass stoves, which will both contribute to substantial improvements in household air pollution. By, 2035, Nepal aims to have 95% of private vehicles sales being battery electric, reducing greenhouse gas and air pollutant emissions from transport. Finally, Nepal explicitly acknowledges the necessity for its climate plans to achieve other benefits, including for air pollution. To achieve, this, it states that during NDC implementation, ‘co-impact’ analyses will be conducted to ensure that these co-benefits are also being achieved. The Climate and Clean Air Coalition has developed guidance that can be used to monitor climate change plans to ensure they are also achieving reductions in Short-Lived Climate Pollutants, air pollutants and public health.