Integrating Non-CO2 Pollutant Action into Countries’ NDC 3.0s

The completion of the submission cycle of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC 3.0) represents a critical opportunity to close the gap between current climate commitments and the 1.5°C temperature goal. As of 31 December 2025, 132 countries, including the EU 27, have submitted their NDC 3.0 to the UNFCCC. As countries finalized their new NDCs, many increased their ambition to reduce super pollutants—methane, black carbon, nitrous oxide, and hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs)—which are hundreds to thousands of times more potent than carbon dioxide at trapping heat. These pollutants drive rapid near-term warming while directly affecting air quality, public health, food security, and energy access. Unlike long-lived greenhouse gases, cutting these emissions can deliver tangible climate and health benefits within years, providing a fast and effective pathway to support broader development priorities.

At the request of governments, the Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC) expanded its support for NDC enhancement, focusing on practical, country-led integration of non-CO2 Pollutants into national climate commitments. This support responded directly to government-identified needs and builds on national priorities, existing policies, and institutional arrangements. In 2025, CCAC provided targeted guidance and provided hands-on technical assistance to governments seeking to strengthen the treatment of super pollutants in their NDC 3.0 submissions.

What CCAC Support Delivered

In 2024 and 2025, 21 countries requested and received CCAC support to enhance their NDC 3.0 submissions with stronger treatment of super pollutants:

Angola, Cambodia, Cameroon, Colombia, Côte d’Ivoire, Fiji, Iraq, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Liberia, Maldives, Mexico, Moldova, Morocco, Nigeria, Pakistan, Panama, Rwanda, Uganda, and Zimbabwe.

An additional 10 CCAC-supported NDCs are under development and have not yet been formally published.

This work has been enabled through financial support from the CCAC Trust Fund, directed toward technical assistance, national consultancy support, modeling, and coordination.

CCAC’s NDC support typically focuses on:

• integrating SLCPs into existing mitigation frameworks rather than creating standalone tracks;

• improving the evidence base for methane, black carbon, and HFC measures;

• aligning sectoral mitigation actions with national targets, timelines, and implementation pathways; and

• ensuring consistency across NDC narratives, modeling, and supporting documentation.

Assistance is delivered through national consultants, regional implementers, and direct engagement from the CCAC Secretariat, working alongside government-led NDC drafting teams. In many cases, CCAC support builds on earlier methane roadmaps or SLCP planning processes, allowing countries to carry analytical work directly into their NDC 3.0 submissions. In addition, the CCAC has produced guidance on the inclusion of nitrous oxide in NDCs. 

Some Country Results 

The following country case studies provide a sample of CCAC partner countries that leveraged CCAC support to address or enhance the treatment of short-lived climate pollutants in their NDC 3.0 submissions.

Kazakhstan

At the request of the Government of Kazakhstan, CCAC is supporting the integration of short-lived climate pollutants into the country’s revised NDC through the project Strengthening SLCP Mitigation Capacity in Kazakhstan. The support focuses on institutional capacity-building and technical inputs aligned with the government’s NDC development timeline.

Working closely with the Ministry and the national NDC drafting team, CCAC-supported consultants identified entry points for SLCP measures—particularly methane in the oil and gas and waste sectors—and reviewed existing sectoral policies through an SLCP lens. Gaps in policy coherence, data availability, and coordination were identified and translated into practical recommendations. Draft SLCP narratives and text inserts were prepared and shared directly with the government team as the NDC evolved.

Kazakhstan’s submitted NDC 3.0 reflects this work through clearer and more structured treatment of SLCPs. The NDC emphasizes methane reduction through leak detection and repair, utilization of associated petroleum gas, landfill gas capture, and improved waste management, supported by the planned establishment of a national methane emissions database and strengthened monitoring, reporting, and verification systems. Relative to its previous submission, the NDC more explicitly links methane, black carbon, and air quality outcomes, reinforcing the role of SLCP mitigation within Kazakhstan’s broader climate strategy.  

Colombia

CCAC support to Colombia was provided at the request of the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development and contributed directly to the formulation of the country’s NDC 3.0, Transformaciones para la Vida.

Through CCAC-supported consultancies, Colombia developed a national methane reduction roadmap that helped government teams understand emissions trends by sector, assess mitigation potential, and identify gaps in existing measures. This process also supported the consolidation of a national carbon budget through 2035, covering all greenhouse gases—including methane—which became a key input to Colombia’s updated mitigation target.

Additional CCAC-supported work in the agriculture sector enabled the integration of short-lived climate pollutant strategies into the national NDC model, strengthening the portfolio of policies, actions, and measures underpinning the submission. Other sectors—including mining, waste, and air quality—benefited from CCAC support through improvements to MRV systems and the development of guidance on co-benefits.

Colombia’s NDC 3.0 strengthens action on super pollutants through greater specificity. It introduces a quantified black carbon reduction target, embeds methane-relevant measures across waste, agriculture, and energy, and reaffirms commitments under the Global Methane Pledge. Compared to the previous NDC, the new submission provides clearer links between climate mitigation, air quality, and health outcomes. 

Morocco

In Morocco, CCAC support—delivered through the Global Green Growth Institute at the request of the Ministry of Energy Transition and Sustainable Development—focused on integrating methane mitigation actions from the national methane roadmap into the country’s NDC 3.0.

This technical assistance resulted in the inclusion of five methane mitigation actions—three in the waste sector and two in agriculture—directly in the NDC. The Ministry formally recognized the value of this support, noting its contribution to strengthening Morocco’s climate commitments and national leadership on methane mitigation.

Morocco’s NDC introduces its National Methane Roadmap to 2050, which has been developed under Morocco’s participation in the Global Methane Pledge. The NDC sets a target to reduce methane emissions by 23.5% by 2030 and 31.7% by 2050 under an ambitious scenario. Through its NDC, Morocco maintains economy-wide coverage of methane, nitrous oxide, HFCs, and key air pollutants. The inclusion of a standalone methane reduction pathway represents a significant strengthening of the country’s treatment of super pollutants compared to its previous submission.