Refusing to Choke: Head of the CCAC Secretariat's Remarks at WHO 'Super Pollutant' Side Event

Recording

Refusing to Choke

Good afternoon. Buenas tardes a todos.

Thank you all for joining us here today.  

My name is Martina Otto, and I have the privilege of leading the Climate and Clean Air Coalition Secretariat—a global partnership of over 200 national governments, NGOs, and international organizations working to tackle air pollution and climate change.

At the heart of our mission is the understanding that air pollution and climate change aren’t separate problems, they’re deeply connected.  

By tackling them together, we can protect the health of our communities and slow the pace of climate change at the same time.

But first, I want to take you from here, in Cartagena, down past the Sinú and Magdalena River Valleys, and across the rolling hills and green pasture of the Northern Andes foothills, to the “City of Eternal Spring”: Medellín.  

Not long ago, Medellín was suffocating - trapped in a thick layer of air pollution so potent that simply stepping outside was a health hazard.

The city’s geography, cradled in a steep valley, didn’t help — with smog from traffic, industry, and waste burning settling over the city like a heavy blanket, day after day.

Of course, in many ways, this is not a unique tale, with major cities around the world, on each continent, choking on the very thing meant to give life. Breathing.

The city found itself at a crossroads. It refused to choke, and its story didn’t end there.  

Instead of accepting pollution as the cost of development, the city took bold action.

It invested in electric public transport, expanded green corridors which act as a barrier against dangerous particulate matter, and targeted the worst polluters directly.

It invested in clean air, turning it into an asset.

Within just a few years, Medellín cut its fine particle pollution by nearly 40%, transforming the health of its people and the future of the city, and successfully reduced urban temperatures by over 2 degrees Celsius.

And let me tell you, I met those who are involved in the planting and maintaining. They got a job out of this, one that they do with pride.

This was not a change that took decades.  

It was fast, and perhaps a perfect example of the double dividends that come of tackling climate and air pollution head-on at the same time.  

And that speed is exactly what we need—not just in Medellín, but everywhere. Because the air pollution crisis is not limited to one valley, one city, or one country.

It’s global.  

But what many people don’t realize is that some of the most powerful climate pollutants — known as the ‘super pollutants’ that you see behind me — are also driving dangerous air pollution.  

These super pollutants, including methane, tropospheric ozone, black carbon, nitrous oxide, and hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs, are hundreds to thousands of times more potent than carbon dioxide at trapping heat.  

Emissions from these pollutants lead to rapid warming that makes life uncomfortable at best, and downright deadly at worst.

They drive climate change, and cause millions of deaths from air pollution each year.  

This is why we also talk about shared solutions.

The good news? Unlike carbon dioxide, all these nasty pollutants you see behind me, except for nitrous oxide, don’t linger.  

Cut them, and we can see the results, for some almost immediately, for others within a decade.

This is where the real opportunity lies.  

If we want cleaner air, healthier communities, and a shot at slowing global warming in our lifetime, tackling super pollutants is our fastest option.

Fortunately, we don’t have to start from scratch.

The Climate and Clean Air Coalition is where the world convenes to tackle super pollutants head-on, bringing together governments, businesses, and scientists to scale known and cost-effective solutions and spark innovation that can quickly make an impact around the world.  

We’re helping countries regulate oil gas and coal operations to eliminate methane leaks, reduce venting and flaring, which come with co-emission of black carbon amongst others, a component of PM2.5.

We’re working with countries to slash black carbon emissions in the transportation sector, focusing on heavy-duty vehicles and diesel vehicles and engines.  

We’re working with farmers to cut agricultural emissions, including through practice changes such as alternate wet and drying in rice cultivation which also increases resilience; or innovative digital solutions that can increase capacity and can be integrated into everyday practices, or ways to put agricultural residues to economic value rather than burning them.  

We support countries and municipalities on waste methane management, working with the COP29 Presidency to bring the Reducing Organic Waste Declaration to life and help ban open burning.

We address the capacity gap on air quality management, which has been identified as a key barrier, by supporting air quality managers from around the world to have the tools they need to address air pollution through CCAC’s Air Quality Management Exchange Platform (AQMx).

And we spur regional cooperation, working together with the Africa Union Commission to develop an African Clean Air Programme, which will provide a pan-African approach to reducing air pollution across the continent.

The impact of these efforts can be massive—by scaling up the initiatives that we already know are effective and relatively low cost, we could prevent up to 0.6°C of warming by 2050 and save millions of lives.  

Here’s the kicker: If we focus on eliminating super pollutants, we turn down the heat now and dramatically improve air quality.  

The beauty of this approach is that it doesn’t just help the planet in the long term, it delivers real benefits for health, food security, and energy security.

Tightening regulations on the oil and gas sector to cut methane leak? We slow warming and reduce harmful ground-level ozone, protecting both public health and the crops that feed us.

Cleaning up transportation including shipping? We cut black carbon pollution, preventing asthma, respiratory illness, and helping to avoid ice melt in the Arctic.  

Phasing out super-polluting refrigerants in the cooling sector? We make air conditioners more climate-friendly, cool our homes and reduce extreme heat deaths.

Adopting sustainable agricultural practices and reform fertilizer use? We curb nitrous oxide emissions, helping prevent up to 20 million premature deaths globally by 2050, while avoiding the equivalent of up to 235 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions by 2100.

Improving organic waste management and capturing methane from landfills? We cut a powerful climate pollutant while reducing toxic air pollution that disproportionately harms vulnerable communities living near waste sites.

As you can see, every step we take against super pollutants is a win-win for climate, health and our economies.  

And this brings us back to Medellín.  

What worked there can work anywhere.

No, I am not suggesting a one size fits all, as sources of pollution, climatic and geographical context provide for complex atmospheric chemistry.

What I’m referring to is leadership: targeting the biggest pollution sources, investing in cleaner solutions, and engaging the private sector and citizens to act fast.

The question is: Will we, like Medellín, refuse to choke?  

We don’t have to wait. Neither for the perfect measurement of air quality. Nor new technologies: solutions that work are already here.  

It’s about the choices we all make today. Each of us.  

To demand better policies and investments in clean energy, and to push industries to eliminate these dangerous pollutants.  

We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to turn the tide on air pollution and climate change—at the same time.  

Medellín proved it’s possible.  

Now, it’s up to us to scale that success.  

City by city, country by country.

I’ll leave you with this.  

On September 7, The International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies, over 27,000 people will participate in the Medellín Marathon.  

27,000 people breathing together.  

27,000 people celebrating being outdoors together.

27,000 people running through very green corridors that allow for cleaner air and cooler temperatures.  

I’m very pleased that we have some leaders in the fight against air pollution today.

I know we’re all looking forward to hearing their stories and perspectives on how we can meet the urgency of the moment.

And hopefully, it’ll help us all breathe a little easier.  

Thank you.  

Muchas gracias.