Super Pollutant Newsletter: April 2026

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The super pollutants agenda broke new ground this month as networks, companies, and countries deployed new levers to accelerate action.  

 

Note: The 2026 Annual Meeting of the Climate and Clean Air Coalition has been postponed until further notice. 

 

Methane Regulators Unite in Paris 

The Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC) and the International Energy Agency (IEA) officially launched the Methane Regulator-to-Regulator (MR2R) Network in Paris, a first‑of‑its‑kind forum enabling governments to swap lessons on leak detection, data rules, and compliance strategy. Read about the MR2R Paris meeting

 

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Corporate Coalition Commits $100 Million to Curb Super Pollutants

A coalition of Amazon, Google, JPMorgan Chase, Salesforce, Autodesk, Figma, and Workday launched the Superpollutant Action Initiative, pledging $100 million through 2030 to cut methane, black carbon, and refrigerant emissions across global supply chains. Backed by the Beyond Alliance and Yale's Carbon Containment Lab, the program funds high‑impact projects and pilot corporate models to reduce Scope 3 refrigerant leaks. Read more

China Moves to Phase Out HCFC‑22 by 2027

China's Ministry of Ecology and Environment will end the production of VRF air‑conditioning systems using HCFC‑22 by January 1, 2027. The policy advances compliance with the Montreal Protocol and speeds the shift to low‑GWP refrigerants. Read more

 

Tools & Resources You Can Use Now 

 

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New E-Learning Course on Why Air Pollution Matters to Business

The UN Global Compact Academy, with UNEP, SEI, and the Clean Air Fund, launched a free 60‑minute course on why air pollution matters to business and how companies can address it across their operations and supply chains. Check it out

FAO E‑Learning: Life Cycle Assessment for GHG Inventories

This FAO course builds technical capacity to apply life‑cycle assessment (LCA) methods in livestock emissions reporting. Check it out

Cooling the Last Mile: Landscape Assessment of Space Cooling Solutions in Rural sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia

Developed through a collaborative effort led by Efficiency for Access, under the Low Energy Inclusive Appliances (LEIA) programme, this study maps feasible cooling options for rural Africa and South Asia. It combines technical efficiency data with on-the-ground insights to guide investment and policy. Read the report

Philanthropic Foundation Funding for Clean Air 2026

By Clean Air Fund, this report analyses philanthropic funding to address air pollution between 2019 and 2023. It highlights where smarter investments can deliver the biggest impact. Read the report

 

Across Regions

From San Francisco to Yeosu

At San Francisco Climate Week 2026, the Institute for Governance & Sustainable Development (IGSD) and Berkeley Law's Center for Law, Energy & Environment convened policy, investment, and technology leaders to speed super pollutants reduction.

In Yeosu, Korea, Climate and Clean Air Coalition, Solutions for Our Climate (SFOC) and the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) hosted a regional dialogue aligning governments and industry on methane mitigation in the energy and waste sectors, positioning it as a cornerstone of Asia‑Pacific's Green Transformation. Read more

Central Asia & Azerbaijan — Astana Roundtable

At the Regional Environmental Summit in Astana, co‑organized by Kazakhstan's Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources and the CCAC, countries shared progress on methane policy and investment pipeline development under the CCAC Super‑Pollutants Country Accelerator Programme. Read more

China Refrigeration Expo 2026

The 2026 Ozone2Climate (O2C) Technology Roadshow and Industry Roundtable took place as countries mark the 10th anniversary of the Kigali Amendment and move forward with implementation of HFC phase-down commitments. The discussions focused on promoting ozone and climate friendly alternatives and strengthening collaboration between policymakers, industry and civil society. Participants also highlighted the importance of combining refrigerant transition with improvements in energy efficiency and reducing emissions across the lifecycle of cooling equipment. Read more

 

Methane New Data and Top Emitters

 

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New Data from UNEP's IMEO Methane Alert and Response System (MARS)

The new data includes: total mitigation cases achieved via MARS to date, country-level MARS response rates, and a global list of top 50 methane sources across sectors. Read more

Spotlight on the Top 25 Methane Plumes in 2025: Landfills

UCLA's STOP Methane Project list shows the 25 sites in the waste sector with the largest detected and quantified emissions rates worldwide, as seen by key satellite instruments in 2025. Read more

 

Agroecology and Circular Economy

At the World Agroecology Fair in Côte d'Ivoire, the ACE4ES Project showcased bio‑char innovations and a new regional policy guide for circular economy transitions. Read more

China's New Ecological and Environmental Code: A Legislative Framework for Curbing Super Climate Pollutants

Adopted in March 2026 and entering force in August, the Code streamlines more than 1,200 articles into a unified legal framework for pollution control, green transition, and climate action — a landmark step in environmental governance. Read IGSD's Brief

Meeting Report: Regional Policy Dialogue on Methane Emissions Reduction for Climate Action in Asia and the Pacific

The Regional Policy Dialogue on Methane Emissions Reduction for Climate Action in Asia and the Pacific, organised by ESCAP in partnership with EDF and CCAC, brought together government representatives, experts, international organizations, researchers, and private sector partners to discuss regional progress on methane mitigation across Asia and the Pacific. Check out what was discussed during the dialogue in the meeting report

Developing Business Models to Scale Crop Residue Use for High-Quality Cattle Feed in Ethiopia and Nepal

Ethiopia and Nepal are developing business models to convert crop residues into high-quality cattle feed, creating farmer income, reducing waste burning, and supporting cleaner, climate-smart agriculture. Funded by the Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC), the project is jointly implemented by the World Resources Institute (WRI) and the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI). Read the project update 

 

Watch

Behind the Scenes with EPIC's Clean Air Program: A Conversation with Rachel Westrate

The first episode of a new series from EPIC Air Quality Fund Awardees, featuring Vermont Law & Graduate School's Rachel Westrate sharing her work with the Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC) on drafting model air and climate pollution legislation — a customizable template drawn from a global analysis of air quality laws. Watch here

 

Clean Cooking: Future Hope and the Household Reality in Africa
Spotlight of the Month: Super Pollutant Gossip - Methane, 250 Years Since Discovery

Super Pollutants Science Corner

A new synthesis in Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, co‑authored by CCAC Scientific Advisory Panel members Gabrielle Dreyfus and Chandra Venkataraman, untangles the lifecycle and climate forcing of atmospheric black carbon, urging tighter alignment between comparisons of emission inventory and model estimates with observations to enhance model accuracy and guide mitigation efforts. Read the article on Atmospheric black carbon in the climate system

 

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