Top scientists find cost-effective ways to tackle climate change and air pollution
European Union economists say at least €37 billion could be saved every year from the health benefits of reducing air pollution. Now scientists are developing recommendations for cost-effective policies to tackle air pollution and climate change in developing countries. A press conference will be held at 12:40 on Wednesday 17 September at the Grand Hotel, Stockholm.
Burning fossil fuels to heat homes and offices, to generate electricity and to power the transport sector causes air pollution and climate change. New research shows that air pollutants, such as small particles and ozone, also have a major effect on our climate.
Black carbon particles, which remain in the air for several days, have a net warming effect on the planet by absorbing the energy from sunlight and re-emitting it to the surrounding environment. These particles also contribute to air pollution that accounts for an estimated 800,000 premature deaths globally each year, most of which occur in Asian and developing countries (World Health Organisation).
“The science now shows that air pollution and climate change are inextricably interlinked – and failing to understand that will be costly to governments around the world. Cost effective integration of air pollution and climate policies is more urgent than ever,” said Dr. V. Ramanathan, project chair of the UNEP Atmospheric Brown Cloud Project. “Drastic reduction of air pollutants that warm the earth in the short-term is one way to buy the planet time for developing cost-effective ways for reducing CO2 concentrations.”
On Wednesday 17 September, a groundbreaking international conference will open in Stockholm, Sweden. Top scientists and decision makers will examine how certain types of air pollution increase the risks of climate change and explore the benefits of integrating climate and air pollution policies, particularly in developing countries.
A press conference will be held at 12:40 on Wednesday 17 September at the Grand Hotel, Stockholm.
Members of the press conference panel:
Dr. V. Ramanathan is the Distinguished Professor of Atmospheric and Climate Sciences at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California at San Diego. In the mid 1970s he discovered the greenhouse effect of CFCs and numerous other manmade trace gases. In 1980, he correctly forecasted, along with R. Madden, that global warming due to carbon dioxide would be detectable by the year 2000. Dr. Ramanathan has been a member of the Nobel Peace prize (2007) winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change since its inception, and currently chairs the US National Academy of Sciences panel that provides strategic advice to the US Climate Change Science Program.
Dr. Peringe Grennfelt is the Scientific Director at the Swedish Environment Research Institute (IVL) and for many years has been involved in scientific research on transboundary air pollution and the development of science-based air pollution strategies in Europe. He has led several research programs on air pollution and currently heads of the Mistra-funded climate policy research program Clipore.
Dr. Markus Amann is the head of the Centre for Integrated Assessment Modelling (CIAM) of the European Monitoring and Evaluation Programme (EMEP) under the Convention on Long Range Transboundary Air Pollution (CLRTAP) at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA). Dr. Amann has been appointed as a member of the Clean Air Commission of the Austrian Academy of Sciences. Among other things, he has served as lead author for the Working Group III report of the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
Dr. Paulo Artaxo is professor of environmental physics at the University of São Paulo, Brazil. He is also a member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Working Group on Climate Change Impacts, and a member of several international commissions that deals with scientific issues of climate change and air pollution.
Dr. Alan Lloyd is the President of The International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT). He was formerly the Director of the Air Resources Board for the State of California.
Richard Mills is the Director-General, International Union of Air Pollution Prevention and Environmental Protection Associations (IUAPPA), and co-convenor of the Global Atmospheric Pollution Forum. He was previously Head of Air and Environmental Quality in the UK Civil Service.
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