Helena Molin Valdés,
Head of the Coalition Secretariat, Climate & Clean Air Coalition
The Climate & Clean Air Coalition (CCAC) is an initiative that unites governments, civil society, international organizations, research institutions and the private sector, committed to improve air quality and protecting the climate in the next few decades by reducing shortlived climate pollutants, such as black carbon, methane, HFCs and tropospheric ozone across sectors.
The CCAC acts as a catalyst to reduce these pollutants and implement and share immediate solutions addressing near-term climate change.
The CCAC works at identifying, promoting and supporting best initiatives and projects regarding air quality. This article presents some exemplary projects improving air quality in rural and underprivileged areas:
• In Mongolia, the CCAC has provided technical assistance to the Mongolian bank XacBank, in order to study aff ordable improved technologies for heating, such as electric and solar power;
• In Nigeria, the CCAC supports a women’s association that has created a network of women entrepreneurs to provide affordable clean energy solutions across the country;
• In Sweden and Chile, an awareness campaign was launched on a global online platform sponsored by the CCAC. It asks woodstove users to follow a few simple steps when burning solid fuels to get better heat output, while reducing fuel use and harmful emissions by as much as half;
• The CCAC supported the Gold Standard Foundation in the creation of a monitoing methodology and ISO standard specifi c to cookstoves. The aim is to improve access to carbon financing markets and make stoves more affordable.
Given that indoor air pollution is primarily a result of poverty and, as such, impacts the most vulnerable populations (women and children), initiatives that improve indoor air quality must be considered as a global priority.
