The 28th meeting of the Executive Body of the Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution Convention (LRTAP) decided to expand the scope of the Convention to tackle black carbon.
22 December 2010: The 28th meeting of the Executive Body of the Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution Convention (LRTAP) took place in Geneva, Switzerland, from 13-17 December 2010. Participants discussed the expansion of the scope of the Convention to tackle black carbon, among other items.
Based on the meeting’s decisions, black carbon is to be included as a component of particular matter in the revision of the 1999 Gothenburg Protocol to Abate Acidification, Eutrophication and Ground-level Ozone to LRTAP. In the medium and long term, the Convention is expected to investigate more closely tropospheric ozone with all its precursors, including methane and carbon monoxide. The Convention, concluded under the aegis of the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), is thus set to become the first international agreement to tackle a short-lived climate forcer in the context of air pollution on a policy level.
At the meeting, the Parties to the Convention also adopted a Long Term Strategy for the implementation of the Convention and its work plan. [UNECE Press Release]