25 November 2011: The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) has released a report titled “Actions for Controlling Short-Term Climate Forcers.” It has also released an associated summary titled: Summary of UNEP’s Integrated Assessment of Black Carbon and Tropospheric Ozone. The report outlines 16 measures that UNEP says could lead to near-term climate protection of 0.5ºC by 2040.

Funded by the Swedish Government, the report is focused on black carbon, a major component of soot, methane and tropospheric ozone, and estimates that approximately half of the black carbon and methane emission reductions can be achieved through measures that result in cost savings over the lifetime of the investment.

Recommended measures include: recovering rather than emitting natural gas during oil production; replacing inefficient cookstoves and traditional brick kilns with more efficient ones; upgrading of wastewater treatment works to decrease methane emissions; and recovery of coal mine methane. [UNEP Press Release] [Publication: Summary for Policy Makers of UNEP’s Integrated Assessment of Black Carbon and Tropospheric Ozone] [UN Press Release]