A top UN environment agency today said faster action on climate change may be possible if nations make significant cuts in carbon dioxide emissions that would give a big boost to climate, crops and human health.
"It is clear that the world must deploy all available means to combat climate change," UN Environment Programme Executive Director Achim Steiner said.
He said at this critical juncture, every transformative measure and substance contributing to climate change should not be overlooked.
"There remains some scientific uncertainty about some of these pollutants' precise contribution to global warming, but a growing body of science points to a potentially significant role," Steiner told reporters in Geneva on the sidelines of the 3rd World Climate Conference.
"The international community's over-arching concern must be to seal a convincing deal at the UN climate change meeting in Copenhagen in less than 100 days time – one that puts the world on track towards swift and significant cuts in carbon dioxide while also providing the funding to assist vulnerable countries and communities to adapt," he said.
Black carbon – soot mostly from diesel engines, coal- fired stations and burning wood and dung – is key among a range of air contaminants that are also linked to over 1.6 million premature deaths a year resulting from indoor exposure and 800,000 from outdoor exposure, the UNEP said.
The agency also spotlighted tropospheric ozone – including near-surface ozone which is often called smog – as a major greenhouse gas.
