As part of its second phase synthesis activities, the IGBP has identified several key areas which cut across research in its own core projects and which also reach out beyond IGBP with the aim of exploring future cross disciplinary research needs. The IGBP Air Pollution & Climate initiative, led by IGAC, seeks to open a science-policy dialogue on the air pollution and climate change challenge. There is still a separation between air pollution and climate change in both the policy and scientific communities. This separation is reflected in the temporal and geographic scales of interest: air pollution efforts focus on the near-term and the local and regional scales, whereas climate change efforts focus on the long-term and global scale. As with many issues, there also exists a divide between the scientific and policy communities that hinders communication and understanding. The aim of the Air Pollution and Climate Initiative is to break down these divides and clarify the synergies and trade-offs of research and mitigation efforts across a spectrum of air pollution and climate change policies. Outcomes of this initiative have included an IGBP Statement on the Air Pollution and Climate Change Opportunity released in 2012 and a Strategic Framework for Integrated Programs on Air Pollution and Climate that engages the international earth system science, social science, and policy communities to be released in 2014.
IGBP/IGAC Statement on the Air Pollution and Climate Change Opportunity
The Air Pollution & Climate initiative released a statement on the air pollution and climate change opportunity as part of the Planet Under Pressure Conference 26-29 March 2012 in London, U.K. during a session on Tackling the Air Pollution and Climate Change Challenge. Download the press release here.
For more information contact:
Megan L. Melamed, IGAC, USA
Kathy Law, LATMOS/CNRS, France
Paul S. Monks, University of Leicester, Department of Chemistry, UK
Recent Workshops
Developing a Strategic Framework for Integrated Programs on Air Pollution and Climate Change
5-7 November 2013
University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, USA
IGACnews Workshop Summary
Air Pollution and Climate: A Science-Policy Dialogue in Asia
Taipei, Taiwan
7-11 November 2011
IGACnews Workshop Summary
Tackling the Air Pollution and Climate Change Challenge
Arona, Italy
9-10 June 2011
IGACnews Workshop Summary
Related Publications
Publications
Sustainable Policy—Key Considerations for Air Quality and Climate Change. (2016). M.L. Melamed, J. Schmale, and E. von Schneidemesser. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability. doi:10.1016/j.cosust.2016.12.003.