Addressing black carbon for double impact on climate and health

SHORT-LIVED climate pollutants (SCPs), also known as super pollutants, have contributed to almost half of global warming to date and play an outsized role in pushing Earth toward dangerous tipping points.

- By Dennis Mombauer

One of these pollutants, black carbon—fine particulate matter resulting from incomplete combustion, such as in cookstoves, diesel engines, or waste burning—offers significant opportunities for double impact on addressing the climate-health nexus. Its dual identity as a potent climate forcer and air pollutant places black carbon at the intersection of climate change mitigation and public health.

Black carbon across key sectors

Black carbon matters. Due to its potent contribution to global warming, it has an outsized impact on climate change but is not typically included in national greenhouse gas reporting under the UNFCCC. As an air pollutant, it also poses serious risks to human health through cardiovascular and respiratory diseases as well as its contribution to the millions of premature deaths due to air pollution each year. Beyond these direct impacts on climate and health, black carbon also has direct and indirect impacts on ecosystems, livelihoods, and the environment, such as the disruption of monsoon patterns and its role in intensifying extreme weather events, including floods, droughts, and heatwaves.

As outlined above, black carbon emissions stem from the incomplete combustion of biomass, waste, and fossil fuels, connecting them mainly to the residential (cooking, heating, lighting), transport, industry, agriculture, and waste management sectors. Near the source of emission, black carbon also creates heat island effects, which accelerate warming and influence ecosystems, climate systems, and regional weather patterns. The exact sources of black carbon vary between regions, but for South Asia, the residential sector is by far the biggest source of black carbon (60%), followed by industry (17%), transport (10%), and waste.