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An EU Initiative to Support International Policy to Reduce Black Carbon


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IMO Again Fails to Act on Black Carbon Emissions in Arctic (High North News)
16.05.22
Link to IMO Again Fails to Act on Black Carbon Emissions in Arctic (High North News)Black carbon pollution from tourism and research increasing Antarctic snowmelt, study says (Guardian)
14.04.22
Link to Black carbon pollution from tourism and research increasing Antarctic snowmelt, study says (Guardian)Press release: Actions on black carbon – a short term complement to mitigate Arctic warming
30.06.21
Link to Press release: Actions on black carbon – a short term complement to mitigate Arctic warmingArctic Black Carbon impacting on Climate and Air Pollution (ABC-iCAP)
The Arctic Black Carbon impacting on Climate and Air Pollution (ABC-iCAP) project is an EU-funded initiative supporting collaborative actions on the reduction of black carbon emissions from specific source sectors impacting the Arctic. Synergies with other short-lived climate forcers such as methane will also be explored. The project builds on the earlier EU-funded Action on Black Carbon in the Arctic (EUA-BCA) that was implemented between 2018 and 2021.
- Promoting national, regional and international collaboration to build and share relevant knowledge, raising awareness, conducting communications and outreach, and performing expert analysis with strategic partners and stakeholders;
- Enhancing collaboration with non-EU Arctic countries, in particular Canada and the USA;
- Contributing to work addressing black carbon and methane under the Arctic Council, UN ECE Air Convention and Barents Euro-Arctic Council; and
- Increasing awareness and knowledge sharing in cooperation with international and regional actions to reduce black carbon emissions under the Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC), OECD, UNFCCC / IPCC, World Bank’s Global Gas Flaring Reduction (GGFR) partnership and the International Maritime Organisation (IMO).
AMAP Secretariat is responsible for co-managing project implementation together with the two implementing partners in the Action:
- Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE)
- Swedish Environmental Research Institute (IVL)
and eight project key partners:
- Carbon Limits, Norway
- Environment Agency of Austria (EAA)
- Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI)
- International Climate and Cryosphere Initiative (ICCI) – Europe (Sweden)
- International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) (Austria)
- INTERACT Non-Profit Association (INPA) (Sweden)
- Norwegian Institute for Air Research (NILU)
- Norwegian Institute for Public Health (NIPH)

An EU Partnership Action
The ABC-iCAP will be implemented over two-years (2022–2023) supported by an EU Partnership Instrument grant of almost 820,000 EUR

Domestic Heating
Wood stoves and the burning of coal to heat homes emit black carbon to the atmosphere and can be a health hazard.
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Gas Flaring
Flaring is used extensively in the oil and gas industry to burn unwanted flammable gases and a major source of black carbon emissions affecting Arctic regions.
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Maritime Shipping
Expected increases in shipping in the Arctic could lead to much higher emissions of black carbon in the Arctic than today.
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Diesel engines
Diesel engines used in heavy road vehicles, ships and machinery constitute a significant source of black carbon in the Arctic.
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Open Burning
Wildfires and agricultural fires may be underestimated sources of black carbon emissions that pollutes the Arctic
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Policy Action
The road towards reduced emission of black carbon include applying the best available technologies and practices
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EUA-BCA Policy landscape report - Summary
Summary of the report: Enhancing the reduction of black carbon emissions to protect the Arctic: Mapping the policy landscape of national, regional, and international action
Enhancing the reduction of black carbon emissions to protect the Arctic: Mapping the policy landscape of national, regional, and international action. EU-funded Action on Black Carbon in the Arctic
EUA-BCA, 2021. Enhancing the reduction of black carbon emissions to protect the Arctic: Mapping the policy landscape of national, regional, and international action. EU-funded Action on Black Carbon in the Arctic – Technical Report 5. June 2021. 22pp.
EUA-BCA Stakeholder Analysis Report
This report is a part of the EUA-BCA final deliverables series including several reports and digital products in support of policy actions and increasing international cooperation with the target of reducing negative impacts from black carbon emissions in the Arctic. The stakeholder analysis was done to identify which stakeholders would be important in the process to Increase coordination of Arctic black carbon policies and to some extent to Facilitate early emission reductions of black carbon affecting the Arctic. The analysis included 95 Arctic-relevant stakeholders, categorised in six groups: Intergovernmental organisations, National authorities, Indigenous people’s organisations, Expert and working groups, Non-governmental organisations, and Industry. The analysis supporting the results above was made by quantitatively ranking each stakeholder over three dimensions: Power, Interest, and Network capacity. The stakeholder analysis indicates that there are some stakeholders that appear more important to include in the process to increase coordination of Arctic black carbon policies and to facilitate early emission reduction of black carbon affecting the Arctic.
Elements in the policy landscape for action on black carbon in the Arctic
This report is a part of the EUA-BCA final deliverables series including several reports and digital products in support of policy actions and increasing international cooperation with the target of reducing negative impacts from black carbon emissions in the Arctic. The aim of this report is to summarise information about relevant policy actions to reduce black carbon emissions from key polluting sectors, as well as options to better monitor how different initiatives affect black carbon emissions and their environmental and health effects. Several relevant policy areas are identified – In situ observations of black carbon in the Arctic, black carbon emission inventories, Gas flaring, Small-scale domestic heating, Shipping, On-and off-road engines, and Open biomass burning. Within these areas, possible actions are described in detail and presented in terms of their time horizon, societal impact, jurisdictional scope and relevant policy fora. The presented actions can act as a reference list of options for interested policymakers, synthesising existing knowledge about relevant policy actions rather than giving prescriptive recommendations on which of them to implement. This report serves as a background document to the EUA-BCA Policy landscape report that informs on possible ways to implement these actions in practice and clarify how enhanced international cooperation would contribute to actions in the key area.
Review of Observation Capacities and Data Availability for Black Carbon in the Arctic region
Review of observation capacities and data availability for Black Carbon in the Arctic region: EU Action on Black Carbon in the Arctic - Technical Report 1
Review of Reporting Systems for National Black Carbon Emissions Inventories
Review of Reporting Systems for National Black Carbon Emissions Inventories: EU-funded Action on Black Carbon in the Arctic - Technical Report 2
Best Available Techniques Economically Achievable to Address Black Carbon from Gas Flaring (available in English and Russian)
Best Available Techniques Economically Achievable to Address Black Carbon from Gas Flaring: EU-funded Action on Black Carbon in the Arctic – Technical Report 3
Reducing Black Carbon Emissions from Residential Heating in the Arctic
Reducing Black Carbon Emissions from Residential Heating in the Arctic. EU-funded Action on Black Carbon in the Arctic – Technical Report 4