The Regional Expert Workshop on Air Quality and Short-lived Climate Pollutants brought together participants from 12 countries from across the region with the goal of strengthening cooperation and promoting the implementation of national policies and programs to address SLCPs.

At the opening of the workshop, Dr. María Amparo Martínez Arroyo, Director General of the National Institute of Ecology and Climate Change of Mexico (INECC) , highlighted the similar needs and opportunities to reduce short-lived climate pollutants shared by many Latin American and Caribbean countries, which make common solutions and innovations achievable at the regional level.

The workshop provided a platform for the countries, as well as representatives from governmental institutions, academia and non-governmental organisations to discuss key air quality and climate change issues, including the importance of addressing black carbon emissions from the transport and residential energy sectors that negatively impact health, air quality and the climate.

Increased regional collaboration on the improvement of integrated inventories of greenhouse gases and air pollutants, as well as on atmospheric air quality monitoring were outlined as cross-cutting priorities for the region.

Regional National Planning Initiative meeting

Representatives from Mexico, Peru, Colombia, Uruguay, Paraguay and Costa Rica met in the margins of this meeting to exchange best practices and lessons learnt in the development of their national plans on short-lived climate pollutants. The focus of their meeting was on:

• • Identifying the additional benefits to health, livelihoods, food security, development and the environment achieved by acting on short-lived climate pollutants
  • Defining the implementation pathways to turn identified priorities into action

IMAGE: Participants at the Regional Expert Workshop on Air Quality and Short-lived Climate Pollutants in Mexico City, Mexico.