Overview of the development of regional agreements on air pollution across Africa sub-regions and links to

SLCPs Prof Sara Feresu APINA SecretariatInstitute of Environmental StudiesUniversity of ZimbabweHarare

CCAC IntergovernmentalConsultation on Near –Term Climate Protection and Clean Air Benefits in Africa19-21 September, Accra Ghana

What is APINA?

•Have been invited by the organisers to present on a Case Study of a network called the Air Pollution Information Network for Africa (APINA) that has previously been working on air pollution in Africa particularly in the SADC Region

•This might inform the CCAC and enable it to incorporate lessons learnt by APINA in growing itself in the African region

•APINA is/was a network of African policy makers, scientists, NGOs, industry and other stakeholders interested in air pollution issues formed in 1997

What is APINA?

•Originally APINA was a component of the Regional Air Pollution in Developing Countries (RAPIDC) Programme that was operating in South Asia and southern Africa coordinated by the Stockholm Environment Institute and funded by Sida

•APINA’s Secretariat was the Institute of Environmental Studies at the University of Zimbabwe

• Since its formation APINA has been the driver of aregional air pollution policy process within Africa starting with the SADC region and with the help of several partners spreading its work to all the other regions of Africa

Design of APINA

•APINA was developed to address air pollutionissues in Africa on lines similar to those of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe-Long Range Transboundary Air Pollution (UNECE-LRTAP)

•It therefore adopted and adapted the methods used by such Conventions to produce regionally specific information for the policy processes in Africa

•Thus APINA is/was a Science to Policy Network where findings from scientific investigations were being translated into information relevant to development of national and regional policies

Purpose of APINA

The purpose of APINA is:

“to fill gaps in knowledge on air pollution issues in Africa and ensure that currently available information and concerns are articulated to policy makers and the regional policy process is promoted”

How has APINA achieved this purpose?

Using a two pronged approach:

1.Generating and collecting science information for policy formulation

2. Enhancing the national and regional policy process

APINA has carried out activities on all aspects of

the air pollution policy cycle including:

• Emission inventories• Atmospheric transfer modelling• Deposition Monitoring• Impacts (health, crops, ecosystems, corrosion)• Rapid urban and integrated assessment• Urban Air Quality Management (AQM)• Decision making support information

Generating and collecting science informationfor policy formulation

Enhancing the national and regionalpolicy process

• Regional trans-boundary air pollution issues

• Common and shared urban air pollutionissues

What is APINA and what has the Networkdone in the area of air pollution?

APINA addressed both urban air pollution issues (through Better Air Quality in African Cities) and trans-boundary air pollution issues

•It had many partners that included the StockholmEnvironment Institute and other Swedish institutions (e.g. KIMAB, SMHI and IVL), UNEP, USEPA, the World Bank

•It also had strong links to UNECE- LRTAP Convention and other regional networks around the world as a member of the Global Atmospheric Pollution Forum

What did APINA find out with regards to the main causes of air pollution in Africa? 

-urbanization,

-motorization

-economic activity

-use of wood and charcoal for energy

-open burning including vegetation fires and waste burning

Provided by the SeaWiFS Project, NASA/Goddard Image Date: 09-04-2000Image captured by CSIR Satellite Application Centre

Open burning•Regional hot spots for

atmospheric brown clouds include southern Africa, extending southwards from sub-Saharan Africa into Angola, Zambia and Zimbabwe

•SAFARI 2000 demonstrated theriver of smoke

•The Atmospheric Brown Cloud isnow subject of the UNEP ABCinitiative. Components of ABC haveboth air pollution and climatechange impacts

Emission Inventories

•APINA compiled inventories for 7 Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries (Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe) using uniform methodology

•A regional emissions inventory was compiled by aggregating the national inventories

•The sectors covered in the inventories are energy,industrial processes, agriculture, vegetation fires andforestry, waste, natural sources and large point sources

Emission Inventories

•The major emissions and/or precursors included in theAPINA emissions inventory manual are SO2, NOX, PM10 and PM2.5, O3, CO and NMVOCs

•Main greenhouse gases were not included, but same activity data was applied

•Base year is 2000

•Manual adopts practices from Malé Declaration Manual(RAPIDC),IPCC, EMEP/CORINAIR,US-EPA AP-42,SAFARI 2000

Country contributions per pollutant(without CO)

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

7000

SO2 NOx NMVOC NH3 PM10 PM2.5

Em

iss

ion

s (

kt/

yr)

Zimbabwe

Zambia

Tanzania

South Africa

Mozambique

Malawi

Botswana

Emission contributions of the SADC countries studied

• Zambia was the largest contributor of pollutants in the region due to the prevalence of vegetation fires followed by South Africa then Tanzania. Malawi contributed the least to the regional total

Tanzania16.3%

South Africa21.8%

Mozambique10.7%

Malawi3.9%Botswana

4.5%

Zambia30.7%

Zimbabwe12.0%

Regional emissions per sector without (CO)

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

Em

issi

on

s kt

/yr

SO2 NOx

NMVOC NH3

PM10

Main observations

– Vegetation fires, savannah burning and the residential sector (mainly burning of biomass fuels) are the highest emitting sources)

– Same sectors also responsible for:• emitting significant amounts of NMVOC and

NOx all important precursors of Ozone• Emitting GHGs – these are inventoried by all

countries as an obligation to the UNFCCC

– This offers opportunities for cooperation, sharing of data and other synergies between the air pollution community and the climate change community

The maize growing areas at risk from drought are similar to those modelled to be at risk from elevated O3

concentrations

Grey shading denotes exceedance of safe levels of modelled O3 concentrations

Crops Impacts

•As such, maize may be suffering multiple stresses resulting from O3 and drought which may compromise crop productivity

• Such stress may be enhanced in the future as enhanced air pollutant emissions lead to higher and more persistent O3 concentrations

APINA developing the regional policyprocess

• APINA has been interacting with policy makers at bothnational and regional level

• It has been facilitating development of regional protocols ontrans-boundary and urban air pollution issues together withthe other Global Atmospheric Pollution Forum partners

• Three sub-regional agreements for the Southern,Eastern, as well as West and Central Africa have beensigned. For Northern Africa recommendations were developed by an inter-governmental meeting

• The intent was to end up with a continental agreement forAfrica

General Contents of the agreements

1. Multilateral Co-operation2. Transport Sector

– Cleaner fuels– Cleaner vehicles– Urban planning

3. Industry4. Open Burning

– Vegetation fires, uncontrolled burning and– deforestation– Waste Management

5. Indoor Air Pollution6. National Environmental Governance7. Public Awareness8. Research, Development and Capacity Building

Contents of the Agreements- Lusaka Agreement/Concurrence

-Nairobi Agreement• 2. Transport

a. Cleaner Vehicles/Vehicle Standards• i) Emission standards by 2010/2012• ii) Regulations/programmes for vehicle testing,• inspection and maintenance- compliance with

regulations 2010 onwards/2010 –includesdevelopment of capacity for enforcement andmaintenance

• iii) Age restriction of second hand vehicles to 10years-age not specifiediv) Regulations for catalytic converters from 2010onwards/2011

Contents of the Agreements- Lusaka Agreement/Concurrence

-Nairobi Agreement2. Transport

a. Cleaner Vehicles/Vehicle Standards

v) Adoption of modern technologies e.g. dieselretrofits etc

vi) Harmonized emission standards

Contents of the Agreements- Lusaka Agreement/Concurrence

-Nairobi Agreement

b. Cleaner Fuels/Fuels Standards

i) Regulations to reduce sulphur levels in fuels by importingcountries to 500 ppm by 2010

ii) Regulations to reduce sulphur levels to 50 ppm from2010 onwards for refining and importing countries/commit necessary refinery investments to reduce sulphur to 50 ppm from 2012 onwards

Contents of the Agreements- Lusaka Agreement/Concurrence

-Nairobi Agreement

• b. Cleaner Fuels/Fuels Standards

iii) Harmonize fuel standards in region/subregion

iv) Enforce regulations against procurement, sale and

use of fuels not meeting set standards

v) Assess consequences of using bio-fuels beforemoving to them/ to enable sustainable use

Contents of the Agreements

• The agreements can be downloaded from www.sei-international.org/gapforum/regions.php

Lessons learnt

• Development of agreements is a process and takes time in Africa.

• Need constant engagement among policy makers, scientists, practitioners to enhance cooperation

• Need for local generation of data

• Africa is large – 53 countries – more effective to use sub-regional organizations which could then feed into the African regional process

• The power regional institutions such as RECs UNEP etc to engage ministers

Conclusions

• From APINA’s interactions with policy makers in Africa, air pollution is becoming a policy driver in the region (politicians can see its effects particularly on health getting worse)

• They also know that although Africa has low GHG emissions it is susceptible to some of the worst effects of climate change.

• As air pollutants and GHGs sources and effects are ofteninterlinked, tackling air pollution (including short-lived climate pollutants) as a priority in Africa with the right measures can keep GHG emissions low and achieve synergies and co-benefits

Conclusions

• However African politicians are likely to get convinced ifscientific evidence is generated locally by local scientistswith international help

• APINA presents a vehicle that can be used to providescience based evidence to engage African governments inmitigating climate change through the air pollution route

• Already all the sub-regional agreements that APINA hasfacilitated emphasize that air pollution and climate changeco-benefits should be pursued where appropriate

Conclusions

• APINA presents a network of people who can with minimumcapacity building be able to:

– Carry out assessments of black carbon, methane and ozone

– Carry out assessments of impacts of these pollutants on human health, food security and the environment

– Assess the socio-economic elements of adopting some of the technologies to reduce these pollutants

– Convert the scientific information for policy formulation

• Facilitate agreements among African countries to reducethese pollutants

Conclusions

• Rapid urbanisation and changes to land use in Africa need to be managed in an integrated/holistic way with consideration of ecosystem services provided and their relationship to air pollution and climate change

• However promoting co-benefit approaches for air pollution and climate change such as reducing (short-lived climate pollutants) in Africa will depend on how clearly the multiple benefits approaches can be demonstrated. APINA would like to be part of this process.

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