Pathways to Reduce Black Carbon

The report highlights that black carbon emissions are rising in low- and middle-income countries due to a lack of binding international agreements and its exclusion from the UNFCCC list of climate pollutants. It proposes that emissions can be rapidly reduced by 2030 through the deployment of proven technologies and targeted interventions. A primary focus is the transition to clean cooking fuels, noting that 42% of global residential black carbon emissions come from seven specific countries, with the Indo-Gangetic Plains being the largest hotspot. The document emphasizes that government subsidies and favorable policies, such as India's Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana scheme, are essential for the adoption of clean fuels.

• Global efforts to mitigate black carbon are hindered because the pollutant is not included in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) list of climate pollutants, leading to its frequent omission from national climate plans.
• A significant portion of global residential black carbon emissions—42%—is concentrated in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Uganda, Ethiopia, and South Africa, primarily due to the use of unclean cooking fuels. The Indo-Gangetic Plains represents the largest residential emission hotspot.
• The adoption of clean cooking fuels requires favorable policies and government subsidies to ensure affordability and infrastructure reliability. India's Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) scheme serves as an example, providing free liquified petroleum gas (LPG) connections to 96 million households below the poverty line.

APA

Project Drawdown (n.d.). Pathways to Reduce Black Carbon. https://drawdown.org/publications/reducing-black-carbon/pathways-to-reduce-black-carbon

Chicago

Project Drawdown. Pathways to Reduce Black Carbon. n.d. https://drawdown.org/publications/reducing-black-carbon/pathways-to-reduce-black-carbon.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Project Drawdown |title=Pathways to Reduce Black Carbon |url=https://drawdown.org/publications/reducing-black-carbon/pathways-to-reduce-black-carbon |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{projectdrawdownndpathways, author = {{Project Drawdown}}, title = {{Pathways to Reduce Black Carbon}}, institution = {Project Drawdown}, url = {https://drawdown.org/publications/reducing-black-carbon/pathways-to-reduce-black-carbon}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }