Project history
Chinese-Norwegian Project on Emission, Impact, and Control Policy for Black Carbon and its Co-benefits in Northern China.
This project will help enhance the knowledge base for and support the development of strategies for BC/OC control in China that maximizes the co-benefits for air pollution and climate change.
The project is funded by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs through the Norwegian embassy in Beijing and the work on the Norwegian side is coordinated by the Norwegian Environment Agency. Partners on the Norwegians side are CICERO and NIPH. Work is coordinated on the Chinese side by Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences (CRAES) with partner Chinese Academy for Environmental Planning (CAEP). CRAES is a government agency under the Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE).
Objectives
In ChiNorBC we will:
- Develop an improved emission inventory for BC/OC emissions in China using the most recent, best available national statistics and measurements obtained in the project.
- Develop scenarios towards 2035 for reducing the emissions and impacts of BC/OC in China.
- Provide new estimates of effects on climate, air quality, and health.
- Provide policy recommendations on emissions reductions based on updated/new air quality and climate change information.
Output and expected impacts
The project is expected to make a significant contribution towards enhancing the knowledge base for and support the development of strategies for BC/OC control in China that maximizes the co-benefits for air pollution and climate change. The project also promotes and strengthens the collaboration between Norway and China on environmental issues, at both academic and policy levels. The project is funded by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs through the Norwegian embassy in Beijing and the work on the Norwegian side is coordinated by the Norwegian Environment Agency. Partners on the Norwegians side are CICERO and NIPH. Work is coordinated on the Chinese side by Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences (CRAES) with partner Chinese Academy for Environmental Planning (CAEP). CRAES is a government agency under the Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE).
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Norwegian Environment Agency, Norway |
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Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, China |
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Chinese Academy for Environmental Planning, China |
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Norwegian Institute on Public Health, Norway |
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CICERO Center for International Climate Research -Oslo, Norway |
Project Milestones
The kick-off meeting of the “Chinese-Norwegian Project on Emission, Impact, and Control Policy for Black Carbon and its Co-benefits in Northern China (ChiNorBC)” was held in Beijing and virtually on Zoom on 9th December 2020. Leaders and project experts from the Department of International Cooperation and the Department of Atmosphere Environment of the Chinese Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE), the Norwegian Ministry of Climate and Environment (MCE), the Norwegian Embassy in Beijing, the Chinese Academy of Environmental Sciences (CRAES), the Norwegian Environment Agency (NEA), Chinese Academy for Environmental Planning (CAEP), Center for International Climate Research (CICERO) and the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (NIPH) attended the meeting and delivered the speech.
view pdf summaryThe ChiNorBC project Emission Workshop was held concurrently with the kick-off meeting on 9th December 2020. More than 20 experts and governmental officials from relevant departments and the project group from both China and Norway attended the meeting. Experts from within the project and outside experts from Tsinghua University and IIASA introduced the current status of BC emissions in China and relevant research results. After this workshop, more data, including emission factors and activity levels, will be investigated and a BC/OC emission inventory of northern China will be developed. For northern China, the emission inventory will be given a higher temporal/spatial resolution.
On 15th December 2021, ChiNorBC Project Workshop on Emissions inventories and preliminary modelling results was held in Beijing and virtually on zoom co-chaired by the Chinese Academy of Environmental Sciences (CRAES) and the Norwegian Environment Agency (NEA) as the main implementing partners of the project. Representatives from the Norwegian Embassy in Beijing, the Norwegian Environment Agency and the Chinese Academy of Environmental Sciences attended the workshop and delivered speeches.
A project internal workshop on Scenarios was held on 16. February 2022. The agenda and presentation are attached. Zheng Yixuan presented the progress that has been made on output 5. This included status of BC/OC control in China, scenario design and emission projection results.
The many benefits of cutting Short-lived climate forcers (SLCF)
Air pollution is one of the largest causes of premature deaths worldwide, killing an estimated seven million people each year. The primary contributor is particles suspended in the atmosphere, so called particulate matter (PM). BC, OC, and sulfate particles formed from emissions of sulfur dioxide, are key constituents of PM. Particles also affect climate. While BC warms the atmosphere, OC and sulphate contribute to cooling．Ozone, formed in the lower layer of the atmosphere from chemical reactions involving nitrogen oxides and hydrocarbons, is harmful to climate, health, crops and vegetation Ozone in the lower layer of the atmosphere is a greenhouse gas and an increase in the amount contributes to climate warming. Particles have many and complex climate interactions, affecting temperature, clouds and precipitation. Common for the SLCFs is that their effects on climate are much shorter lived than CO2, which continues to affect climate for centuries. This characteristic has coined the collective term of short-lived climate forcers (SLCFs). Reducing SLCFs can contribute to slowing the rate of warming and reducing near- term temperature increase, with significant co-benefits for air quality and climate change.
The strong linkage between air quality, SLCP, and climate planning
Source: FAQ 6.2 from IPCC 2021
Naik, V., S. Szopa, B. Adhikary, P. Artaxo, T. Berntsen, W. D. Collins, S. Fuzzi, L. Gallardo, A. Kiendler
Scharr, Z. Klimont, H. Liao, N. Unger, P. Zanis, 2021, Short-Lived Climate Forcers. In: Climate Change
2021: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Masson-Delmotte, V., P. Zhai, A. Pirani, S. L. Connors, C. Péan, S. Berger, N. Caud, Y. Chen, L. Goldfarb, M. I. Gomis, M. Huang, K. Leitzell, E. Lonnoy, J. B. R.
Matthews, T. K. Maycock, T. Waterfield, O. Yelekçi, R. Yu and B. Zhou (eds.)]. Cambridge University
Press. In Press.
Date: August 2021
