Why target black carbon?
Black carbon is where the impacts of climate change, air pollution and human health converge – and where progress can happen fastest. As black carbon remains in the atmosphere for only days to weeks, cutting emissions delivers visible results almost immediately.
Focusing on black carbon takes us to where pollution is thickest and harm is greatest – and to where practical solutions are achievable. From ending the harmful burning of fossil fuels and biomass, to replacing inefficient stoves, engines and industrial processes, and shifting away from the dirtiest fuels, measures to cut black carbon deliver immediate benefits for people and planet.
These are changes that people can see and feel. Cleaner household energy, modern transport and industry, and safer waste management don’t just reduce emissions – they clean the air, protect lives and tackle climate change.
By targeting the most harmful forms of combustion, measures to reduce black carbon sharpen broader efforts to address air pollution and climate simultaneously, homing in on rapid health gains and near-term climate benefits, especially for communities bearing the heaviest burden. A 70% black carbon emissions reduction is technically feasible by 2030 from 2010 levels. So with proven solutions ready to scale, action on black carbon converts policy and investment into rapid, real‑world impact.
What is black carbon?
Black carbon, commonly referred to as ‘soot’, is a component of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) produced through the incomplete burning of fossil fuels, biomass and waste. Because it absorbs light, black carbon acts as a potent short-lived climate pollutant or super pollutant that warms the atmosphere. It is one of the super pollutants alongside methane, HFCs and tropospheric ozone that are responsible for half of global warming. Due to their short lifetime in the atmosphere, reducing super pollutant emissions can quickly reduce warming and act as our emergency brake for the climate system.
As a component of air pollution, black carbon significantly contributes to the 8 million premature deaths and the trillions of dollars of economic cost (5% of global GDP) from air pollution each year.
It’s a global problem that is felt very close to home. Countries around the world are suffering from worsening air pollution and extreme heat, and black carbon is a significant driver of both, with devastating consequences. Black carbon’s effects are felt most strongly close to its source, so reducing emissions will realise local and regional benefits almost immediately.
What are the main sources of black carbon?
Black carbon emissions originate from a variety of sources, particularly those involving inefficient combustion and dirty fuels:
- Within the transport sector, diesel engines are a major source of black carbon emissions – especially diesel trucks, buses and generators in regions with older or poorly maintained vehicles.
- Residential heating, cooking, and lighting are responsible for 35% of global black carbon emissions. This includes kerosene lamps, cookstoves and boilers burning biomass or coal.
- Industrial emissions from inefficient combustion processes and traditional brick kilns, with informal industry a major source as opposed to large industries like steel and cement.
- Within the agriculture and waste sectors, open burning is a source of black carbon emissions: Burning of agricultural residue, biomass, waste and e-waste.
- Forest fires and wildfires: Natural and human-caused fires are increasing in intensity and frequency and emitting black carbon as well as methane, alongside CO2.
How does black carbon affect climate change, snow and ice?
Black carbon emissions influence the climate system in many ways:
- Absorbing sunlight: Black carbon particles absorb solar radiation, heating the surrounding air, driving global warming and local extreme heat.
- Melting snow and ice: When particles settle on snow and ice, they darken the surface and accelerate the melting of glaciers and sea ice – especially in the Arctic, Himalayas, and Andes, regions critical to water security of billions of people in downstream areas. When black carbon lands on snow and ice, it darkens highly reflective surfaces, triggering powerful feedback loops of melting in the Arctic. This can make the resulting temperature response more than three times larger than that from an equivalent climate forcing by carbon dioxide (CO₂).
- Disrupting rainfall patterns: Through its influence on atmospheric heating and cloud cover, black carbon can alter precipitation patterns, monsoon behaviour, and contribute to extreme weather risks, like flooding, drought and extreme heatwaves.
Black carbon has an estimated lifetime of just 1-2 weeks in the atmosphere. Given its short lifetime, cutting black carbon can yield rapid climate mitigation benefits within a few weeks.
Black carbon is emitted alongside other air pollutants and greenhouse gases, including CO₂, carbon monoxide, non-methane volatile organic compounds and organic carbon. While a focus on black carbon can sharpen efforts and ensure we are fully capturing its unique climate and health effects, it is important to always consider multi-pollutant impacts of mitigation actions.
What are the health effects of black carbon?
Black carbon is a key component of particulate matter (PM2.5) pollution, the world’s largest environmental health risk. Black carbon particles penetrate deeply into the lungs and can enter the bloodstream, worsening conditions such as asthma, heart disease, and potentially leading to long-term health effects.
The economic toll of PM2.5 is also staggering: $6 trillion in annual health costs and 1.2 billion workdays lost globally.
Unequal impact on communities
Black carbon disproportionately affects the most vulnerable and marginalised communities. The worst impacts often fall on low-income communities: women and children exposed to smoke from open-fire cooking, households relying on kerosene lamps, and communities living near busy roads or polluting industries. These communities may contribute least to emissions, but often suffer disproportionately from black carbon’s health and climate impacts.
The communities most affected by black carbon’s climate and health impacts are often those excluded from decision making, particularly across the Global South. Major black carbon sources – such as cooking, heating, transport and informal industry – stem from limited access to clean technologies. With many barriers continuing to exist for accessing modern cooking solutions in many Global South countries, a vicious cycle emerges in which poverty drives emissions while also limiting the ability to finance solutions.
Inequities persist within high income countries too, where marginalised and racialised communities face disproportionately high exposure to black carbon. Breaking these patterns requires centring affected communities whose livelihoods and food security are directly threatened by black carbon and co-pollutant impacts.
Why doesn’t black carbon get more attention?
Despite its outsized and unique impact, black carbon has slipped through the cracks of climate and air quality policy. It is not covered by major international treaties, often goes untracked in emissions inventories, and is rarely addressed explicitly in national climate plans. This means countries are missing an important piece of the puzzle to solve these problems.
Part of the challenge is where black carbon sits. It falls between climate and air quality governance, between mitigation and adaptation, and between global agreements and local sources. Scientific complexity around aerosols, combined with fragmented responsibility across ministries and institutions, has slowed coordinated action. In practice, this has meant limited political focus and very little dedicated finance: total funding going to black carbon-rich sectors was $824 million in 2023, compared to billions focused on abating other pollutants.
The result is a growing gap between what the science tells us and what policy delivers. Black carbon continues to accelerate glacier melt, intensify extreme heat, and drive deadly air pollution —especially in places already facing the greatest climate risk.
Growing attention to black carbon at the recent UN climate change conference (COP30) and through the latest round of country climate strategies and ongoing WHO systematic review have begun to raise the profile of black carbon. The ambition now is to turn recognition into action: better tracking and reporting, stronger policy signals, and investment in proven solutions that can deliver rapid climate and health benefits—especially in the communities most affected.
Clean Air Fund is helping to seize this moment: we are strengthening the evidence base, building coalitions, and supporting targeted action to move black carbon from emerging priority to real-world impact.