WASHINGTON — With global efforts to reduce carbon-dioxide emissions stalled, the United States and five other countries are launching a new program to cut other pollutants — including methane, soot and hydrofluorocarbons — that also contribute to global warming.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is set to announce the five-year initiative this morning. Canada, Sweden, Mexico, Ghana and Bangladesh also are participating. The plan will be administered by the United Nations Environment Programme, with a $12 million contribution from the United States for the first two years. Canada will add another $3 million; contributions from the other countries are not known.
Carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels plays the largest role in pushing up global temperatures, according to climate scientists. But methane, soot and hydrofluorocarbons also contribute to global warming. If adopted globally, measures to reduce soot and methane emissions could slow global warming by about a half a degree Celsius by 2030, according to research published in January.
The new program will not set targets for reductions in pollutants. Rather, it will fund education projects and joint public-private efforts to reduce emissions, said people briefed on the announcement. They said the program will likely encourage nations to reduce diesel exhaust; stem the burning of agricultural waste; and capture methane from landfills, coal mines and natural-gas wells — among other policies.
