International Cryosphere Climate Initiative

Programs: Black carbon from domestic heating: implementation of the first-ever domestic heating project from unep/the climate and clean air coalition moved onwards, with five components: 1) global beta-testing of the black carbon testing protocol developed under the nordic council project; 2) decreasing black carbon from existing stoves using consumer burn right campaigns; 3) policy support for interested governments; 4) work with producers; and 5) addressing the thorny problem of combined cooking and heating in developing countries, as well as coal heating stoves. This project was extended into 2018, to allow coverage of another full southern and northern hemisphere heating season. With the support of the vermont community foundations, the work also supported consumer education on these burn right techniques in a targeted community effort.

reducing open burning in the eastern himalayas and andes: this three-year project, begun late in 2016 expands and intensifies work to combat open burning in these two regions, a needless practice with severe impact on local snowpack and glaciers, and thereby water supplies in these two regions. The project includes satellite monitoring of fires in conjunction with researchers, including from nasa and noaa; implements demonstration projects showcasing no-burn alternatives, especially conservation agriculture which helps farmers weather extreme events more economically; and creates regional advisory groups to aid in a transition to these more food-secure, air quality enhancing, climate- and glacier-friendly policies. The project now will run through 2019.

european open burning:icci expanded its open burning work to ukraine in conjunction with icci-europe, with a grant from the nordic environment finance corporation (an arm of the nordic council). The work included field days for farmers, burning maps in real time during the 2017 burning season, and a conference on black carbon in kyiv in december 2017.