Time to go faster on curbing climate change. The summer of 2024 was the warmest on record for the Northern hemisphere – again. Nine of the ten hottest years on the books fell in the last decade. Expectations are that 2024 will set another record. Despite our climate efforts, we’re losing ground instead of gaining it.
We can arrest runaway global warming, by targeting climate super pollutants now. That’s why we recently launched Global Heat Reduction Initiative (GHR). “Our goal is to help business and organizations of all stripes speed up the fight against global warming,” said Executive Director Kiff Gallagher. “By acting on the most potent heat drivers, we can see results in years, not decades.”
Did you know that roughly half of all current anthropogenic global warming is caused by climate super pollutants such as methane, black carbon, and HCFs? Or that methane alone is responsible for about 30 percent of all warming since the industrial Revolution? As we step up efforts to reduce carbon emissions, simultaneously tackling super pollutants will provide the turbo boost we need now:
- Super pollutants are many times more potent than CO2. Methane is 150 times stronger in the first year it is emitted. Black carbon up to 52,000 times.
- But they are also short-lived. While CO2 heats up the atmosphere for centuries, methane disappears within 10-12 years and black carbon within days.
- This means bigger near-term results. One tonne of avoided black carbon emissions this year is more than 8 times more powerful by 2030 than by avoiding 1000 tonnes of CO2.
What GHR is doing: GHR offers a game-changing, peer-reviewed climate accounting method based on the latest IPCC science, clarifying the actual heat impacts of any climate driver over both the short and the long term. It’s something conventional climate accounting methods can’t do, and it underpins GHR’s new services:
- Registry: GHR recently launched a climate registry to finance super pollutant reduction projects that have been undervalued by carbon markets and enable buyers to make heat reduction claims on their path to net zero.
- Footprinting: Providing the most complete climate footprints available today, assessing not only CO2 and other greenhouse gases, but also traditionally overlooked super pollutants and even changes in the earth’s heat reflectivity (albedo), over any time frame. This new, actionable data helps users to make more informed mitigation investment decisions.
- Advisory: Offering expert insight and analysis to support public and private organizations as they develop climate strategies and investments, including heat impact assessments of development and infrastructure projects.
Why this matters: “The next decade is crucial,” said Gallagher. “To avoid irreversible climate tipping points, we must act fast and with the best information available. With GHR, corporations and governments can now do so in a smart, cost-effective manner.”
The long view: While slashing super pollutants can give us a big boost, getting to net zero on CO2 by 2050 remains paramount. Fortunately, super pollutant reductions are feasible with existing, off-the-shelf technologies. There is no reason that we can’t do both at the same time.
Media Outlet
Founding executive director to share insights on practical pathways to decarbonize supply chains at premier Washington, DC conference
Kiff Gallagher | Oct 27, 2025
The Global Heat Reduction Initiative is pleased to announce that Kiff Gallagher, founding executive director, will participate as a featured speaker at The Scope 3 Innovation Forum USA, taking place December 3-4, 2025 in Washington DC.
The two-day conference will convene over 150 cross-industry experts focused on practical steps businesses can take to engage key stakeholders, decarbonize supply chains, and achieve net zero targets. Gallagher’s participation underscores the Global Heat Reduction Initiative’s commitment to advancing climate solutions that move beyond targets to tangible action.
The forum addresses how climate ambition is driving a fundamental shift from compliance to competition, innovation, and implementation – a transition that aligns directly with the Global Heat Reduction Initiative’s mission to accelerate meaningful emissions reductions across value chains.
The conference will explore how leading businesses are accelerating decarbonization through deeper supplier engagement and empowerment, as well as how companies can build internal alignment and adapt business models to unlock commercial opportunities in Scope 3 emissions reduction. Sessions will also examine the imperative to shift beyond carbon tunnel vision by integrating nature, culture, and consumer engagement.
Operating under Chatham House rules, the forum creates a safe space for participants to discuss what’s working, what’s not, and what comes next—enabling the kind of candid conversation that drives genuine progress rather than corporate posturing. Gallagher’s expertise in cross-sector collaboration and systems-level change makes him a valuable contributor to discussions on overcoming the practical barriers to supply chain decarbonization.
The Scope 3 Innovation Forum brings together leaders from companies including Colgate-Palmolive, Microsoft, and other major corporations committed to advancing climate action through practical, implementable strategies.
Interested to join the conversation? Secure your place here.
Media Outlet
Founding executive director to share insights on practical pathways to decarbonize supply chains at premier Washington, DC conference
The Global Heat Reduction Initiative is pleased to announce that Kiff Gallagher, founding executive director, will participate as a featured speaker at The Scope 3 Innovation Forum USA, taking place December 3-4, 2025 in Washington DC.
The two-day conference will convene over 150 cross-industry experts focused on practical steps businesses can take to engage key stakeholders, decarbonize supply chains, and achieve net zero targets. Gallagher’s participation underscores the Global Heat Reduction Initiative’s commitment to advancing climate solutions that move beyond targets to tangible action.
The forum addresses how climate ambition is driving a fundamental shift from compliance to competition, innovation, and implementation – a transition that aligns directly with the Global Heat Reduction Initiative’s mission to accelerate meaningful emissions reductions across value chains.
The conference will explore how leading businesses are accelerating decarbonization through deeper supplier engagement and empowerment, as well as how companies can build internal alignment and adapt business models to unlock commercial opportunities in Scope 3 emissions reduction. Sessions will also examine the imperative to shift beyond carbon tunnel vision by integrating nature, culture, and consumer engagement.
Operating under Chatham House rules, the forum creates a safe space for participants to discuss what’s working, what’s not, and what comes next—enabling the kind of candid conversation that drives genuine progress rather than corporate posturing. Gallagher’s expertise in cross-sector collaboration and systems-level change makes him a valuable contributor to discussions on overcoming the practical barriers to supply chain decarbonization.
The Scope 3 Innovation Forum brings together leaders from companies including Colgate-Palmolive, Microsoft, and other major corporations committed to advancing climate action through practical, implementable strategies.
Interested to join the conversation? Secure your place here.
Media Outlet
Another Climate Week in NYC is in the books. The city buzzed with CEOs, activists, policymakers, and more acronyms than anyone cares to count. And with COP30 just around the corner, the climate conversation was once again dominated by long-term visions: “net zero by 2050,” “pathways to decarbonization,” “roadmaps to resilience.”
All important. But let’s be honest, the crisis isn’t politely waiting for mid-century milestones. The heat is here now. And the question too often overlooked is the simplest one: what can we do today?
This year, I was encouraged to see the likes of methane, HFCs, and black carbon pop up on the main stages and side events alike. These super pollutants are some of the biggest drivers of near-term warming and extreme heat, and it’s about time they get the airtime they deserve.
Cutting carbon is essential for the long haul, but slashing super pollutants is how we buy time. It’s the fastest way to slow warming, blunt the rise of dangerous heatwaves, and protect vulnerable communities from climate impacts that are not decades away.
The rise of the super pollutant agenda at Climate Week wasn’t just refreshing, it was a signal. These issues are finally moving beyond the realm of climate scientists and technical debates and into the agendas of CSOs, investors, and on-the-ground implementers.
From exploring how carbon markets can showcase to governments what’s possible in a regulatory environment, to highlighting the tangible co-benefits super pollutant action brings to companies and communities, the conversation is gaining real momentum. The buzz around this topic suggests it’s no longer niche, it’s becoming central to climate action.
This shift is what gives me hope coming out of New York, and is exactly the space where Total Climate Accounting is aiming to make a difference. We’ve taken the rigorous scientific methodologies on near-term heat and turned it into concrete action that organizations can run with.
By expanding the traditional carbon footprint with a “Total Climate Footprint” that includes heat impact and climate risk over time, actors can now understand where near-term heat drivers are showing up in their emissions portfolios and designate the most effective ways to cut them.
Super pollutants and near-term heat drivers can no longer be niche topics. They’re the most effective levers we’ve got to protect people, stabilize systems, and unlock outsized returns on investment. And the benefits are immediate: cleaner air, safer water, and reduced exposure to dangerous heat.
So let’s forget the endless buzzwords for a minute and skip to the James Carville version that admittedly some of you might not be old enough to remember: It’s about the heat, stupid!
That’s not a 2050 promise. That’s a tomorrow morning thing.
As we turn the page from Climate Week and barrel toward COP30, my hope is that more leaders in boardrooms and in government halls start treating super pollutant action not as a side note, but as a headline.
If we truly want to reach our long-term goals, we have to start by cooling the planet today. The heat crisis is not an abstract future scenario. It’s the daily reality for millions.
We must keep the ambition for 2050 alive. But let’s also make 2025 the year we remember a simple truth: if we want to win the long game, we’d better get serious about fighting the heat in the short one.
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