Black carbon is a harmful component of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and a powerful short-lived climate pollutant. Because it remains in the atmosphere for only a few days or weeks, reducing black carbon emissions offers South Africa an opportunity to achieve rapid improvements in air quality, public health and climate outcomes.

Exposure to PM2.5, including black carbon, disproportionately affects low-income communities located near transport corridors, industrial areas, coal facilities and waste-burning sites, as well as households that rely on wood and coal for cooking and heating.

Key findings include:

• The primary emissions source of black carbon in South Africa is residential homes burning fuels like wood and coal for cooking and heating (32%), especially among low-income households. Transportation is the second largest source (30%) driven primarily by diesel freight vehicles, followed by open biomass fires (wildfires, prescribed forest burns, and agricultural land clearing, 17%). 

• Black carbon emissions are highly localised and diversified across South African provinces, with significant emissions outside of the established three National Priority Areas (Highveld, Vaal Triangle, and Waterberg Bojanala), including parts of KwaZulu-Natal and the northern and eastern districts of Limpopo. This highlights that black carbon, while related to other pollutants, has unique emission patterns and therefore a targeted nationwide approach is needed.

The policy brief calls for a coordinated national approach that strengthens emissions monitoring, expands access to clean cooking and renewable energy, improves vehicle emission standards, promotes alternatives to open biomass burning, and accelerates cleaner technologies across the industrial and energy sectors.

By prioritising major sources of black carbon, South Africa can protect vulnerable communities, reduce pressure on the health system, strengthen economic productivity and advance a fairer transition to a cleaner, healthier future.