Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton today announced that the United States will participate in a new international partnership to help developing nations curb their noncarbon-dioxide emissions linked to climate change.

The Climate and Clean Air Coalition will "spread practical ideas and practices regarding so-called short-term climate pollutants," including methane, black carbon and hydrofluorocarbons, Clinton said at a State Department news conference this morning.

The initiative will target emissions that remain in the atmosphere for weeks or months, rather than decades or centuries as carbon dioxide does; reducing them can have an immediate effect on emissions-driven warming. They are responsible for one-third of all emissions-driven global warming.

Black carbon from cookstoves, vehicles and other sources also is a leading cause of respiratory illness, especially in poor countries.

Methane -- which is emitted by sources including landfills, coal mines, and oil and natural gas operations -- has 20 times the heat-trapping property of carbon dioxide and can also be used as a power source, Clinton noted.

"By focusing on these pollutants, how to reduce them and, where possible, to use them for energy, people will see results," Clinton said.

The program will "mobilize resources; assemble political support; help countries develop and implement national action plans; raise public awareness; and reach out to other countries, companies, NGOs and foundations," she said.

The United States and Canada have pledged $12 million and $3 million, respectively, over the next two years to get the program "up and running," a senior State Department official told reporters yesterday. It will be administered by the U.N. Environment Programme, with additional participation by Bangladesh, Ghana, Mexico and Sweden.

The United States has faced criticism at home and abroad for not taking a leadership role in international efforts to establish binding targets for curbing carbon dioxide -- the leading driver of man-made climate change. Clinton acknowledged in her statement today that the short-term emissions program was no substitute for action on that front.

"We know, of course, this effort is not the answer to the climate crisis," she said, adding that the initiative would "complement, not supplant, the other actions we are and must be taking."

Reducing short-lived heat-trapping emissions would have benefits not only for the climate, but for crop growth and human health, Clinton said. U.S. EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson echoed that theme.

"We are so excited about the potential to do great things for the environment but also for our health and for the economy," she said.

Jackson said women and children will realize most of the benefit from efforts to reduce black carbon emissions by swapping inefficient, sooty cookstoves for more efficient models.

"I'd like to see these efforts fueled by women scientists and empowered by female activists and innovators in the communities where we work," she added.

The United States already contributes to the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves, and Clinton said the new partnership would complement that effort.

Environmental groups responded favorably to the new initiative, though they emphasized that it is not a substitute for action to curb carbon dioxide emissions.

"This is a historic and overdue step that will do a world of good," said Rich Kassel, director of the Natural Resources Defense Council's Clean Fuels and Vehicles Initiative. "Cutting black carbon from dirty diesel engines is a particularly vital step."

He urged the United States to take steps to reduce its own emissions while it helps other countries ratchet down theirs.

"Going after black carbon, methane and other short-term forcers is no substitute for a strong, sustained effort to significantly reduce emissions of carbon dioxide, the main driver of climate change," said Eileen Claussen, president of the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions. She added that the partnership did not take the place of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, which she said was still the principal forum for mobilizing the global climate response.

"But targeted efforts to reduce short-lived climate pollution can moderate climate impacts in the near term while we work toward the longer-term strategies needed to rein in carbon dioxide emissions," she said.