More than 100 countries have joined an effort led by the United States and the European Union to reduce emissions of the potent greenhouse gas methane by 30% from 2030 levels, aimed at one of the main causes of climate change. have to deal with.
Methane is the main greenhouse gas after carbon dioxide. It has a higher heat-trapping capacity than CO2, but it breaks down faster in the atmosphere – meaning that cutting methane emissions could have a faster impact on reining in global warming.
US President Joe Biden said the Global Methane Pledge, which was launched at the COP26 summit in Glasgow on Tuesday after being announced in September, now accounts for nearly half of global methane emissions and 70% of global GDP. Covers countries.
“Together, we are collectively committed to reducing our methane by 30% by 2030. And I think we can probably go beyond that,” Biden said at the COP26 summit in Glasgow, Scotland.
“It’s going to boost our economies, save companies money, reduce methane leakage, turn methane into new revenue streams, as well as create well-paying union jobs for our workers.”
Among the new signatories was Brazil – one of the world’s largest methane emitters. The pledge now covers six of the world’s 10 biggest methane emitters: the United States, Brazil, Indonesia, Nigeria, Pakistan and Mexico.
China, Russia, India and Iran, the top-10 methane emitters, have also not signed up. All those countries were included in the list identified as targets to join the pledge, first reported by Reuters.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said, “Methane is one of the gases that we can cut the fastest. Doing so will immediately slow down climate change.”
extension of agreement
Since it was first announced in September with a handful of signatories, the United States and the European Union have worked to bring the world’s largest methane emitter to join the partnership.
After the last diplomatic push from the United States and the European Union ahead of the COP26 summit https://www.reuters.com/business/cop, only about 60 countries signed last week.
Although it is not part of formal UN negotiations, the methane pledge could be one of the most important outcomes of the COP26 conference, given its potential impact in preventing catastrophic climate change.
A United Nations report in May said that drastic reductions in methane emissions over this decade could avoid global warming of about 0.3 °C by 2040. However, failing to tackle the methane would leave out of reach the 2015 Paris Agreement aims to limit global rise in temperatures to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels and avoid the worst effects of climate change.
The 30% methane reduction, which is not legally binding, will be jointly obtained by the signatories, and will cover all areas. Major sources of methane emissions include leaky oil and gas infrastructure, old coal mines, agriculture and landfill sites.
If fulfilled, the pledge is likely to have the biggest impact on the energy sector, as analysts say fixing leaky oil and gas infrastructure is the fastest and cheapest way to curb methane emissions.
The United States is the world’s largest producer of oil and natural gas, while the European Union is the largest importer of gas.
The United States on Tuesday unveiled its comprehensive proposal to crack down on methane emissions, with a focus on the oil and gas sector. According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, the main rule could take effect by 2023 and reduce methane from oil and gas operations by 74% by 2035 from 2005 levels.
Both the European Union and Canada plan to unveil methane legislation addressing the energy sector later this year.
This story has been published without modification in text from a wire agency feed. Only the title has been changed.
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