Methane cuts could shave 0.3 degrees Celsius off projected global warming. AFP
Countries on November 2 issued a landmark pledge to slash their methane emissions this decade, at the 2021 UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) climate summit.
Nearly one hundred nations joined a US-EU initiative to cut emissions of methane – a potent greenhouse gas – by at least 30 per cent this decade.
The initiative, which experts say could have a powerful short-term impact on global heating, followed an announcement earlier on November 2 at the summit in Scottish port city Glasgow in which more than 100 nations agreed to end deforestation by 2030.
“One of the most important things we can do between now and 2030, to keep 1.5C in reach, is reduce our methane emissions as soon as possible,” said US President Joe Biden, referring to the central goal of the 2015 Paris Agreement.
He called the pledge, covering half of global methane emissions, a “game-changing commitment”.
Heads of state and government are gathered in Glasgow for the two-day summit that host Britain is hoping will spur ambitious climate action during the negotiations that follow.
Organisers say the outcome in Glasgow will be crucial for the continued viability of the Paris Agreement temperature goals.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on November 2 he was “cautiously optimistic” about progress made in Glasgow so far.
Decades of climate pledges have been rooted in reducing carbon dioxide emissions. Yet methane (CH4) is over 80 times more potent than CO2, and its sources, such as open-pit coal mines, gas leaks and livestock, have received relatively little attention until now.
The International Energy Agency estimates that the fossil fuel industry emitted 120 million tonnes of methane in 2020, and much of it can be easily avoided.
A UN report from earlier this year showed that “available targeted methane measures” could see CH4 levels reduced by 45 per cent by 2030.
This would shave 0.3C off projected warming, save a quarter of a million air pollution deaths and increase global crop yields by 26 million tonnes, the UN’s Environment Programme (UNEP) has calculated.
UNEP also says greenhouse gas emissions in general must fall 45 per cent by 2030 to keep 1.5C in reach.
“Methane is a greenhouse gas strongly associated with the fossil fuel industry … evaporating from coal mines, from oil and gas extraction and from pipelines,” said Kat Kramer, Christian Aid’s climate policy lead.
“Methane is but another reason why the fossil fuel industry has to end.”
However, major emitters China, India, Russia and Australia did not sign the pledge.
World Wildlife Fund Inc (WWF) climate expert Vanessa Perez-Cirera said she would like to see “all signatories to the Paris Agreement sign up”.
Earlier on November 2, countries made a multibillion-dollar pledge to end deforestation by 2030.
But the promise was met with scepticism from environmental groups, and although details were sparse, it appeared to largely resemble an earlier pledge.
The British government said that the plan to drum up around $20 billion in public and private funding had been endorsed by more than 100 leaders representing over 85 per cent of Earth’s forests, including the Amazon rainforest.
The summit pact to “halt and reverse deforestation and land degradation by 2030” encompasses promises to secure the rights of indigenous peoples, and recognise “their role as forest guardians”.
While Johnson described the pledge as “unprecedented”, a UN climate gathering in the US city of New York in 2014 issued a similar declaration to end deforestation by 2030.
An assessment earlier this year found that virtually no government was on course to fulfil its responsibilities.
“Signing the declaration is the easy part,” UN chief Antonio Guterres said on Twitter. “It is essential that it is implemented now for people and planet.”
Meanwhile, chaotic scenes continued on November 2 around the COP26 venue, with attendees queueing around the block awaiting security checks.
By early afternoon, the UN organisers sent a text alert asking people to stay away from the venue “in order to ensure compliance with Covid-19 measures”.
Accessibility issues in the locked-down city centre were highlighted as Israel’s energy minister, who uses a wheelchair, was unable to enter the venue on November 1.
The laundry list for COP26 remains daunting, with pressure on leaders to commit to faster decarbonisation and provide billions to nations already dealing with the fallout of climate change.
