COP26: more than 100 nations pledge to cut methane, but not China

Russia and India also did not sign the commitment, leaving out the world’s top three emitters of the second-most human-caused greenhouse gas

But while it has no near-term targets, Beijing says it is stepping up efforts to reduce non-carbon dioxide emissions

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An oil pumpjack stands idle in Long Beach, California, potentially leaking methane gas. More than 100 countries have signed a commitment to reduce their methane emissions by at least 30 per cent by 2030. Photo: AFP

Published: 6:00pm, 4 Nov 2021Updated: 9:55pm, 4 Nov 2021

More than 100 countries have signed a commitment to reduce their methane emissions by at least 30 per cent from 2020 levels by 2030 – but the pledge came without participation from the top three emitters: China, Russia and India.

The Global Methane Pledge, initiated on Tuesday at the COP26 summit in Glasgow, Scotland, covers countries which emit nearly half of global methane emissions and make up 70 per cent of global GDP. It was first proposed by the United States and the European Union in September and supported by some top emitters, including Brazil, Indonesia, Pakistan and Argentina.

US President Joe Biden and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau take part in the Global Methane Pledge event during the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow, Scotland, on Tuesday. Photo: Reuters

Methane is the second-most abundant human-caused greenhouse gas, after carbon dioxide. It has an atmospheric lifetime of roughly a decade and a strong influence on the climate. Over a 20-year period, methane can warm the atmosphere 80 times more powerfully than carbon dioxide. Reducing methane emissions also helps to improve air quality since it is a precursor to ground-level ozone, a dangerous air pollutant.

Countries recognised in the pledge that significant reductions in methane emissions must be achieved globally by 2030 if the world is to achieve the Paris Agreement goal of keeping global warming well below 2 degrees Celsius, while pursuing efforts to limit such warming to 1.5 degrees.

Successful institution of the pledge would help reduce global warming by at least 0.2 degrees Celsius by 2050, the COP26 statement said.

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