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WASHINGTON — The Biden administration on Monday announced that 32 countries have joined the United States in a commitment to reduce methane emissions, as part of an effort to set new targets for slowing global warming ahead of a major United Nations climate summit in Glasgow next month.
Methane It is the second most common greenhouse gas after carbon dioxide, but far more potent in its ability to warm the planet in the short term. It is the main component of natural gas and is also released into the atmosphere from landfills, livestock and thawing permafrost.
The commitment developed with the European Union commits nations to reduce their methane emissions by 30 percent by 2030.
The four heaviest methane emitters (China, India, Russia and Brazil) did not agree with the commitment, while the administration announced that nine of the world’s top 20 methane pollutants had. In addition United States of America and the EU, Canada, Indonesia, Pakistan, Mexico and Nigeria, Argentina and Iraq.
The word comes three weeks before President Biden and other world leaders are expected to attend a UN conference in Scotland aimed at persuading countries to slow global warming so that temperatures do not rise more than 1.5 degrees Celsius compared to pre-Industrial Revolution levels. .
It’s the threshold that scientists say the dangers of global warming, such as deadly heatwaves, water shortages, crop shortages and ecosystem collapse, have grown enormously. Average global temperatures have already increased by about 1.1 degrees Celsius.
Biden’s climate ambassador, John Kerry, said on Monday that scientists have found that about half of that temperature rise is responsible for methane emissions. He described cutting methane as “our fastest strategy to keep the 1.5 degree Celsius future within reach.”
The administration estimates that if nations succeed, they will reduce atmospheric warming by 0.2 degrees Celsius by 2050.
Methane has a relatively short lifespan compared to carbon dioxide, which remains in the atmosphere for hundreds of years. But methane warms the atmosphere 80 times more than carbon dioxide over a 20-year period.
“Reducing methane pollution is the quickest opportunity to help prevent our most acute climate risks, including crop loss, wildfires, extreme weather and rising sea levels,” said Fred Krupp, head of the Environmental Defense Fund, an environmental group. Said. Declaration.
Inger Andersen, head of the United Nations Environment Programme, said in an online meeting that cutting methane is not a “free-from-jail-free card.” He said it should compliment efforts to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.
Technology is now available to reduce 75 percent of global methane emissions from oil and gas operations by 2030, according to a report from the International Energy Agency released last week.
Currently, the United States regulates methane released from new oil and gas wells. In the coming weeks, the Environmental Protection Agency is expected to issue methane regulations covering existing oil and gas wells.
The Biden administration also announced on Monday that 20 charities have committed $223 million to support countries’ plans to implement the methane commitment.
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