Countries that together produce around 30 percent of global methane emissions have pledged to reduce their outflows (State Dept.) by 30 percent by the end of the decade, top U.S. and European Union (EU) climate negotiators announced yesterday.
Methane is a far more potent (CNN) greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. U.S. and EU negotiators are pushing for more countries to join the pledge ahead of next month’s UN climate summit. The world’s top four methane emitters—Brazil, China, India, and Russia—have yet to get on board (NYT). Yesterday’s announcement came as newly published research in Nature estimated that 85 percent of humanity lives in areas that may be affected by human-induced climate change.
Analysis
“In theory, methane should be easy pickings for serious [emissions] mitigation policy. This greenhouse gas has considerable commercial value if captured and used as an energy source, and a growing range of technologies are available to measure and minimize methane loss,” the Brookings Institution’s Barry G. Rabe writes.
“The single most important step to achieve climate objectives is to put a market price on the emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, such as methane,” Yale University’s William Nordhaus writes for Foreign Affairs.
This In Brief explains how cutting methane emissions can move the needle on climate change.
