Hey, look at us. Who’d have thought? We’re nearly to the end of COP26 (hopefully!) and methane has indeed had its big moment in Glasgow. It’ll be up to us to make sure methane has many more.
Methane grabs the brass ring:
For the first time, a draft of the decision text included an explicit reference to the need to cut methane emissions. The new language comes following the call from organizations behind the Methane Moment to include methane in the final agreement coming out of Glasgow.
As we await the conclusion of negotiations, it’s worth taking a step back and doing a quick summary of the major methane moments of the past two weeks:
- G20 leaders’ declaration calls methane “a significant contribution to climate change and recognize[s]… its reduction can be one of the quickest, most feasible and most cost-effective ways to limit climate change and its impacts”
- The Global Methane Pledge, with 109 countries signed on, creates a commitment to cut methane emissions by 30% from 2020 levels by the end of this decade.
- Major foundations announced a $328 million philanthropic pledge to “fund actions to decrease methane emissions around the world”
- The U.S.-China Joint Glasgow Declaration on Enhancing Climate Action in the 2020s establishes a cooperative effort around methane emissions control and research, calls for each country to implement national methane reduction plans, and sets out an intention for the countries to meet in the first half of 2022 to enhance mitigation and mitigation efforts.
- And most recently, the inclusion of methane in the latest COP decision draft:
Today’s draft “recognizes that limiting global warming to 1.5 °C requires rapid, deep and sustained reductions in global greenhouse gas emissions … [including] deep reductions in non-carbon dioxide greenhouse gases.”
It calls for countries to “accelerate the development, deployment and dissemination of technologies and the adoption of policies for the transition towards low-emission energy systems, including by rapidly scaling up clean power generation and accelerating the phaseout of unabated coal power and of inefficient subsidies for fossil fuels” and “to consider further actions to reduce by 2030 non-carbon dioxide greenhouse gas emissions, including methane.”
The inclusion itself is a big deal, but it’s a long (and important) road we have yet to travel to actually achieving the emissions cuts we need.
Statements for the record:
Jonathan Banks, International Director for Super Pollutants, Clean Air Task Force: "Specifically mentioning methane is a first for this type of document, even if the wording could be a lot stronger and there is still time for negotiators to fully recognize the imperative for methane reductions and the opportunity they present to keep 1.5 in reach. Incorporating the issue into the official COP26 text only reinforces the message established by the Global Methane Pledge - policymakers around the world now have the go-ahead to push for policy measures that will rapidly cut methane emissions."
Drew Shindell, chair of the Climate and Clean Air Coalition Scientific Advisory Panel and Professor of Climate Sciences at Duke University: “We all know that rapidly reducing carbon dioxide emissions is vital to the long-term future of our planet, but while it will provide near-term benefits for public health due to reduced air pollution it will provide substantive benefits from reduced warming only in the latter half of the century. That is why it is so encouraging to see the parties highlight the complementary need to rapidly reduce non-CO2 gases, especially methane, which is the strongest lever we have to reduce the damages due to climate change over the next 30 years.”
Bessie With the Good Hair
(Climate change is scary. Scotland’s highland cattle – aka hairy coos – are very cute. Cattle generate a lot of methane: Sustainable farming practices are an important part of solving climate change.)
We here at the Methane Moment have had a blast hosting you at the pavilion over the past two weeks. We’ve had some amazing conversations, made new friends (ask us about our Russian neighbors!), tried haggis bonbons, and celebrated the emergence of methane as an issue on the world stage. But if COP26 was the first methane moment, we’re getting ready to make this moment last. While we’re still figuring out exactly what form the future of our collaboration will take, this won’t be the last you hear from us. (Or Bessie!)
