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Twenty-four new countries – including Germany, Canada, France, Israel, Japan, Nigeria, Pakistan and the Philippines – have joined an initiative of the EU and the US to reduce emissions of climate-damaging methane.
The expansion of the pact was announced by the European Commission and the US State Department on Monday.
According to EU Environment Commissioner Frans Timmermans, methane is the second most harmful greenhouse gas and is responsible for global warming and air pollution.
During a meeting online with Timmermans and US climate change Envoy John Kerry, the countries committed to the common goal of reducing methane emissions by at least 30 per cent by 2030 compared to 2020, the statement said.
The pact is to be officially signed at the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow at the end of the month.
Methane is produced, for example, in agriculture, from landfills or in the oil and gas industry.
According to statistics of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) cited by the European Commission, methane is responsible for half of the climate warming of about 1 degree Celsius compared to pre-industrial times.
US-EU to push for global deal to slash Earth-warming methane by 30 per cent
According to the commission, the list of new signatories means that nine of the 20 countries with the highest methane emissions – responsible for 30 per cent of global emissions – are expected to participate in the initiative.
“Rapidly reducing methane emissions [is] the single most effective strategy to reduce near-term global warming and keep the goal of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius within reach,” Timmermans said.
US President Joe Biden and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen had agreed on the methane initiative in September.
If it is successfully implemented, global warming could be reduced by around 0.2 degrees by 2050, according to the European Commission.


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Climate change

24 new countries join EU-US pact to combat methane emissions

EU Environment Commissioner Frans Timmermans. Photo: EPA-EFE

At COP26 summit in Glasgow, China-US tensions could shape the world’s climate future

China and the United States account for more than half the world’s emissions. John Kerry, the US climate envoy, has travelled twice to China but there remain concerns Beijing will use climate action as leverage. Photo: AP Photo

China and the US must work together on climate change

A coal-fired power plant on the Yangtze River in China's Jiangsu province, in 2018. Photo: AP

US climate envoy John Kerry urges China to cut more emissions by 2030

US special envoy on climate John Kerry called it a “critical decade” for keeping global warming in check. Photo: Bloomberg

FILE PHOTO: FILE PHOTO: A man walks near a coal-fired power plant in Harbin, Heilongjiang province, China November 27, 2019. Picture taken November 27, 2019. REUTERS/Jason Lee/File Photo/File Photo

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Germany, Canada, France, Israel, Japan, Nigeria, Pakistan and the Philippines are among the 24 new countries
According to EU Environment Commissioner Frans Timmermans, methane is the second most harmful greenhouse gas and is responsible for global warming



The countries committed to the common goal of reducing methane emissions by at least 30 per cent by 2030 compared to 2020, a statement said.


Climate change diplomacy

Environment

European Union

United States

24 new countries join EU-US pact to combat methane emissions

Germany, Canada, France, Israel, Japan, Nigeria, Pakistan and the Philippines are among the 24 new countries According to EU Environment Commissioner Frans Timmermans, methane is the second most harmful greenhouse gas and is responsible for global warming

Germany, Canada, France, Israel, Japan, Nigeria, Pakistan and the Philippines are among the 24 new countries

According to EU Environment Commissioner Frans Timmermans, methane is the second most harmful greenhouse gas and is responsible for global warming