Methane reduction, a new hotspot at COP27

From 6 November to 18 November, the 27th Conference of the Parties (COP27) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was held
in Sharm el-Sheikh.
In addition to the most high-profile climate adaptation issues, global methane pledges and national methane reduction plans are rapidly taking shape
.
About 40 countries are scheduled to outline their plans to reduce methane emissions at COP27, and the oil and gas sector will be a key sector
for global methane emissions reductions in the short term.

Methane is the second largest greenhouse gas accelerating global warming, and its emissions are rising
.
In recent years, the international community has paid increasing attention to global methane emission reduction
.
At COP26 in Glasgow, the EU and the US jointly launched the Global Methane Pledge, which aims to reduce methane emissions by 30%
by 2030 compared to 2020 levels.
Since then, more than 120 countries have signed formal methane reduction pledges
.

Now, however, the issue of methane emissions is moving
in the opposite direction.
One year after the Global Methane Pledge was announced, the amount of methane in the atmosphere is growing
at a record rate.
The fastest year for methane growth since the world monitored atmospheric methane was 2021
.

Environmentalists say methane pledges are still in their infancy and action is needed
.
Among the industries, agriculture and livestock are the largest sources of methane, followed by the energy sector and waste emissions
.
Methane is the main component of natural gas, so the easiest and cheapest way for the world to reduce methane emissions in the short term is to push the oil and gas industry to reduce emissions
.

The new Global Methane Pledge initiative will be unveiled
at the Ministerial Meeting on Methane on the sidelines of COP27 on November 17, people familiar with the matter said.
The United States, the European Union and Japan will also announce commitments on November 17 to reduce methane emissions related to
oil and gas extraction and transportation.
In addition, the U.
S.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is unveiling its latest plan
to regulate methane emissions from the oil and gas industry, following an outline released a year ago.

The issue of methane emission reduction is a matter
of concern to environmentalists.
Scientists estimate that over a 20-year period, methane will warm the atmosphere more than 80 times
more than carbon dioxide.
This means that, in the short term, methane warms the planet much more effectively than carbon dioxide
.
A report by the United Nations Environment Programme and the Climate and Clean Air Coalition says reducing methane emissions over the next decade will make more sense
than focusing solely on deep decarbonization.

Environmental activists and pledge proponents say the updated Global Methane Pledge could help spur individual countries to take action, particularly in the
oil and gas sector.

Countries are currently deploying methane reductions
in the oil and gas sector.
In June, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador pledged $2 billion from state-owned oil company Pemex to reduce large-scale burning, emissions and leakage
of methane.
This year, charities have also invested about $40 million
in this effort.
Talks are underway to join the Global Methane Pledge, targeting countries with prominent oil and gas sectors such as Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan and Algeria
, a person familiar with the matter said.
In addition, as part of the Inflation Reduction Act in August, the United States will introduce a pollution fee to support its national methane action plan, and the U.
S.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is considering a rule on emissions from the oil and gas industry that would consider banning the burning of natural gas
in oil wells.
Agricultural methane emissions reductions have been relatively small, with only New Zealand making efforts to address agricultural methane emissions, and another major agricultural country, Australia, agreed to join the pledge
just last month.

At COP27, Xie Zhenhua, China's special envoy for climate change, spoke
on China's methane emission reduction.
Xie said China participated in the Controlling Methane Initiative
in Glasgow last year.
This year, China has completed a national strategic plan to strictly control and reduce methane emissions, which will reduce and control methane emissions
from three important areas: energy and natural gas, agriculture and waste treatment.