Methane Commitment Reveals Optimism, But Cautious

More than 100 countries have signed a one-of-a-kind commitment to reduce emissions of methane —A powerful greenhouse gas– by 30% by 2030. Signatories represent 70% of the global economy, including six of the top 10 methane polluting countries. Between the back and forth of the climate talks in Glasgow, it’s easy to overlook the significance of this development.

Methane is a by-product of fossil fuels, landfills and agriculture, a “super pollutant” that can trap heat in the atmosphere 80 times more effectively than carbon dioxide. Because it is so powerful, a small amount in the atmosphere can have huge effects on the climate. The good news is that methane only lasts in the atmosphere for about 12 years, unlike carbon dioxide, which lasts for centuries. That means reducing methane emissions will pay off very quickly, both for the planet and for human health. What’s more, up to half of man-made methane emissions can be reduced at low or even negative cost using existing technology.

A quick, easy and cheap win for the weather? It sounds too good to be true. And there are reasons to be cautious. For one thing, several notorious methane polluters, including Turkmenistan and Russia, have yet to sign the pledge. And the compromise, like the Paris Agreement, is voluntary and lacks enforcement mechanisms. Its success will depend on countries taking responsibility for themselves and each other. The world does not have a flawless record in that regard.

The US, which helped draft the pledge, is showing what can be done. The Biden Administration, trying to regain the mantle of climate leadership, has been very active in curbing methane emissions. Recently, it launched a stricter set of regulations on oil, gas and pipelines that would prevent the release of tens of millions of tons, at minimal cost to producers. The new rules will face legal challenges from industry and oil and gas producing states, but if they prevail, the Environmental Protection Agency predicts they will reduce methane emissions from the energy sector by 75%.

The Administration is also advancing programs to curb emissions from landfills and farms, and to support research and development of methane monitoring technologies, building on work initiated by non-governmental initiatives such as CarbonMapper and PermianMAP (both supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies. ). Meanwhile, the recently enacted bipartisan infrastructure bill includes billions of dollars to plug methane leaks from abandoned oil and gas wells and to clean up coal mines, another source of the gas. Together, these changes will greatly affect the country’s methane emissions and those of the world.

Still, a smart plan that would require polluters to pay for their methane emissions, and offer oil and gas companies help to amend, has been delayed in Congress, along with other environmentally sensitive provisions of the Build Back Better plan. ”From Biden. And environmentalists are rightly disappointed that Biden’s current proposals don’t stop fossil fuel companies from routinely “burning” methane, as some states already do. Elsewhere, too, messy democratic politics and entrenched economic interests can prevent countries from taking simple and affordable steps to reduce their emissions.

Despite these challenges, the fact remains that drastically reducing methane emissions is a fast, powerful, and cost-effective way to reduce global warming, and new technologies have made ambitious reductions more realistic than ever. The United Nations notes that human-generated emissions could be reduced by 45% by 2040 using current technology. Welcome to the Global Methane Commitment, but it is feasible and highly recommended to go further.