“Uncovering the Urgency of the 2021 Global Methane Pledge: Why Cutting Emissions is Vital”

The 2021 Global Methane Pledge aims to reduce methane emissions by 30% by the end of the decade, with over 150 nations signing up to the pledge. Despite this ambitious goal, recent research shows that global methane emissions are still on the rise, growing faster than ever before.

Published in the fourth global methane budget, the research conducted by the Global Carbon Project and 66 research institutions worldwide highlights that human activities are responsible for two-thirds or more of all global methane emissions. This potent greenhouse gas, second only to carbon dioxide in its contribution to global warming, has a hidden punch – it is 80 times more effective at trapping heat in the atmosphere than CO2 in the first two decades after being released.

The top sources of methane emissions from human activities include agriculture (livestock and rice paddies), fossil fuels, and landfills. The fastest-growing contributors are from landfill and fossil fuels, with emissions from fossil fuels now comparable to those from livestock. Efforts to cut methane emissions are crucial to slowing the rate of climate change, with the need to cut methane almost in half by 2050 to achieve the goals set out in the Paris Agreement.

Satellites can now track methane hotspots in real-time, providing valuable data on sources of methane emissions. The top five nations emitting methane in 2020 were China, India, the United States, Brazil, and Russia, with the fastest-growing areas being China, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East.

Efforts to reduce methane emissions are feasible across various sectors, with methods available to cut emissions in the oil and gas sector, agriculture, and landfill methane capture. The world must accelerate solutions to address and reduce methane emissions to meet the commitments made to slash methane emissions three years ago.

The urgency to tackle methane emissions is clear, as unchecked emissions could lead to up to 3°C of warming by 2100. Rapidly cutting methane emissions is crucial to keeping global temperatures well below 2°C and achieving the goals set out in the Paris Agreement.