The Slovenian Presidency of the Council of the European Union asked Member States on Thursday 16 September to authorise the European Commission to sign, on behalf of the EU, a declaration for a global commitment to reduce methane emissions.
According to Slovenian documents obtained by EUROPE, the declaration will be signed at the 26th UN Conference of the Parties on Climate Change (COP26) being held in Glasgow from 31 October to 12 November.
As indicated in draft documents seen by Reuters (see EUROPE 12791/17), this future ‘Global Methane Pledge’ will aim to bring together countries willing to work together to collectively reduce global anthropogenic methane emissions in all sectors by at least 30% from 2020 levels by 2030.
In signing the declaration, countries commit to “taking comprehensive domestic actions to achieve that target, focusing on standards to achieve all feasible reductions in the energy and waste sectors and seeking abatement of agricultural emissions through technology innovation as well as incentives and partnerships with farmers”.
They also commit to moving towards the use of the best inventory methodologies, in line with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) guidelines, to quantify methane emissions.
Progress towards this global commitment will be reviewed annually, until 2030, through a specific ministerial meeting, the Slovenian documents further state.
Anticipating a formal announcement from the US and EU in support of the commitment, Mark Brownstein, vice president of the energy department of the methane NGO Environmental Defense Fund said: “This pledge is a milestone in the climate fight, establishing a central place for methane in the race to achieve the warming limits in the Paris Climate Agreement”.
“But it is also important to understand that a 30% reduction in methane is a floor, not a ceiling - clearly even greater results are possible”, he added.
At the time of going to press, the official announcement had not yet been made.
See Slovenian Presidency documents: https://bit.ly/3Eq8SYf and https://bit.ly/2XrEc8p (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)