On the hunt for the methane « super-emitters », US President Joe Biden on Friday unveiled a plan to plug oil and gas leaks and tighten regulation as several global emitters vowed to step up efforts to slash pollution of the powerful greenhouse gas.
On the hunt for the methane « super-emitters », US President Joe Biden on Friday unveiled a plan to plug oil and gas leaks and tighten regulation as several global emitters vowed to step up efforts to slash pollution of the powerful greenhouse gas.
Methane, released from the oil and gas, waste and agriculture sectors as well as through natural processes, is responsible for roughly 30 percent of the global rise in temperatures to date.
Dozens of countries have signed up to cutting their emissions of the short-lived but potent gas by a third this decade and Biden said this could be « our best chance » to meet the Paris climate deal’s more ambitious goal of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
« We have to make vital progress by the end of this decade, » he told an audience at COP27 in the Egyptian seaside resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.
With recent data showing methane concentrations in the atmosphere made their biggest increase on record in 2021, the United States, the European Union, Japan, Canada, Norway, Singapore and Britain signed an agreement committing to « immediate action to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions associated with fossil energy production and consumption ».
They also vowed to minimise flaring—burning off unwanted natural gas from oil and gas wells—and to minimise methane and carbon dioxide « across the value chain to the fullest extent practicable, while also working to phase down fossil fuel consumption », according to a statement from the EU.
