In a virtual meeting Friday, Mr. Biden will urge countries to take more ambitious steps to tackle climate change, including curbing methane.
President Biden will virtually convene on Friday some of the leaders of the nations most responsible for climate change, urging them to do more to slash greenhouse gas emissions ahead of a critical United Nations summit in November. Mr. Biden also will urge other countries to sign onto a global goal of reducing methane, the main component of natural gas and an extremely powerful greenhouse gas, a White House official said, speaking to reporters on a background call on the condition of anonymity. Countries that sign on to the “global methane pledge” hammered out by the United States and Europe would agree to work together to reduce global methane emissions by at least 30 percent by 2030, according to European and United States climate negotiators who were not authorized to discuss details of the plan publicly. “We’re trying to get people to join into a global effort to try to cope with methane,” John Kerry, Mr. Biden’s climate change envoy, said in an interview over the weekend, adding, “It’s hugely destructive.
