“Reducing methane emissions is one of the most efficient things we can do,” said EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Glasgow on Tuesday. She presented the pact together with US President Joe Biden. The emission of methane into the atmosphere has made a significant contribution to global warming. “That is the lowest hanging fruit” that you have to reduce quickly and effectively.
Methane is the second most harmful greenhouse gas and is responsible for global warming and air pollution. The initiative, launched in September, aims to reduce methane emissions by at least 30 percent by 2030 compared to 2020. If it is successfully implemented, global warming could be reduced by around 0.2 degrees by 2050, according to the EU Commission. In addition to Germany, France, Canada, Israel and Japan will also be there.
Biden spoke of a “pioneering commitment”. He said in Glasgow that the 30 percent target could probably even be exceeded. Biden also presented a national action plan to reduce methane emissions in the USA. Among other things, this is intended to significantly reduce methane emissions from oil and gas wells, pipelines and landfills.
Methane is produced, for example, in agriculture, in landfills or in the oil and gas industry. According to statistics from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) quoted by the EU Commission, methane is responsible for half of the previous global warming of around one degree Celsius compared to pre-industrial times.