Latest reports suggest that the United States has announced a major crackdown on methane emissions as part of a new effort by several countries at the Cop28 summit to curb the “super pollutant” that is responsible for turbocharging the climate crisis.
The US has used the climate conference, which is administered by the UN and being held in Dubai, to unveil new regulations it estimates will cut methane emissions from its vast oil and gas industry by 80% from levels that would be expected without the rule, a total of 58m tonnes by 2038.
According to reports, the rule is the centrepiece of a series of actions by countries at Cop28 to limit methane, which is much shorter-lived in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide but up to 80 times more powerful in heating the Earth. Methane is responsible for about a third of the warming already experienced by the planet and the US is one of the world’s largest emitters.
“Sharp cuts in methane emissions are among the most critical actions the United States can take in the short term to slow the rate of climate change,” Michael Regan, administrator of the US Environmental Protection Agency, which has created the rule said.
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Regan said that the new regulations would cut the equivalent of 1.5bn metric tonnes of carbon dioxide, which is nearly the amount of pollution emitted by the US’s entire power sector, or 28m fossil fuel-powered cars, over the next 15 years. The rule will require oil and gas companies to plug leaks from existing facilities, eliminate routine flaring of gas from wells and to better monitor escaping methane.
“The impact of this historic rule can’t be overstated,” Regan said. “This is what global climate leadership looks like.”
An update from the ongoing climate change summit shows that countries, businesses and donors have raised $1bn in funding to help reduce methane emissions around the world. Angola, Kenya, Romania, Kenya, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan have also joined the global methane pledge, an initiative set up by the US and European Union in Scotland at Cop26 with the aim of slashing methane emissions 30% by 2030. More than 150 countries have now signed up.
John Kerry, the US’s climate envoy, said that countries have until now neglected methane and other climate pollutants in favour of focusing upon carbon dioxide. Action on methane will be the “easiest, quickest, fastest, cheapest way to begin to get gains against the warming”, the former US secretary of state said last week.
Findings show that progress so far in cutting methane has been mixed. Since 2019, French company Kayrros, a data provider for the UN has identified more than 5,600 super-emitter events, which can each produce emissions equivalent to millions of car engines.
It will be recalled that on Friday, Kayrros released data showing there has been no overall reduction in methane emitted by many of the signatories to the global methane pledge. Australia was one of the few countries to have cut methane recently, while in the US emissions are actually increasing.
Story was adapted from the Guardian.
