The United States and the European Union are lining up exclusively in more than 20 other countries for the global methane deal

WASHINGTON, Oct 11 (Reuters) – More than two dozen countries have joined efforts led by the United States and the European Union to cut methane emissions by 30% by 2030, bolstering the emerging global partnership ahead of its launch at the United Nations Climate Organization. Summit in Glasgow later this month. A government official told Reuters.

Nigeria, Japan and Pakistan are among 24 new signatories to the global methane pledge, which the United States and the European Union first announced in September with the aim of encouraging rapid climate action ahead of the October 31 Scotland Summit. It could have a significant impact on the energy, agriculture and waste sectors which are responsible for the majority of methane emissions.

The original nine partners are Britain, Indonesia and Mexico, who signed the pledge when it was announced at the Major Economies Forum last month. The partnership will now cover 60% of global GDP and 30% of global methane emissions.

US Special Envoy for Climate Change John Kerry and Frans Timmermans, Executive Vice President of the European Commission, will introduce the new partners at a joint event on Monday and also announce that more than 20 charities, including those led by Michael Bloomberg and Bill Gates, will bring together more than 20 charities. . The official, who asked not to be named, said one million dollars to support countries’ efforts to reduce methane.

The source said the countries represented a range of different profiles of methane emissions. For example, the main source of methane emissions in Pakistan is agriculture, while the main source for Indonesia is waste.

This pledge has also been signed by many of the countries most vulnerable to the effects of climate change, including some African countries and island nations such as Micronesia.

In the weeks leading up to the UN climate summit, the official said, the United States will work with other major sources of methane emissions in emerging economies such as India and China to urge them to join in and ensure “the wave of support continues.”

one movement left

Methane is a greenhouse gas and the second largest cause of climate change after carbon dioxide (CO2). Several recent reports have highlighted the need for governments to crack down on methane to limit global warming to 1.5°C, the goal of the Paris climate agreement.

Methane has a higher heat retention capacity than carbon dioxide, but it decomposes faster in the atmosphere. A prominent United Nations scientific report released in August said that “strong, rapid and sustainable reductions” in methane emissions, in addition to reducing carbon dioxide emissions, could have an immediate impact on the climate.

The US will issue oil and gas regulations for methane in the coming weeks, and the European Union will unveil detailed legislation on methane later this year.

Larry Kramer, president of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, which contributed to the $200 million fund, told Reuters the money would spur climate action and that cutting methane was the fastest way to reach the 1.5 million-degree target.

Dorwood Zilk, president of the Institute for Governance and Sustainable Development in Washington, said the partnership was a “great start” in drawing the world’s attention to the need to reduce methane.

“There is only one step left to prevent the planet from catastrophe – reducing methane from all sources as quickly as possible,” he said via email before the announcement.

(Reporting by Valerie Volcovici) Editing by Rosalba O’Brien and Hugh Lawson

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