• About
    • Which Energy Mix is this?
  • Climate News Network Archive
  • Contact
The climate news that makes a difference.
No Result
View All Result
The Energy Mix
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities
SUBSCRIBE
DONATE
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities
SUBSCRIBE
DONATE
No Result
View All Result
The Energy Mix
No Result
View All Result
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities
  FEATURED
BREAKING: Federal Budget Pours Tens of Billions Into Clean Economy March 28, 2023
Somali Canadians Aid Drought-Stricken Homeland as 43,000 Reported Dead March 26, 2023
B.C.’s New Energy Framework a ‘Smokescreen,’ Critic Warns March 26, 2023
SPECIAL REPORT: ‘Defuse the Climate Time Bomb’ with Net-Zero by 2040, Guterres Urges G20 March 20, 2023
Devastating Impacts, Affordable Climate Solutions Drive IPCC’s Urgent Call for Action March 20, 2023
Next
Prev

Global Methane Pledge Needs Tougher 2030 Target, Experts Say

November 3, 2021
Reading time: 3 minutes

Chebyshev1983/Wikimedia

Chebyshev1983/Wikimedia

17
SHARES
 

The Global Methane Pledge announced Tuesday during the United Nations climate conference, COP 26, needs to boost its target for reducing emissions of the climate-busting gas from 30 to 50% by 2030, according to an analysis by a trio of climate experts.

On Day Two of COP 26, more than 100 countries signed on to cut global methane emissions by at least 30% from 2020 levels by 2030, in order to rapidly shave a critical 0.2°C off projected global warming. 

  • Concise headlines. Original content. Timely news and views from a select group of opinion leaders. Special extras.
  • Everything you need, nothing you don’t.
  • The Weekender: The climate news you need.
Subscribe

But “at least” needs to mean closer to 50%, warns Piers Forster, director of the University of Leeds Priestley International Centre for Climate, and co-author of the latest assessment report from the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), in a guest post for Carbon Brief.

Forster and his co-authors— Dr. Chris Smith, senior research fellow at Priestley and at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), and Dr. Joeri Rogelj, director of researcher at the Grantham Institute—used simple climate models known as emulators to demonstrate that “cutting methane can have a huge impact on limiting near-term warming, but global methane reductions of around 50% will likely be needed to realise the 0.2°C saving.”

Indeed, the graphs that accompany the Carbon Brief post suggest the current pledge will never, in fact, achieve its goal.

However, in a finding that reverberates back on the absence of mega-coal producers Russia, India, China, and Australia from the pledge (Australia quite stridently), Forster and his team concluded that a 30% methane cut plus a rapid coal phaseout of coal could deliver on the 0.2°C reduction and benefit public health.

What isn’t clear in the Carbon Brief post is how the methane emitted from coal mines across their operating life factors into this calculation. Old coal mines have been identified as key sources of methane, but operationalcoal mines leaked 40.5 million tonnes of methane in 2020, as climate think tank Ember points out, citing International Energy Agency estimates. “Using a multiplier of 86, as recommended by the IPCC to assess the short-term climate impact of methane, this means coal mines leak methane equivalent to 3,490 million tonnes of CO2 each year,” Ember adds.

Methane is a shorter-lived greenhouse gas than CO2 but, as Ember’s numbers reflect, it’s 80 to 86 times as potent a warming agent over a 20-year span, the period when humanity will be scrambling to get climate change under control.

Affirming the “need for speed” on methane, the authors note that “methane emissions from agriculture, fossil fuel leaks, and waste have contributed 0.5°C of global warming to date, compared to CO2’s contribution of 0.8°C.”

Their analysis comes six months after the Climate and Clean Air Coalition and the UN Environment Programme concluded that a 45% methane reduction this decade could shave almost 0.3°C off future global warming by the 2040s.



in Australia, Carbon Levels & Measurement, China, Climate & Society, Coal, COP Conferences, Fossil Fuels, India, International, International Agencies & Studies, Jurisdictions, Methane

The latest climate news and analysis, direct to your inbox

Subscribe

Related Posts

kelly8843496 / Pixabay
Finance & Investment

BREAKING: Federal Budget Pours Tens of Billions Into Clean Economy

March 29, 2023
625
TruckPR/flickr
Hydrogen

Opinion: Hydrogen Hype Sabotages Potential to Decarbonize

March 28, 2023
373
icondigital/pixabay
Supply Chains & Consumption

New Federal Procurement Rule Requires Biggest Bidders to Report Net-Zero Plans

March 28, 2023
182

Comments 1

  1. Christine says:
    5 months ago

    Why are they not implementing tree planting projects before it’s too late ,also why are they not doing more to encourage the finding of vehicles like hover crafts for a meand of transportation for people instead of the costly ineffective vehicles with no other choices available out there offered to the rest of human kind how do they expe t anything to get better when the only thing they seem to care about is the money they are having their pockets lined with from the chemical and oil and gas companies instead of opting for the right choices which are obviously leaning toward the only reasonable sensible choices which are the ones that shut the oil and gas out as an option for our future ..just as shutting down the world for covid look at the obviously needed happening for our survival it has to stop.look at the pictures of the ozone healing as the world shut down with enough of time if the world was forced to shut down for even a year the amount of healing that could be done is amazing but left to our own devices we r like locusts devouring everything leaving nothing which is the death of us all

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

I agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.

Trending Stories

kelly8843496 / Pixabay

BREAKING: Federal Budget Pours Tens of Billions Into Clean Economy

March 29, 2023
625
Faye Cornish/Unsplash

Abundance, Not Austerity: Reframe the Climate Narrative, Solnit Urges

March 26, 2023
149
TruckPR/flickr

Opinion: Hydrogen Hype Sabotages Potential to Decarbonize

March 28, 2023
373
Σ64/Wikimedia Commons

B.C.’s New Energy Framework a ‘Smokescreen,’ Critic Warns

March 28, 2023
59
U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement/flickr

Willow Oil Project in Alaska Faces Legal Challenges, Economic Doubts

March 19, 2023
755
Raysonho/wikimedia commons

Tesla App Mishap, Saudi Arabia Fights the IPCC, Fossil Industry Fights for its Life, Alberta Premier Wants More Gas Plants, and Carbon-Eating Fungi Could Feed Millions

March 29, 2023
62

Recent Posts

icondigital/pixabay

New Federal Procurement Rule Requires Biggest Bidders to Report Net-Zero Plans

March 28, 2023
182
UNICEF Ethiopia/flickr

Somali Canadians Aid Drought-Stricken Homeland as 43,000 Reported Dead

March 29, 2023
36
Prime Minister's Office/flickr

Biden’s Ottawa Visit Highlights EVs, Clean Grid, Critical Minerals

March 28, 2023
87
EUMETSAT/wikimedia commons

Cyclone Freddy Leaves Over 500 Dead on Africa’s Southeast Coast

March 23, 2023
63
Kern River Valley Fire Info/Facebook

SPECIAL REPORT: ‘Defuse the Climate Time Bomb’ with Net-Zero by 2040, Guterres Urges G20

March 20, 2023
339
IFRC Intl. Federation:Twitter

Devastating Impacts, Affordable Climate Solutions Drive IPCC’s Urgent Call for Action

March 21, 2023
1k
Next Post
Piqsels Public Domain

Brazil Fudges Emissions Numbers in Stunning Display of Greenwashing

The Energy Mix - The climate news you need

Copyright 2023 © Energy Mix Productions Inc. All rights reserved.

  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy and Copyright
  • Cookie Policy

Proudly partnering with…

scf_withtagline
No Result
View All Result
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities

Copyright 2022 © Smarter Shift Inc. and Energy Mix Productions Inc. All rights reserved.

Manage Cookie Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behaviour or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}