President Moon Declares "Joining International Methane Pledge"...Urgent Concern for Agriculture and Livestock Industry

COP26 Keynote Speech Announces "30% Methane Emission Reduction by 2030"
Domestic Livestock Industry Concerns, "It Only Means Reducing the Number of Animals"

[Asia Economy reporters Ryu Jeong-min and Joo Sang-don] President Moon Jae-in's declaration to join the 'Global Methane Pledge' has raised concerns within the domestic agriculture, livestock, and fisheries industries. Although President Moon emphasized that methane reduction is a crucial key to solving the climate crisis, there are significant criticisms that this choice overlooks the realities of the domestic agriculture and livestock sectors.

On the 1st (local time), during his keynote speech at the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26), President Moon stated, "Korea will join the Global Methane Pledge and actively participate in methane reduction efforts." He announced a plan to reduce methane emissions by 30% by 2030, emphasizing that "methane has a much higher greenhouse effect than carbon dioxide."

In this regard, a government official explained, "On the 2nd, a launch event for the Methane Pledge is scheduled to be held at COP26." The Global Methane Pledge aims to reduce global methane emissions by at least 30% by 2030 compared to 2020 levels. After the United States and the European Union (EU) jointly announced the methane pledge initiative in September, countries including the United Kingdom, Italy, Indonesia, and Mexico have joined.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Korea also included in its 2030 national greenhouse gas reduction target plan a reduction of methane emissions from 28 million tons in 2018 to 19.7 million tons by 2030, a 30% cut. The plan includes reducing 2.5 million tons from agriculture, livestock, and fisheries, 4 million tons from waste, and 1.8 million tons from energy sectors.

Meanwhile, rapid methane reduction is expected to pose an urgent challenge to the agriculture, livestock, and fisheries industries. Korea's methane emissions in 2018 were 28 million tons (in CO2 equivalent), accounting for about 3.8% of the country's total greenhouse gas emissions.

The problem is that a significant portion of domestic methane emissions is concentrated in the agriculture, livestock, and fisheries sectors. Methane emissions from rice cultivation account for 22.5%, or 6.3 million tons, while fermentation in the digestive systems of livestock (16.1%) and livestock manure management (5%) also represent relatively high shares of methane emissions.

To reduce methane emissions by 30%, methane emissions from agriculture, livestock, and fisheries, which were 12.2 million tons in 2018, must be reduced to 9.7 million tons, meaning a reduction of about 2.5 million tons (20.5%) within nine years. The government plans to reduce methane through measures such as purification and energy conversion of livestock manure, development and distribution of low-methane feed, and dissemination of water management technologies for paddy fields, but concerns about feasibility have been raised.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Kim Chang-su, Secretary-General of the Natural Circulation Agriculture Association, said, "Since technologies to reduce methane in the livestock sector have not yet reached the commercialization stage, telling us to reduce methane is essentially telling us to reduce the number of livestock. The government should prioritize technology development and support."

Methane (CH4) is one of the six major greenhouse gases defined in the Kyoto Protocol. Its Global Warming Potential (GWP), which quantifies its impact on global warming, is 21, meaning it has 21 times the effect of carbon dioxide.

Methane is generated by human activities such as natural gas extraction and agriculture. The Blue House explained, "According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report approved last August, methane is responsible for about 30% of total global warming, causing approximately 0.5 degrees Celsius of temperature increase."

Methane remains in the atmosphere for about 10 years, which is shorter than carbon dioxide's maximum of 200 years. Significantly reducing methane emissions can contribute to achieving the Paris Agreement's goal of limiting the global average temperature rise to within 1.5 degrees Celsius.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.