Over 100 Countries Worldwide Commit to "30% Methane Reduction by 2030"... China, India, and Russia Abstain

Global Methane Pledge Signed at COP26... EU Commission President: "The Easiest and Most Effective Climate Change Response"

[Photo by UPI Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Byung-hee] According to CNN's report on the 2nd (local time), over 100 countries worldwide participating in the 26th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change have signed the Global Methane Pledge.

Led by the United States and the European Union (EU), the Global Methane Pledge aims to reduce methane gas emissions by at least 30% from 2020 levels by 2030. Methane gas, which constitutes the majority of natural gas, is known to have a global warming potential approximately 80 times greater than that of carbon dioxide.

Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, called it a "tremendous achievement" and welcomed the pledge, stating that "methane reduction will immediately slow the pace of climate change." She emphasized that reducing methane is the easiest and most effective way to address climate change.

However, major greenhouse gas emitters such as China, India, and Russia did not sign the Global Methane Pledge. Among BRICS countries, Brazil was the only one to join the pledge.

The more than 100 countries participating in the pledge account for over 50% of global methane emissions.

On the same day, five U.S. government agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Agriculture, announced methane emission reduction measures within the United States. Under the EPA's measures, U.S. oil and gas companies must inspect 300,000 domestic well sites every three months and prevent methane, a byproduct of crude oil, from being released into the atmosphere. The EPA's new regulations aim to reduce methane emissions by 74% from 2005 levels by 2035 and are likely to be implemented starting in 2023.

More than 100 countries also joined the "Forest and Land Use Declaration," which commits to stopping deforestation and restoring soil by 2030. South Korea participated in both the Global Methane Pledge and the Forest and Land Use Declaration. The Forest and Land Use Declaration includes countries that account for 85% of the world's forests. China and Russia also joined the Forest and Land Use Declaration. The European Union (EU) pledged to spend 1 billion euros (approximately 1.365 trillion won) from its budget over the next five years to protect forests.

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