Canada, a major energy exporter, joined more than 20 other countries on Monday in a pledge by the United States and the European Union to cut methane emissions sharply, expected to lead to a global deal at COP26 in Glasgow next month.
Methane is a gas that is very harmful to the climate, a large part of which is associated with human activities (agriculture, energy, waste) that can be worked on.
The United States and the European Union announced in mid-September that they were working together on a draft agreement pledging to cut methane emissions by at least 30% by 2030 from 2020 levels. Argentina, Ghana, Indonesia, Iraq, Italy, Mexico and the United Kingdom have already shown their support.
The deal is due to be sealed at the global climate summit in Scotland in November to help tackle global warming.
On Monday, in a virtual meeting hosted by Washington and the European Union, US envoy for climate negotiations John Kerry announced that 24 more countries had joined the initiative. “We now have nine of the top 20 emitters, which represent 60% of the global economy” and nearly 30% of global methane emissions, he said.
In particular, Canada has pledged to reduce methane emissions from the oil and gas sector by at least 75% by 2030 from 2012 levels, Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said Monday. It is the first country to ratify this target set by the International Energy Agency.
“The 75% target is important, and we encourage other oil and gas producing countries to adopt it,” the Canadian minister said.
France, Germany, Japan, Pakistan, Israel, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Costa Rica are among the other countries that joined the draft US-European agreement.
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