By Valerie Volcovici

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – Two dozen countries joined a U.S. and EU-led effort, to reduce methane emissions by 30% by 2030. This gives the global partnership momentum ahead its launch at U.N. Climate Summit in Glasgow later this year, a government official said to Reuters.

Nigeria, Japan, Pakistan and Pakistan have signed the Global Methane Pledge. This pledge was originally announced by the United States of America and EU in September. The aim is to mobilize rapid climate action prior to the Scotland summit. This could make a big difference in the sectors of energy, waste and agriculture that produce the majority methane.

The nine original partners include Britain, Indonesia and Mexico, which signed on to the pledge when it was announced at the Major Economies Forum https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/us-eu-make-diplomatic-push-cut-planet-warming-methane-emissions-documents-2021-09-14 last month. This partnership now covers 60% of the global GDP, and 30% global methane emission.

The U.S. Special Climate Change Envoy John Kerry will present the new partners to the European Commission Executive Vice President Frans Timmmans at a joint event Monday. He also announced that over a dozen charitable organizations including those headed by Bill Gates and Michael Bloomberg will mobilise more than $200 million for countries’ methane mitigation efforts.

According to the source, these countries have a variety of methane emission profiles. The source said that Pakistan is the main source for methane from agriculture and Indonesia is the main source.

The pledge has been signed by several countries that are most at risk from climate change, such as some African states and islands like Micronesia.

According to the official, in the weeks before the U.N. summit on climate change, the United States will meet with major methane emitters from emerging economies like India and China. This is to ask them to support the effort and continue the “groundswell” of support.

ONE MOVE LEFT’

The second-leading cause of climate change, after CO2, is methane. Recent reports highlight the importance of governments cracking down on methane in order to reduce global warming to 1.5 degree Celsius, which is the Paris climate deal’s goal.

Although methane has higher heat-trapping power than CO2, it is slower to decompose in the atmosphere. In August, a landmark United Nations report stated that methane could be reduced rapidly and sustainably, while also reducing CO2 emissions.

In the next few weeks, the United States will release new oil-and gas methane regulations. Later in the year, the European Union plans to unveil more detailed methane laws.

Larry Kramer of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation contributed $200 million to the fund. He told Reuters that the money would “help catalyze action on climate change” and that reducing the amount methane will be the fastest way to achieve the 1.5 degree goal.

Durwood Zaelke is the president of Washington’s Institute for Governance and Sustainable Development. He said that the partnership was an “excellent start” to focus attention worldwide on the urgent need for methane reduction.

“There’s one move left to keep the planet from catastrophe — cutting methane as fast as we can from all sources,” he said by email ahead of the announcement.