Countries on Tuesday issued a landmark pledge to slash their methane emissions this decade, with US President Joe Biden chiding China’s leader for skipping the make-or-break COP26 climate summit.
Nearly one hundred nations joined a United States and European Union initiative to cut emissions of methane – a potent greenhouse gas – by at least 30 percent this decade, with China among notable absentees.
The initiative, which experts say could have a powerful short-term impact on global heating, followed an announcement earlier on Tuesday at the summit in Glasgow in which more than 100 nations agreed to end deforestation by 2030.
“One of the most important things we can do between now and 2030, to keep 1.5C in reach, is reduce our methane emissions as soon as possible,” said Biden, referring to the central goal of the 2015 Paris Agreement.
He called the pledge, covering half of global methane emissions, a “game-changing commitment.”
However, he criticized the decision of China’s President Xi Jinping – whose economy is the largest overall emitter – not to attend the summit kicking off the 13-day climate negotiations.
“It’s been a big mistake, quite frankly, for China not showing up. The rest of the world looked at China and said, ‘what value are they providing?’” Biden told reporters.
“It’s just a gigantic issue and they walked away. How do you do that and claim to be able to have any leadership?” Biden said.
The same was true for Russian President Vladimir Putin, he added.
China hit back against criticism by Biden, noting that the United States pulling out of the Paris Agreement under Biden’s predecessor, Donald Trump, had harmed global climate governance and the implementation of the accord.
“Actions speak louder than words,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin responded Wednesday.
“What we need in order to deal with climate change is concrete action rather than empty words,” he added. “China’s actions in response to climate change are real.”
Xi has not travelled outside of China since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Biden has since apologized for Trump’s decision.
Heads of state and government are gathered in Glasgow for the two-day summit that host Britain is hoping will spur ambitious climate action during the negotiations that follow.
Organizers say the outcome in Glasgow will be crucial for the continued viability of the Paris Agreement temperature goals.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Tuesday he was “cautiously optimistic” about progress made in Glasgow so far.
Decades of climate pledges have been rooted in reducing carbon dioxide emissions. Yet methane (CH4) is over 80 times more potent than CO2, and its sources, such as open-pit coal mines, gas leaks, and livestock, have received relatively little attention until now.
The International Energy Agency estimates that the fossil fuel industry emitted 120 million tonnes of methane in 2020, and much of it can be easily avoided.
A UN report from earlier this year showed that “available targeted methane measures” could see CH4 levels reduced by 45 percent by 2030.
This would shave 0.3C off projected warming, save a quarter of a million air pollution deaths and increase global crop yields by 26 million tonnes, the UN’s Environment Programme (UNEP) has calculated.
UNEP also says greenhouse gas emissions, in general, must fall 45 percent by 2030 to keep 1.5C in reach.
“Methane is a greenhouse gas strongly associated with the fossil fuel industry… evaporating from coal mines, from oil and gas extraction and from pipelines,” said Kat Kramer, Christian Aid’s climate policy
lead.
“Methane is but another reason why the fossil fuel industry has to end.”
However, major emitters China, India, Russia, and Australia did not sign the pledge.