Cut methane in climate fight

The European Union and the United States yesterday called on more nations to join a pledge to slash methane gas emissions and cut warming by at least 0.2 degrees Celsius by 2050.

The initiative -- unveiled by President Joe Biden on Friday -- means countries would commit to a collective goal of reducing emissions of the powerful greenhouse gas by at least 30 percent from 2020 levels by 2030.

"Important step taken with President Biden towards a Global Methane Pledge," European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen wrote on Twitter.

"We will reach out to global partners to bring as many as possible on board for tackling methane emissions."

A joint statement from the EU and US said that Argentina, Ghana, Indonesia, Iraq, Mexico, and the United Kingdom had  "already indicated their support" for the pledge.

The initiative is set to be formally launched at the major COP26 summit organised by the United Nations in Glasgow, Scotland in November, reports AFP.

"Rapidly reducing methane emissions is complementary to action on carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, and is regarded as the single most effective strategy to reduce global warming in the near term and keep the goal of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius within reach."

UN chief Antonio Guterres warned Friday that a failure to slash global emissions is setting the world on a "catastrophic" path to 2.7 degrees Celsius heating,.

His comments come as a United Nations report on global emissions pledges found instead of the reductions needed to avoid the worst effects of climate change, they would see "a considerable increase".

This shows "the world is on a catastrophic pathway to 2.7-degrees of heating," Guterres said in a statement.

The figure would shatter the temperature targets of the Paris climate agreement, which aimed for warming well below 2C and preferably capped at 1.5C above pre-industrial levels.