The US and EU today launched a new initiative to curb methane emissions globally from the oil and gas sector, as President Joe Biden met with world leaders to discuss climate change.
The US and EU unveiled a new Global Methane Pledge (GMP) Energy Pathway, an effort intended to reduce methane leaks and flaring. The initiative, part of the Global Methane Pledge announced at last year's Cop 26 climate talks in Glasgow, Scotland, calls for members to eliminate routine flaring by no later than 2030 and to provide new technical and financial support or policy action to support these efforts.
Biden also announced three other initiatives during the US-led Major Economics Forum on Energy and Climate virtual meeting today. Leaders from 20 countries, including Egypt which is hosting Cop 27 in November, participated in the session.
The White House said it expects "several" countries to announce new 2030 emissions targets as part of their commitments under the Paris climate agreement, with many to strengthen existing pledges before Cop 27.
Biden framed many of the actions as needed not only to address climate change but to mitigate the economic damage from Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
"Russia's brutal and unprovoked assault on its neighbor, Ukraine, has fueled a global energy crisis and has sharpened the need to achieve long-term, reliable energy security and stability," he said. "And with Russia's war driving up inflation worldwide, threatening vulnerable countries with severe food shortages, we have to work together to mitigate the immediate fallout of this crisis."
Biden called on countries to contribute $90bn to a clean energy technologies demonstration challenge, with the US to put forward $21.5bn from the bipartisan infrastructure law.
On the transportation side, Biden called on countries to match his goal of having zero-emission vehicles make up 50pc of all new car and trucks sold by 2030, while the US and Norway launched a Green Shipping Challenge, which calls on ports and the maritime sector to come to Cop 27 to announce new actions to put the international shipping sector on a path to full decarbonization by 2050.
Biden also called on countries to join a Global Fertilizer Challenge, with the goal of raising $100mn in new funding by Cop 27 to support efforts to help countries with high fertilizer usage to adopt new practices and alternative fertilizers.
The initial members of the GMP Energy Pathway account for two fifths of global gas production and three fifths of global gas imports, the White House said. Those members include Argentina, Canada, Denmark, Egypt, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Nigeria, Norway, and Oman.
Countries and supporting organizations have announced $59mn in funding and assistance for the new initiative.
