Governments across the Americas showcase methane leadership at Summit of the Americas
LOS ANGELES — Governments across the Americas showcased their leadership on methane today at a convening at the Summit of the Americas, “sending an important signal that the Americas are committed to tackling climate change and ready to pull one of the best levers we have to reduce global warming now,” according to Jonathan Banks, Global Director, Super Pollutants at Clean Air Task Force.
The convening, hosted by the Global Methane Hub, featured remarks and announcements from U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry, California Governor Gavin Newsom, Global Methane Hub CEO Marcelo Mena, and ministers of the environment from Argentina, Barbados, Canada, and Uruguay.
At the event, the Global Methane Hub welcomed Trinidad and Tobago and Saint Lucia as new signatories to the Global Methane Pledge, bringing the total to more than 115 countries committed to collectively cut their methane emissions 30% by 2030.
Banks continued: “Cutting methane emissions is the best strategy we have to reduce global warming in the near term and avoid passing irreversible climate tipping points, which is why convenings like this from the Global Methane Hub are so important. Clean Air Task Force is pleased to see governments across the Americas showcase their ambition under the Global Methane Pledge at the Summit of the Americas, and we look forward to supporting them as they turn that ambition into action. Nearly every country in the Americas has now shown their support for the pledge, demonstrating the region’s commitment to tackling the climate crisis and seizing the opportunity to secure a near term climate win through methane mitigation.”
Clean Air Task Force has worked across the Americas, oftentimes directly with governments, to devise and implement action plans to reduce methane emissions. Most recently, the CATF team supported Colombia in becoming the first South American country to regulate methane emissions from its oil and gas sector, using CATF’s CoMAT (Country Methane Abatement Tool) to help Colombia estimate its methane emissions and to identify policy options to reduce them. CATF has also worked closely with Mexico, Canada, and the U.S. to develop and implement methane mitigation policies, and is currently working closely with Ecuador to do the same.
Methane — primarily emitted from the oil and gas, waste, and agriculture sectors — is a harmful super pollutant that warms the planet 80 times more than carbon dioxide over its first 20 years in the atmosphere. It’s responsible for about half a degree Celsius of global warming to date, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
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Troy Shaheen, Communications Director, U.S., Clean Air Task Force, [email protected], +1 845-750-1189
About Clean Air Task Force
Clean Air Task Force (CATF) is a global nonprofit organization working to safeguard against the worst impacts of climate change by catalyzing the rapid development and deployment of low-carbon energy and other climate-protecting technologies. With 25 years of internationally recognized expertise on climate policy and a fierce commitment to exploring all potential solutions, CATF is a pragmatic, non-ideological advocacy group with the bold ideas needed to address climate change. CATF has offices in Boston, Washington D.C., and Brussels, with staff working virtually around the world.