Join hands to reduce methane emissions

The Global Methane Forum 2024, held in Geneva, Switzerland from March 18 to 21, is expected to continue making progress in tackling this climate-changing gas.

An oil and gas production facility in the US

The Forum is jointly organized by the Global Methane Initiative, the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, the Global Methane Hub and the Climate and Clean Air Coalition.

The forum brings together international policymakers, national leaders, project developers, financial institutions, scientists , researchers and climate change experts.

During the three working days, delegates will participate in discussion sessions to share information on technical, policy, financial and regulatory issues related to methane gas policy and project development to utilize methane gas in power generation, as well as attract and increase private sector participation in reducing methane gas in production activities.

The forum comes as methane emissions have emerged as a top threat to the global climate, with the International Energy Agency saying cutting methane emissions is essential to achieving international climate change targets.

In the long-running debate about climate change and its complex global impacts, CO2 has been placed at the center of the debate as the primary cause responsible for global warming. However, in recent years, scientists have often compared the global warming effects of methane and CO2 over a century and found that methane is 28 times more harmful.

Methane is 80 times more toxic over 20 years, according to a recent study. The climate impact of methane is doubly concerning because the Earth is close to crossing “tipping points” where climate feedback loops begin to make global warming more persistent.

According to the US Environmental Protection Agency website, China, Russia, India, Brazil, Indonesia, Nigeria and Mexico are the countries that emit nearly 50% of global methane. Currently, the US, the European Union and many countries have agreed to promote efforts to achieve the goal of reducing methane emissions in the air by at least 30% by 2030, focusing on the oil and gas industries.

THANH HANG compiled

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