Turning COP26 methane promises into action

Structures and procedures will have to be built to drive multilateral cooperation, grow participation and withstand shifting political winds that will undoubtedly buffet private countries from time to time.To make the methane pledge a success, heres what well be looking for in the coming months.A well-resourced and credible arranging bodyThe Global Methane Pledge cant be achieved with players acting in seclusion. As part of the UN Environment Programmes environment of methane efforts, IMEO is well placed to asses and incorporate data from the growing range of empirical sources– from satellites to ground-based scientific studies– and offer accurate, real-time, granular information to help inform preparation and mitigation.Capacity-building resources and structuresMany of the signatories to the methane promise are just starting the methane mitigation journey. At the same time, we understand that even the most well-resourced countries have space to enhance and unique problems to solve.It would make sense, therefore, to stand up a center for technical expertise at UNEP, perhaps within the CCAC, that can offer guidance and direct help to countries to assist them make good on their methane promise dedication. These timelines will need to acknowledge that partner nations are starting from different places and that higher-emitting and wealthier nations have an obligation to many quicker and make decreases commensurate with their share of the problem.At the exact same time, there will require to be concerted diplomatic efforts to acquire broader involvement– including from major releasing countries like Australia, China, India and Russia– and to motivate higher ambition, such as Canadas current commitment to minimize oil and gas methane by 75%.

Among the biggest achievements from COP26 is the worldwide consensus around the immediate need to reduce methane emissions. More than 100 nations representing more than two-thirds of the worldwide economy promised to jointly reduce 30% of man-made methane emissions by 2030. The contract follows current analysis from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which warns there is no plausible pathway to restrict temperature rise to 1.5 ° C without significant decreases in both methane emissions and co2. We cant arrive through either path alone. We have to do both.The new target is enthusiastic and achievable. For the Global Methane Pledge to be reliable, world leaders will have to move quickly from pledge to action. Structures and procedures will have to be built to drive multilateral cooperation, grow involvement and withstand shifting political winds that will inevitably buffet specific nations from time to time.To make the methane pledge a success, heres what well be trying to find in the coming months.A credible and well-resourced organizing bodyThe Global Methane Pledge cant be attained with gamers acting in isolation. The world will move further, quicker with nations and essential stakeholders working together. A main body is needed to facilitate information sharing, channel technical resources to nations that are brand-new to the video game, and to assemble conversations and launch projects with economic sector and civil society partners.The Climate and Clean Air Coalition, with its long experience in bringing together countries, company and civil society to work on short-term climate forcers like methane, is a reasonable hub for this work. To succeed, it requires to be completely resourced to take on this expanded role. This means CCAC partner states– particularly higher-emitting and wealthier countries– will have to significantly step up their video game on financing pledges, targeted that money directly at efforts to make the methane pledge a success.A shared platform for data, planning and executionThe reliability of the promise likewise needs a neutral, skilled arbiter of emerging science and data to assist verify and improve emission inventories, assist nations and companies in establishing their emission reduction strategies and to track development over time.The freshly released International Methane Emissions Observatory is ready-made for simply such work. As part of the UN Environment Programmes community of methane efforts, IMEO is well placed to asses and integrate data from the growing variety of empirical sources– from satellites to ground-based scientific research studies– and provide precise, real-time, granular information to assist notify preparation and mitigation.Capacity-building resources and structuresMany of the signatories to the methane pledge are just starting the methane mitigation journey. They will require technical support to develop emission stocks, examine mitigation possible across the major methane sectors– farming, waste and energy– and to establish action strategies. At the very same time, we understand that even the most well-resourced countries have room to enhance and unique issues to solve.It would make sense, therefore, to stand a center for technical proficiency at UNEP, maybe within the CCAC, that can offer guidance and direct help to countries to assist them make good on their methane pledge commitment. The preliminary focus should be on helping partner countries get country- and sector-level assessments and action plans in place. With time, the center might also work as a resource for helping partners develop regulative structures and stand significant projects.Project finance is another key location that will be important to success of the pledge, specifically for low-wealth nations. The crucial challenge here will be to put together a central resource for project finance that is versatile and quickly, improving the bureaucracy that so frequently has triggered worthwhile project ideas to stall under the weight of bureaucracy.Accountability– to each other and the worldThe next twelve months will determine whether the methane promise provides more than simply media headings. To make it real, methane requires to be front and center on the global phase going forward.As an immediate next step, promise participants and the main organizing body requirement to draw up a year-by-year procedure for meeting the 2030 target, with due dates for nationwide and sectoral plan development, clear and concrete interim targets for emission reductions, and annual reporting systems to track development– consisting of having the promise be a main function of COP events every year in between now and 2030. These timelines will require to recognize that partner countries are starting from various locations and that higher-emitting and wealthier countries have a responsibility to most faster and make reductions commensurate with their share of the problem.At the very same time, there will need to be collective diplomatic efforts to get wider involvement– consisting of from significant emitting nations like Australia, China, India and Russia– and to encourage greater ambition, such as Canadas recent dedication to minimize oil and gas methane by 75%. There is much work to be done and no time at all to waste. The opportunity is enormous. Collaborating, the worldwide neighborhood can deal with methane and do more in the next couple of years than can be done through nearly any other effort to right away strike the brakes on climate modification.