The US and the EU have agreed to aim to cut global emissions of methane by a third by 2030, according to a report by international news agency Reuters.
This “pact” also calls for other major global economies to do the same, according to the report.
It appears that the US and EU will, later this week, make a joint pledge to reduce “human-caused” methane emissions by at least 30% by 2030 compared with 2020 levels, according to a draft version of the pledge seen by Reuters.
The draft is quoted as saying: “The short atmospheric lifetime of methane means that taking action now can rapidly reduce the rate of global warming”.
The EU and US are also apparently hoping to convince other countries to get on board with the plan, namely China, Russia, India, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UK, New Zealand, South Africa and Norway (which is not a member of the EU).
According to the report, agriculture is specifically mentioned in the pledge, as well as other sources of methane.
The draft pledge is quoted as saying that methane emissions from agriculture would be targeted through “technology innovation as well as incentives and partnerships with farmers”.
The news comes as the Green Party here in Ireland has said that there is “radical change” on the way for the agriculture sector.
Speaking yesterday (Tuesday, September 14) as the Green Party held its two day think-in in Dublin, the party’s leader Eamon Ryan claimed this change “will be for the better”.
The government’s climate change advisory council will present its carbon budget within the next two weeks and the minister said the cabinet will then “respond” with Ireland’s new Climate Action Plan.
He added that there is “huge complexity around the different sectors”, with a “very different situation in forestry compared to land use involved with rewetting, and agriculture itself”.