Brazil will sign the global methane pledge, its foreign affairs ministry has said in a tweet, making it the second-largest emitter after the US to join the collective commitment to slash release of the gas by 30 per cent by 2030.
The move represents a change in Brazil’s stance, which historically has favoured measures to address all gases instead of specific ones. The country has long argued that fossil fuels are the biggest cause of climate change. Its methane emissions come from agriculture, mainly cattle.
The pledge, signed by about 80 states so far, aims to curtail one of the most potent greenhouse gases. If fulfilled, the pact is projected to reduce warming by 0.2 degrees Celsius (0.36 degrees Fahrenheit) by mid-century.
The methane pledge, developed by the EU and US, would represent the first global political commitment to pare back on generation of methane, amid increasingly urgent warnings that reductions of the greenhouse gas are essential to reduce warming and avoid feedback loops that lock in climate changes.
Countries signing the pledge are committing to work together toward a collective goal of reducing global methane emissions to at least 30 per cent below 2020 levels by 2030 and to implement related domestic actions in support of the effort.
China and Russia – the two largest methane emitters – had not signed the pledge as of Monday evening. – Bloomberg