Scientists urge swift action on methane
Researchers say more ambitious methane action worldwide could bring immediate benefits to the planet.
A group of researchers has issued a joint declaration calling for accelerated action to reduce "potent" methane emissions as a faster route to limit global warming.
The Angera Declaration, signed this month by scientists across a variety of disciplines, was timed to coincide with the 250-year anniversary of the discovery of methane in Italy's marshes of Angera by Italian scientist Alessandro Volta.
The declaration named methane as responsible for 30 per cent of current global warming and revealed that atmospheric concentrations had continued to rise in spite of ongoing mitigation efforts.
The Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) describes methane as a "potent greenhouse gas" with more than 80 times the warming power of carbon dioxide over the first 20 years after it reaches the atmosphere.
"Even greater ambition is needed to match the urgency of the challenge and the scale of the opportunity"
"Even though CO2 has a longer-lasting effect, methane sets the pace for warming in the near term," the EDF said, adding that about 30% of today’s global warming is driven by methane from human actions.
"Acting now to reduce methane emissions will have immediate benefits to the climate that reductions in carbon dioxide cannot provide on their own."
The Angera Declaration outlines a ten-point plan covering deployment of existing mitigation technologies, improved emissions monitoring, stronger financing mechanisms, and international policy co-operation.
It also calls for continued research into hard-to-abate sources such as livestock digestion, legacy landfill waste and abandoned coal mines (see below).
A Global Methane Pledge, launched in 2021 and now endorsed by 159 countries and the European Commission, has set a target of reducing global anthropogenic methane emissions by at least 30 per cent below 2020 levels by 2030.
While the Angera Declaration acknowledged that some progress had been made in global efforts to limit methane emissions, it noted that the 2025 Global Methane Status Report revealed that they had continued to grow, albeit at a slower rate.
"Even greater ambition is needed to match the urgency of the challenge and the scale of the opportunity," the researchers wrote.
Super pollutants in sight
In a related development, an accelerator program was established at last year's COP30 in Brazil to give participating governments more direct support for addressing not just methane but a broader class of so-called super pollutants.
Drawing on the 1987 Montreal Protocol, which successfully acted to phase out ozone-depleting substances, the Climate and Clean Air Coalition's Super Pollutant Country Action Accelerator aims to provide technical assistance for projects, with an estimated US$150 million in grants and finance to be made available to participants.
The declaration comprises a ten-point plan that calls for a range of measures from deployment of proven solutions across the energy, waste and agriculture sectors to improved monitoring using satellite, airborne and ground-based measurement systems for all regions.
It also asks for quantified methane reduction targets to be included in national climate commitments as well as the provision of development finance, with market mechanisms to assist in mobilising capital.
The declaration also seeks to address hard-to-abate methane sources such as livestock digestion, legacy landfill waste and abandoned coal mines, and also calls for improved monitoring of methane emissions from wetlands, inland waters and permafrost.
It also highlights the need for harmonised measurement standards, data systems and modelling frameworks that can be applied globally.
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Amanda Bryan
