GLASGOW: President Joe Biden offered his thanks to Prime Minister Imran Khan after the latter joined an effort led by the United States and European Union to slash emissions of the potent greenhouse gas methane 30 percent by 2030 from 2020 levels, an initiative aimed at tackling one of the main causes of climate change.
Methane is the main greenhouse gas after carbon dioxide. It has a higher heat-trapping potential than CO2 but breaks down in the atmosphere faster — meaning that cutting methane emissions can have a rapid impact in reining in global warming.
Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Climate Malik Amin Aslam met with Biden on the sidelines of the COP26 summit in Glasgow.
“A pleasure to interact with President Biden at COP26,” Aslam tweeted. He added the president thanked Khan for committing to the pledge.
Aslam led the Pakistan delegation at the conference. He was accompanied by Minister of State for Climate Change Zartaj Gul.
Pakistan became the first South Asian country to sign up for the global pledge. More than 100 countries pledged to cut emissions of methane to avoid dangerous warming beyond 1.5 degrees Celsius.
Aslam also met with German Parliamentary State Secretary for Development Aid Dr Maria Flachsbarth. During the meeting, both nations decided to launch Pakistan-German Climate and Energy Initiative to further common climate goals.
“Germany has announced €150m in pursuance of climate agreement with Pakistan, and has agreed to assist & partner Pakistan in Clean Energy Development and nature-based solutions,” Aslam said.
Among the new signatories was Brazil — one of the world’s biggest emitters of methane. The pledge now includes six of the world’s 10 biggest methane emitters: the United States, Brazil, Indonesia, Nigeria, Pakistan and Mexico.
China, Russia, India and Iran, also top-10 methane emitters, have not signed up. Those countries were all included on a list identified as targets to join the pledge, first reported by Reuters.
