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What We're Watching: Global methane pledge, Africa at COP26

The methane reduction club: It's easy to be cynical about the tokenistic gestures and subpar commitments being made (by some) at COP26. But there are also some crucial developments coming out of the meeting. Over 90 countries have signed onto a US/EU-sponsored pledge to reduce methane emissions by 30 percent compared to 2020 levels by the end of the decade. Though methane is not as rife as carbon, it is way more potent in warming the planet. The Global Methane Pledge now includes commitments from half of the world's top methane emitters, but not the top three: China, Russia, and India. Still, the pledge, which requires states to fix oil and gas leaks as well as reduce methane emissions from agriculture through alternative maintenance schemes, is a big deal because over a century, methane could be up to 34 times as warming as carbon dioxide. The Biden administration, for its part, says that tackling methane emissions buys more time to deal with the climate crisis, and that the Environmental Protection Agency will soon require US states to reduce methane emissions at sources including 300,000 oil and gas sites – many of which are in red states that might not be super cooperative.

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