The United Nations findings have declared to curb the cutting of methane emissions which is a key component of natural gas to avoid the further impacts of climate change.
A UN-backed report published on Thursday suggests that methane emissions caused by human activity can be reduced by up to 45 per cent this decade to help keeping global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees in line with Paris Agreement on climate change.
Methane is an extremely powerful greenhouse gas having 84 times more potent than carbon as it does not last long in the atmosphere. Companies and individuals will have to work together quickly to reduce this gas. As it is the second biggest contributor to human-caused global warming after CO2.
The report urges immediate action, as the world is expected to slash methane by up to 45% this decade, or 180 million tons a year. “Cutting methane is the strongest lever we have to slow climate change over the next 25 years and complements necessary efforts to reduce carbon dioxide, said – Inger Andersen, Executive Director of the U.N. Environment Programme in a statement.
The report comes after the emissions surged to record heights even after the worldwide lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic. Since the1980s, the methane emissions are also rising faster as it mostly comes from fossil fuels, oil and gas, and agriculture.
“The benefits to society, economies, and the environmental are numerous and far outweigh the cost,”. We need international cooperation to urgently reduce methane emissions as much as possible this decade”, Andersen said.