The Biden administration unveiled a sweeping set of policies to cut the Methane emissions, a key greenhouse gas, in the nation’s oil and gas operations. This is the president’s most consequential effort to fight climate change to date. To achieve this, the EPA will establish standards for old wells, impose more frequent leak monitoring, and require the capture of natural gas found alongside oil. Over 90 nations signed the Global Methane Pledge, which calls for 30% emission cuts by 2030. Why Methane? Methane packs 80 times the global warming impact of carbon dioxide over a 20-year time span.
More than 100 world leaders pledged to halt deforestation over the next decade. The announcement includes Brazil, home to the Amazon rainforest, as well as Canada, Russia, Norway, Colombia and Indonesia. The United States also signed onto the agreement, which was backed by $12 billion in public funds and $7.2 billion in private money. Colombian President Iván Duque Márquez said his country will commit to protecting 30% of its territory by 2022.
These Percentages of this come to:
85% of the world’s forests pledged to halt deforestation.
52% of Columbia is covered by tropical forests.
30% of those Colombian forests will be protected by 2022.
“Indigenous peoples are calling for 80% of the Amazon to be protected by 2025, and they’re right, that’s what’s needed,” said Greenpeace Brazil executive director Carolina Pasquali. “The climate and the natural world can’t afford this deal.” This is understandable after hearing that 1/4 of net carbon emissions are caused by deforestation, and shockingly, the Amazon region emitted more carbon than it sequestered.
Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso announced today that his nation is extending protection to a significant portion of previously unprotected ocean around the Galápagos Islands. This effort should rebuild biodiversity in the area that helped inspire Charles Darwin’s Theory of Evolution. The marine reserve around the islands will be expanded by nearly 50%, to 50,000 square miles.
While all of these percentages may not seem huge, met with the timeline targets they are more ambitious than we have seen in the past, creating a hopeful outlook on the rest of the conference. Let us know you thoughts on these numbers in the comments, and if you think we can do better!
