Despite the efforts of more than half of all countries worldwide to curb a key climate super-pollutant, a report released this week by the United Nations Environment Programme at the U.N. climate summit shows that global methane emissions continue to climb at a troubling pace.
The report was the first worldwide assessment of the Global Methane Pledge, an effort to curb methane emissions, since the United States and the European Union launched the initiative during the U.N.’s annual Conference of the Parties climate summit in Glasgow in 2021.
Methane—a potent greenhouse gas and the second leading driver of climate change after carbon dioxide—is responsible for approximately one-third of human-caused warming to date. The U.S. remains part of the non-binding pledge but has rolled back methane regulations under President Donald Trump.
Curbing methane emissions is widely considered the most expedient way to combat climate change. Unlike carbon dioxide, which can remain in the atmosphere for centuries, methane only sticks around for approximately 12 years. The primary sources of methane pollution are agriculture, oil and gas infrastructure and landfills.
Regulations enacted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 2023 were projected to reduce methane emissions from the country’s oil and gas sector by nearly 80 percent compared to future emissions expected without the rule. In November 2024, the Biden administration placed a fee on excessive methane emissions from the oil and gas industry to further curb emissions. The following month, the Biden administration went beyond the 30 percent target set by the Global Methane Pledge and, under the Paris climate agreement, committed to reducing methane emissions across all sectors of the U.S. economy by 35 percent from 2005 levels.
However, Trump pulled the U.S. out of the Paris Agreement on his first day in office in January and signed legislation repealing the U.S. methane fee in March. In July, the EPA extended deadlines for the oil and gas industry to limit emissions of methane and other harmful pollutants.
Now, U.S. officials are urging Europe, one of the largest importers of natural gas, to ease its own environmental regulations. The EU Methane Regulation, approved by the European Commission, will require energy imports to the European Union to meet methane emission thresholds starting in 2030.
The requirement could pose a problem for U.S. liquified natural gas exports to Europe, given the recent rollbacks of U.S. methane regulations. U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum traveled to Greece earlier this month in the latest effort to lobby for the use of fossil fuels. “We want to bring as much energy by ship as we can,” Wright told Greek Public Television at the Partnership for Transatlantic Energy Cooperation summit in Athens.
