Report

The Global Methane Pledge: how the UK can meet its commitment

This report from UK think tank Green Alliance looks at how the UK could exceed its Global Methane Pledge and reduce methane emissions by 43 per cent.

A year has passed since the UK signed the Global Methane Pledge at the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow. As the COP president until November 2022, the UK has a special responsibility to demonstrate how it will play its part in meeting the pledge target. However, the government has made little headway in showing how it will cut methane emissions to meet its 30 per cent reduction target. The UK government has been a global leader in reducing methane by 60 per cent since 1990. However, cutting methane further is a crucial pillar of the UK’s action to keep global warming to below 1.5 degrees. In this report, we outline how the UK could exceed its Global Methane Pledge and reduce methane emissions by 43 per cent this decade with a menu of low cost policies. By bringing forward changes across the waste, agriculture and energy sectors, the UK can accelerate methane cuts and demonstrate its global leadership on climate change.