‘Pakistan joins global club to mitigate highly climate potent methane gas’

Islamabad:European Union and US governments have invited Pakistan to join ‘Methane Pledge’, a global effort to be launched this year on the sidelines of United Nations annual climate summit in Glasgow later this month, unveiled Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Special Assistant on Climate Change Malik Amin.

He remarked the pledge is a US and EU-led global efforts effort already joined by two dozen countries so far to jointly to cut methane emissions 30 per cent by 2030, boosting the emerging global partnership a momentum for slowing down global warming ahead of its launch at the UN climate summit, according to a press statement issued here on Monday from the Climate Change Ministry.

Malik Amin said, “We have conveyed our consent to the EU and US governments that Pakistan is joining the Methane Pledge to support global efforts to fight climate change.” Now Pakistan is among the 24 new signatories to the Global Methane Pledge first announced by the United States and EU in September with the aim of boost rapid climate action prior to the onset of the two-week long global climate change summit starting from October 31.

The nine original partners include UK, Mexico, Indonesia, Japan and Nigeria, which signed on to the pledge when it was announced at the Major Economies Forum in September this year. The partnership of the signatories of the Methane Pledge now cover 60 per cent of global GDP and 30 per cent of global methane emissions. “It could have unprecedentedly a powerful bearing on the energy, agriculture and waste sectors responsible for the large-scale emissions of methane gas,” PM’s aide emphasised.

Methane is a powerful flammable and colourless greenhouse gas, about 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide in warming the planet and causing climate change. Being a biggest component of natural gas and used for fuel, its leakages are caused by poorly constructed conventional drilling operations, shale gas wells, gas pipelines and other fossil fuel infrastructure.

Highlighting, he recalled that Pakistan received a special invitation to join the Methane pledge club thanks to its extremely successful and globally acclaimed green initiatives and programmes and projects for climate change mitigation and adaptation including the Ten Billion Tree Tsunami Programme (TBTTP), e-vehicle, renewable and ecosystem restoration projects.

The PM’s aide Malik Amin recalled that at a recent meeting, US special climate change envoy John Kerry has vehemently lauded the climate change-related green initiatives launched in Pakistan under PM Imran Khan’s vision for Clean Green and climate-resilient Pakistan.