The New 10-Step Plan to Tackle Methane

Why It Matters

Because methane’s quick climate impact means immediate cuts can deliver measurable temperature benefits, the plan provides businesses and policymakers a concrete, near‑term tool to curb warming while longer‑term CO₂ reductions are pursued.

Key Takeaways

• Methane drives ~30% of current global warming today
• Cutting methane cuts temperature rise within a decade
• Angera Declaration outlines ten actions, from leak fixes to global cooperation
• Emphasizes stronger MRV, financial incentives, and integration with CO2 strategies
• Calls for research on natural cycles and atmospheric methane removal

Summary

The Angera Declaration, unveiled at a conference in Angera, Italy, presents a ten‑step roadmap to slash methane emissions, the gas responsible for roughly 30 % of today’s warming.

Scientists stress methane’s short atmospheric lifetime, meaning that cutting its release could lower global temperatures within about ten years. The plan calls for accelerating proven leak‑reduction technologies, tightening measurement‑reporting‑verification (MRV) systems, and embedding explicit methane targets in national emissions strategies.

Key actions include boosting financial incentives through market mechanisms, integrating methane control with CO₂ and nitrous‑oxide policies, and tackling hard‑to‑abate sources such as abandoned coal mines. The declaration also urges deeper research into natural feedbacks, the broader methane cycle, and innovative removal techniques like direct atmospheric capture.

If adopted, the roadmap offers a rapid lever to “pull the emergency brake” on climate change, creating regulatory certainty for energy firms and opening markets for mitigation technologies, while underscoring the need for sustained international cooperation.

Original Description

This video was made in partnership with the Environmental Defense Fund @EdfOrg and their #TimeForCH4nge campaign to bring down methane emissions.