CLIMATE AND CLEAN AIR COALITION

Related Articles

India-Korea Electronic Origin Data Exchange System (EODES)

December 10, 2023

Biosphere Reserve

November 3, 2023

Cheetahs in India

September 29, 2023

• Recently, a report, titled Global Methane Assessment: Benefits and Costs of Mitigating Methane Emissions suggested that the world needs to dramatically cut methane emissions to avoid the worst of climate change.
• The report was released by the Climate and Clean Air Coalition and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
• Methane is gas that is found in small quantities in Earth’s atmosphere. Methane is the simplest hydrocarbon, consisting of one carbon atom and four hydrogen atoms (CH4). Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas. It is flammable, and is used as a fuel worldwide.
• Methane is produced by the breakdown or decay of organic material and can be introduced into the atmosphere by either natural processes – such as the decay of plant material in wetlands, the seepage of gas from underground deposits or the digestion of food by cattle – or human activities – such as oil and gas production, rice farming or waste management.

Impact of Methane:

Methane is 84 times more potent than carbon and doesn’t last as long in the atmosphere before it breaks down. This makes it a critical target for reducing global warming more quickly while simultaneously working to reduce other greenhouse gases.

It is responsible for creating ground-level ozone, a dangerous air pollutant.

Important points:

• Human-caused methane emissions are increasing faster currently than at any other time since record keeping began in the 1980s.
• Carbon dioxide levels have dropped during the Covid-19 pandemic. However, methane in the atmosphere reached record levels last year.
• This is a cause of concern as it was responsible for about 30%of warming since pre-industrial times.
• Oil and gas extraction, processing and distribution accounted for 23% of methane emissions in the fossil fuel sector. Coal mining accounted for 12% of emissions.
• Fossil fuel industry had the greatest potential for low-cost methane cuts, up to 80% of measures in the oil and gas industry could be implemented at negative or low cost.
• About 60% of methane cuts in this sector could make money as reducing leaks would make more gas available for sale.
• Landfills and wastewater made up about 20% of emissions in the waste sector.
• The waste sector could cut its methane emissions by improving the disposal of sewage around the world.
• In the agricultural sector, livestock emissions from manure and enteric fermentation constituted for roughly 32% and rice cultivation 8% of emissions.
• Three behavioural changes — reducing food waste and loss, improving livestock management and adopting healthy diets (vegetarian or with a lower meat and dairy content) — could reduce methane emissions by 65–80 million tonnes per year over the next few decades.

Region-wise Emission Reduction Potential:

• Greatest potential to curb methane emissions from farming, fossil fuel operations and waste management.
• The European Commission had adopted the European Union Methane Strategy.
• Greatest potential to reduce methane emissions in the waste sector.
• Its potential to reduce methane emission was in livestock, followed by oil and gas.

Need and Benefits:

• Human-caused methane emissions must be cut by 45% to avoid the worst effects of climate change.
• Such a cut would prevent a rise in global warming by up to 0.3 degrees Celsius by 2045. It would also prevent 260,000 premature deaths, 775,000 asthma-related hospital visits annually, as well as 25 million tonnes of crop losses.
• However, cutting methane emissions can rapidly reduce the rate of warming in the near-term as the gas broke down quickly.

Related Indian Initiatives

1. Seaweed-Based Animal Feed
2. India Greenhouse Gas Program
3. National Action Plan on Climate Change
4. Bharat Stage-VI Norms

Climate and Clean Air Coalition

• Launched in 2019, It is a voluntary partnership of governments, intergovernmental organizations, businesses, scientific institutions and civil society organizations committed to protecting the climate and improving air quality through actions to reduce short-lived climate pollutants.
• India is a member of the coalition.
• United Nations Environment Programme
• The UNEP is a leading global environmental authority established on 5th june 1972.
• It sets the global environmental agenda, promotes the sustainable development within the United Nations system, and serves as an authoritative advocate for global environment protection.

Major Reports:

• Emission Gap Report, Global Environment Outlook, Frontiers, Invest into Healthy Planet.
• Beat Pollution, UN75, World Environment Day, Wild for Life.
• Headquarters:Nairobi, Kenya.

SOURCE: THE HINDU THE ECONOMIC TIMES ,MINT