Launch Event
As Methane Climate Impacts Soar, NGOs, Scientists, Advocates Launch New Campaign to Pull the Methane Emergency Brake
WHAT?
At a June 16 press conference at the UNFCCC’s Climate Summit in Bonn, Germany, leading NGOs, scientists, and climate advocates will launch a new campaign to “Pull the Methane Emergency Brake,” organised by the NGOs Leave it in the Ground Initiative (LINGO), Methane Action, and the Institute for Governance & Sustainable Development (IGSD). The campaign calls for deep, rapid, mandatory cuts in methane emissions as the fastest, most impactful way to lower near-term global temperature rise.
Emissions and atmospheric concentrations of methane continue to increase rapidly despite 159 countries signing the voluntary Global Methane Pledge. Methane is an extremely powerful greenhouse gas. It has caused a third of modern warming, and since the Paris Agreement, it has driven even more warming than carbon dioxide. Going forward, cutting methane emissions is a critical pathway to limiting near-term global temperature rise. But with methane rising and climate tipping points looming faster than previously thought possible, campaign organisers say we are out of time to rely on voluntary frameworks like the Pledge and national NDCs. We need to establish mandatory methane mitigation measures now, such as a binding agreement long called for by Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley, President of the UN Climate Vulnerable Forum and V20 Finance Ministers (CVF-V20).
WHO?
Leading scientists, experts, and advocates will present at the June 16 “Pulling the Methane Emergency Brake” press conference, including:
- Rob Jackson – Chair of the Global Methane Project, Douglas Provostial Professor of Earth System Science at Stanford University, Senior Fellow, Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment and Precourt Institute for Energy Pollution Management
- Stephan Singer – Senior Global Specialist on Climate Science and Energy, Climate Action Network International
- Shefali Sharma — Global Project Lead, Greenpeace Deutschland
- Daphne Wysham – CEO, Methane Action
- Paul Boëffard – Program Coordinator, Leave it in the Ground Initiative (LINGO)
- Durwood Zaelke – Founder and President, Institute for Governance & Sustainable Development
WHAT?
The “Pulling the Methane Emergency Brake” press conference takes place Monday, June 16, at 10:30 am Central European Time, in the Nairobi 4 press conference room on the ground floor of the main building of the World Conference Centre, located on the Platz de Vereinten Nationen, Bonn, Germany.
WHY?
Methane is a key driver of global warming. Emerging data indicate that in the years since the Paris Agreement was struck, new methane has caused more warming than new carbon dioxide. Other studies show that cutting methane emissions could result in four times the reduction in global temperature rise compared to cutting the same amount of carbon dioxide emissions, and could kick in much faster, lowering global warming by as much as 0.5 °C in the next few decades.
To that end, the Methane Emergency Brake campaign is organising climate and grassroots groups to take action on methane, and calling on governments at all levels and international organisations to:
NOTE TO EDITORS AND PRODUCERS: Presenters at the press conference, Methane Emergency Brake campaign organisers, and other expert sources are available for comment and side interviews on request. For more information or to request an interview, please contact Stephen Kent, skent@kentcom.com, +1 914 589 5988. For general information on the campaign and the science behind it, and to sign up for updates and alerts, go to www.MethaneEmergencyBrake.org.