Countries made bold promises on the climate last year. How are they doing?

4. Reducing methane emissions

In Glasgow, more than 100 countries Sign a voluntary pledge To cut methane emissions by 30 percent by 2030. Scientists say curbing methane – a powerful greenhouse gas from oil and natural gas processes, livestock and landfills – could be a quick way to curb the near-term rise in global temperatures.

Most states are just getting started. In the United States, the Environmental Protection Agency has proposed, but not finalized, new regulations to limit methane emissions from oil and gas operations, while Congress has provided $4.7 billion to plug old leaky wells. This summer, the United States and the European Union also Announcing a new partnership With countries like Canada, Japan, Nigeria and Mexico to put nearly $60 million into efforts to plug methane leaks and monitor emissions by satellite.

However, dozens of other countries that signed the pledge have yet to provide details on how they plan to deal with the methane, according to recent analysis by the World Resources Institute.

Rising geopolitical tensions have also slowed progress: a major development in Glasgow It was a new agreement between the United States and China to work together to reduce methane emissions. But China abruptly halted all climate cooperation between the two countries shortly after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi Visited Taiwan in August.

5. Stop deforestation

More than 130 countries As I pledged in Glasgow To “stop and reverse” deforestation by 2030 and allocate billions of dollars to these efforts. This included Brazil, Indonesia, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, home to most of the world’s tropical forests.

So far, the world is not on the right track to achieve this goal. According to the report, the global deforestation volume decreased by 6.3% between 2020 and 2021 recent report By forest advertising platform. This is the good news. The bad news is that deforestation will need to decline faster, roughly 10 percent each year, for countries to achieve their 2030 target.

A number of countries, including Indonesia, Malaysia, Ivory Coast and Ghana, have made significant progress in protecting their forests, the report said. After suffering from forest and peat fires in 2016, Indonesia has put stricter regulations on the palm oil industry, while companies have faced pressure to reduce deforestation.