Two main topics highlighted day two of the COP26 Climate Change Conference Tuesday: ending deforestation and reducing methane emissions. President Joe Biden addressed both topics on his final day attending the conference. The video above shows clips from his remarks.
According to the White House, President Biden announced in September, “the United States was joining with the European Union in challenging the world to meet a Global Methane Pledge and reduce the world’s methane emissions 30% from 2020 levels by 2030.” On Tuesday, Biden announced more than 100 governments have now joined the pledge. This includes six of the world’s top 10 methane emitters:
- United States
- Brazil
- EU
- Indonesia
- Pakistan
- Argentina
“If we deliver on this pledge, we can prevent over 200,000 premature deaths,” Biden said at an event highlighting the progress of the pledge. “We can prevent hundreds of thousands of asthma-related emergency room visits and over 20 million tons of crop losses a year.”
In addition to the pledge, Biden announced the next steps the U.S. is taking to reduce its own methane emissions.
“We’re proposing two new rules; one through our Environmental Protection Agency that’s going to reduce methane losses from new and existing oil and gas pipelines and one through the Department of Transportation to reduce wasteful and potentially dangerous leaks from natural gas pipelines,” Biden said. “We’re also launching a new initiative to work with our farmers and ranchers to produce climate smart agricultural practices and reduce methane on farms, which is a significant source as well.”
In addition to addressing methane emissions at COP26, Britain hailed the commitment by over 100 countries to halt and reverse deforestation in the coming decade as the first big achievement to come out of COP26. Those countries account for more than 85% of the world’s forests.
“With today’s unprecedented pledges, we will have a chance to end humanity’s long history as nature’s conqueror, and instead become its custodian,” British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said. “Let’s end this great chainsaw massacre by making conservation do what we know it can do, and that is deliver long-term sustainable jobs and growth as well.”
In a speech at Tuesday’s “Action on Forests and Land-Use” event, Biden emphasized the importance of preventing deforestation in achieving other climate goals. “Forests have the potential to reduce, reduce carbon globally by more than one third, by more than one third,” Biden said.