Brazil signed this Tuesday (2), during COP26, the Global Commitment on Methane, together with 96 countries. The agreement’s goal is to reduce 30% of global methane emissions by 2030, compared to emissions in 2020.
About 70% of gas emissions in the country are concentrated in the agricultural sector, according to data from SEEG (System for Estimating Emissions and Removals of Greenhouse Gases).
The largest beef exporter in the world, Brazil resisted the agreement, which implies a review of processes in cattle raising. According to sources linked to the high level of the federal government, pressure from the United States in recent weeks was decisive for the adhesion, which had the agreement of the Ministries of Environment, International Relations and Agriculture.
TO sheet, the US deputy special envoy for climate, Jonathan Pershing, confirmed the work of persuasion, which took place in recent weeks.
“We’ve agreed to work with the members of the technology deal. There are over $300 million philanthropic to help with the transition. We say: this is a win, an opportunity. am I going to buy from a country that isn’t working on it?” Pershing said.
“President Biden is basing his climate strategy on the economic agenda, focusing on opportunities to generate good-paying jobs. This tends to earn a living and move forward,” he told reporters sheet White House climate adviser Gina McCarthy.
“The Brazilian government is also looking for ways to be more cooperative,” noted Pershing.
According to Embrapa, most of the methane emissions from the agricultural sector are due to the enteric fermentation of cattle, but the use of nitrogen fertilizers also generates emissions.
Signatories of the Global Commitment on Methane represent at least 46% of gas emissions and two-thirds of global GDP, according to an analysis by the WRI (World Resources Institute). Global methane emissions are also linked to fossil energy sources such as coal, oil and gas. The agreement provides for an annual review of the progress of the target in a meeting with ministers from the signatory countries.
The global engagement came from the joint announcement of the United States and the European Union, which in September had already declared their commitment to the goal.
The global attention to methane emissions soared in August, when the IPCC (UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) revealed that methane is the second gas that most affects the global climate, accounting for 0.5ºC of global warming in 1 , 1ºC experienced since 1900.
Methane is also a gamble for short-term climate action.
“The advantage of methane is that it has a short half-life, so any emission reduction has a short-term impact on the global climate system,” says physicist Paulo Artaxo, a professor at the University of São Paulo and a member of the IPCC.
According to Artaxo, while carbon dioxide has a half-life of thousands of years (the time it takes for half the number of atoms to start disintegrating), that of methane is only eleven years. In other words, the effects of reducing methane emissions can be perceived in the climate in a shorter period of time.
The journalist traveled at the invitation of Instituto Clima e Sociedade.
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