COP29: The sprint to cut climate super pollutants US State Department’s press release on Baku summit

The US State Department website has published a press release in connection with the COP29 climate change conference taking place in Baku. Caliber.Az reprints this press release.

On November 12, the United States, the People’s Republic of China, and Azerbaijan convened a Summit to accelerate actions to cut emissions of methane and other non-CO2 greenhouse gases, which account for half of today’s climate change but receive far less than half of global climate attention. These super pollutant greenhouse gases—including methane, hydrofluorocarbons, nitrous oxide, and tropospheric ozone—are dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of times more potent than carbon dioxide. Reducing emissions of these super pollutants is the fastest way to tackle climate change and a critical complement to reducing carbon dioxide to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

Tackling all greenhouse gases in 2035 NDC targets and net zero targets

At the Summit, former Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Patricia Espinosa and International Energy Agency Executive Director Fatih Birol called on Parties to the Paris Agreement to heed the COP 28 Global Stocktake call to deliver 1.5C-aligned 2035 Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) targets covering all greenhouse gases, and to set net zero targets covering all greenhouse gases.

At the Summit, governments announced new policy and regulatory steps to reduce super pollutants.

United States Senior Advisor to the President for International Climate Policy John Podesta announced that the United States finalized its rule to implement the oil and gas Waste Emissions Charge which will incentivize reduction of harmful and wasteful methane pollution in the oil and gas sector. The United States also unveiled new steps to implement the oil and gas Super Emitter Program, which requires companies to take action when notified about large methane emission events. The United States released its updated National Methane Emissions Reduction Action Plan, which showcases more than $18 billion in funding for methane action announced and disbursed in 2024,

Special Envoy for Climate Change Liu Zhenmin shared the actions that China has engaged in over the past year since the release of the Methane Emissions Control Action Plan, including detailing and implementing measures, building fundamental capacities, enhancing the policy and standards framework, and actively promoting international exchange and collaboration. In particular, China is planning to lower the emission limit from the current 30 percent to 8 percent in the latest version of the Emissions Standards of Coalbed Methane. In addition, the Chinese government continues to improve market mechanisms, including to address methane, and Chinese enterprises are investing significantly to carry out methane emission control actions.

COP 29 President Mukhtar Babayev showcased the Reducing Organic Waste Declaration to catalyze urgent action to improve waste management and reduce methane emissions in the waste sector in this decade. SOCAR President Rovshan Najaf announced that SOCAR will achieve near zero methane emissions (less than 0.2 percent intensity) in upstream operations, has developed a one-stop solution for methane monitoring, and has joined the Oil and Gas Methane Partnership 2.0 (OGMP2.0).

Special Presidential Envoy for COP29 Hong Sik CHO launched ROK’s $20 million ASEAN-Korea Cooperation on Methane Mitigation Project to support methane reduction and monitoring with ASEAN countries. ROK also advanced efforts to implement its 2030 Methane Reduction Roadmap to cut national methane emissions by over 30 percent by 2030 from 2020 levels.

Ambassador Majid Al Suwaidi announced new steps to reduce methane emissions from UAE’s waste sector, including setting a landfill diversion target of 50 percent diversion by 2025 and 80 percent diversion by 2031. The target will be met by implementing comprehensive national regulations to manage recycling facilities and recyclable waste and minimum fees for landfill disposal to limit random waste disposal among other measures.

Special Representative for International Environmental Cooperation Zulfiya Suleimenova announced that Kazakhstan will strive to complete the development of regulatory acts on methane, aiming to reduce non-emergency methane venting and promote leak detection and repair in the oil and gas sector, as well as to finalize the National Program for Methane Emissions Reduction by COP 30 in 2025.

Secretary of State Ed Miliband announced £5 million ($6.5 million) of new funding in support of the Climate and Clean Air Coalition’s Fossil Fuel Regulatory Program, highlighted action in the waste sector including reaffirming commitment to deliver on its flagship policy to eliminate biodegradable waste from landfill from 2028, and showcased a Methane Action Plan recently published by the Environment Agency, the main environmental regulator for England.

Minister of Environment Stephan Guilbeault showcased Canada’s draft regulations expected to cut landfill methane emissions approximately in half by 2030 from 2019 levels. Canada also showcased its draft regulations to cap emissions from oil and gas in upstream and liquefied natural gas production, providing an incentive for the sector to further reduce methane emissions.

Special Presidential Envoy on Climate Change Dr. Nkiruka Chidia Maduekwe showcased Nigeria’s commitment to continue to champion the reduction and abatement of the super pollutants. Nigeria is collaborating with the UNEP and EU to drive the Nigeria Methane Emissions Reduction Pilot Programme (NIMERP) which is expected to expand methane abatement opportunities in the agriculture and waste sector in support of increased ambition in NDC3.0.

The summit also announced that the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) have launched the first-ever Global N2O Assessment, following a commitment by the Climate and Clean Air Coalition in 2025 to improve scientific understanding of how to reduce the climate impacts of tropospheric ozone, an air pollutant that forms at the intersection of other gases and is the third-largest contributor to climate change after CO2 and methane.

By Khagan Isayev