Climate super-pollutants - including methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, and tropospheric ozone - are responsible for over half of today's warming.  Under the Global Methane Pledge, launched by the EU and the US, more than 150 countries are now  implementing a collective goal of reducing global anthropogenic methane emissions by at least 30% by 2030, from 2020 levels. This global initiative will help to keep the Paris Agreement objective of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius within reach.

In a Statement, President von der Leyen presented the first-ever EU law to curb methane emissions in the energy sector, with world-leading standards for measuring, detecting, and stopping emissions in the EU and globally. The EU and its Member States announced €175 million in support of the Methane Finance Sprint to boost methane reduction at the Summit. These funds will help catalyse efforts from government, industry, and philanthropy to reduce methane emissions across the energy sector, including by enabling the methane data revolution with the use of new satellites.

President von der Leyen also announced that the Commission will develop a roadmap for the global rollout of the “You Collect, We Buy” scheme by COP29. This scheme incentivises companies to capture and commercialise gas that would otherwise go to waste through venting and flaring, thereby bolstering climate action and energy security. The EU and Algeria will pilot together this scheme.