Biden lauds PM Imran’s pledge to cut methane emissions | The Express Tribune

US President Joe Biden has thanked Prime Minister Imran Khan for committing to cut methane emissions by 30% by the end of this decade in an effort to tackle climate change, said Special Assistant to PM on Climate Change Malik Amin Aslam.

PM Imran, who was due to attend the two-day long World Leaders Summit, pulled out at the last minute due to ‘domestic issues’ according to the SAPM, who led the Pakistani delegation at COP26 global climate conference held in Glasgow. He was accompanied by Minister of State for Climate Change Zartaj Gul. Both held meetings with delegations of other countries on the sidelines of the summit.

In the Glasgow summit, countries were urged to increase their emission cuts to avoid dangerous warming beyond 1.5 degrees Celsius and to operationalise the Paris Agreement.

On the second day of the COP26 Aslam met President Biden when Pakistan officially joined more than 80 nations who signed up for the US-led global methane pledge, agreeing to cut methane emissions by 30% by the end of this decade in an effort to tackle climate change.

The global methane pledge was formally launched at COP26 on Tuesday.

Cutting methane, a potent but relatively short-lived gas which comes from sources like fuel extraction and livestock farming, is seen as an effective short term contribution to climate action.

President Biden thanked PM Imran Khan for committing to the pledge, said Aslam.

Also read: Pakistan’s climate change actions can serve as model

Pakistan, as one of the world’s top 30 methane emitters, has now committed to tackling methane from livestock and flare gas capture. President Biden thanked all those who have signed the ‘game changing commitment’ and said at the ceremony that this would not only help climate change but also improve health, cut crop losses and reduce pollution.

SAPM Aslam also chaired two events at the Pakistan Pavilion including a briefing on the PTI government’s flagship “10 Billion Tree Tsunami Programme” and a launch of the Pakistan German Climate and Energy Initiative signed with German bank KFW under the NDC Partnership.

Pakistan recently updated its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) document in the run up to COP26 in which it announced it will shift to clean energy by converting 30% of its transportation to electric vehicles and that 60% of all energy produced in the country will be generated by renewable energy sources by 2030.

Germany has committed 60 million euros to Pakistan to be used for renewable energy and this initiative has added a ‘green dimension’ to the 70 years old partnership between the two countries. “This is a win for us and a win for the world,” said Aslam.

The German development bank KFW had earlier pledged funding to an independent three party assessment of the 10 Billion Tree Tsunami project which will be led by WWF-Pakistan, IUCN and FAO.

“It is very important to have 100% credibility and 100% transparency. The success of the project depends on this,” Aslam said at the launch of the initiative.

The Pakistani pavilion is hosting a number of side events in the coming two weeks of the UN Climate Conference.