Environmentalists want to include a methane emissions reduction plan in the Climate Pact.

Madrid, Sep 8 (EFE).- Several environmental organizations have advocated for the State Pact on the Climate Emergency proposed by the Spanish government to include a plan to reduce methane emissions.

In a statement released Monday by Ecologists in Action, the group reveals that, together with ECODES, Greenpeace, Fundación Renovables, and Mighty Earth, they have presented to the Secretary of State for the Environment, Hugo Morán, a proposal that includes a broad package of measures to reduce methane emissions associated with the agricultural, waste, and energy sectors.

Last week, Morán acknowledged the need to reduce methane emissions in Spain and include this issue in the State Pact on the Climate Emergency proposed by the Executive.

In a meeting the politician held on the 3rd with representatives of these organizations and the director general of the Spanish Office for Climate Change (OECC), Elena Pita, these spokespersons pointed out that for this pact to be "credible," it must include "a set of effective mitigation measures" to reduce emissions of all greenhouse gases, including methane.

According to the statement, the spokespersons welcomed Morán's recognition of the need to reduce methane emissions and that this must be done through cross-sectoral action, which requires a commitment to work and cooperation between various ministries. They also highlighted the need for political will to move from words to actions.

The release includes scientific data from NASA revealing that human-caused methane emissions are responsible for 20-30% of current net warming and indicating that atmospheric concentrations of the gas are growing at a record pace and were already 265% higher than pre-industrial levels (before 1750) in 2023.

They also emphasize that this greenhouse gas is almost 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide (CO2) over a 20-year period, and 27 times more potent over a 100-year period, and that due to its high 20-year global warming potential, short-term reductions in anthropogenic methane emissions play a key role in climate change mitigation measures.

Environmental groups have lamented that although MITECO is the ministry responsible for meeting Spain's proposed greenhouse gas reduction targets, to date it has not presented any cross-sector plan to reduce methane emissions.

The groups have pointed out that "indeed, despite the significant contribution of methane to overall Spanish GHG emissions, the 2023-2030 National Integrated Energy and Climate Plan (PNIEC) tiptoes around this issue and, in fact, does not set any emissions reduction targets, either globally or by emitting sector."

According to them, the 2023-2030 PNIEC also fails to mention the Global Methane Pledge (GMP), launched at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) by the European Union (EU) and the United States, and to which Spain adhered.

To achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement, in addition to continuing to reduce carbon and other greenhouse gas emissions, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) proposes reducing methane emissions by 45% by 2030.

According to environmentalists, "achieving this requires transforming three very important and complex sectors: agriculture, energy, and waste."