Why India did not join Methane Agreement

Ground Report | New Delhi: Why India did not join Methane Agreement; India, one of the world's biggest greenhouse gas emitters, did not sign the methane pledge during the Glasgow conference. On Tuesday, a hundred countries of the world pledged to reduce methane gas emissions by one-third by 2030. This will help in keeping the temperature of the earth low. However, experts say that the big emitters are not included in the pledge, for example, India, China, Russia, and Australia did not join the agreement.

Experts in India say that India did not participate in the agreements to stop deforestation and methane emissions because it would affect its agriculture and trade sectors. Government officials said agriculture and cattle play an important role in India's rural economy and it is necessary to protect them from being affected.

Why India did not join Methane Agreement

Agriculture accounts for more than 15% of India's $2.7 trillion economies and employs nearly half of the country's 1.3 billion people. About two-thirds of Indians live in rural areas and India's large livestock population is central to the country's agriculture and its rural economy.

It is a major challenge to reduce the methane emissions generated by the digestive system and manure of cows. Forestry in itself is less of a problem for India, but the country was troubled by a clause in the COP26 announcement that could have limited trade, two government officials asked not to be identified.

Agricultural yield will plummet due to the climate crisis

"As our international trade is rapidly becoming a large part of our economy, we clearly do not want any clause on trade," an official said. "We did not want any mention of trade because our stand is that any commitment to the environment and climate change should not include any reference to trade."

The second official said that since India is a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO), any matter related to trade should be looked into by the WTO only. Besides India, China and Russia have also not signed a pledge that calls for efforts to cut methane emissions by 30% by 2030 from 2020 levels.

no trade agreement

Two government officials said on the condition of anonymity that the forest area itself is not a big issue for India, but there is a clause in the agreement on stopping forest erosion in the climate conference that India had problems. This section limits trade based on the forest area.

“Since our international trade is fast becoming a major part of our economy, we obviously did not want any clause on trade. We did not even want any mention of trade because our stance is that the environment And trade should not be mentioned in any of the commitments on climate change.

A new promise from India to save the world

India is a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and it says that any issue related to trade should be resolved under the organization itself.

Why is it important to stop methane emissions?

After carbon dioxide, methane is the biggest cause of global warming. Although it has a short lifespan, it is 29 times more effective than carbon dioxide over a period of 100 years and 82 times more effective over a period of 20 years. Methane emissions are the highest in eight million years.

The reduction in methane gas emissions will have an immediate effect on the rise in temperature. This will help achieve the goal of not allowing the Earth's temperature to rise more than 1.5 °C.

Agriculture is the biggest contributor to methane emissions. After that comes the number of oil and gas industry and only reduction in it has been able to reduce emissions the fastest. If gas leaks in the oil and gas industry can be controlled during production and transportation, then there can be a big impact.

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