Today, a first-of-its-kind alliance of more than 20 leading philanthropic organizations, including the Skoll Foundation, announced a collective intention to fund more than $223 million to drastically reduce methane emissions around the world. The commitment builds on the diplomatic effort spearheaded by the United States and European Union’s Global Methane Pledge to reduce methane emissions by 30% by the year 2030 and limit warming to 0.2℃ by 2050.
The commitment is the largest private pledge to reduce methane emissions globally and significantly boosts philanthropic resources allocated specifically to methane reduction. Funding will support and sustain action from civil society, government, and private industry, including in the 24 countries that have signed on to the Pledge by meaningfully investing in methane reduction solutions.
Reducing methane is the single fastest action we can take to keep a 1.5°C future within reach,” said U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry. “In 2016, philanthropy committed fast start funding that helped us secure and implement the landmark Kigali Amendment on HFCs. Now they are stepping with over four times as much support for governments to deliver on the Global Methane Pledge to cut methane at least 30 percent globally by 2030.”
Methane is more than 80 times more powerful than carbon dioxide. At least 25% of today’s warming is driven by methane from human actions, with the oil and gas industry, livestock and landfills being the heaviest emitters.
Reducing methane emissions is the single most effective way to rapidly slow global temperature rise – with the potential to reduce warming by as much as 0.3℃ by 2050. While countries have had their own methane reduction strategies for some time, this effort is the first-ever coordinated and unified approach to funding, developing and implementing actionable solutions to the growing crisis of methane emissions in the atmosphere.
“Solving our world’s climate crisis requires effort and collaboration from all of us across sectors,” said Don Gips, CEO at Skoll Foundation. “As a foundation committed to advancing climate solutions, we are proud to join this global coalition of funders and help to amplify actionable solutions to reducing methane emissions around the world.”
Funders will coordinate their giving in methane reduction solutions, providing expertise, financial resources, technical support and best-in-class data to ensure methane reduction progress and accurate monitoring, verification, and reporting, including in the resource extraction and agriculture sectors.
Today’s announcement highlights the role that global philanthropy is playing in addressing the impacts of climate change. In 2016, swift philanthropic action by 18 funders led to the creation of a $53 million pool of resources which helped make possible the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol. As a result of the funding, the pace and scale at which hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) were removed was accelerated, and led to the widespread adoption of more efficient and effective cooling solutions.
The over $200M commitment is the first step ahead of COP26 in a series of coordinated philanthropic actions to achieve the goals of the Global Methane Pledge and substantively reduce methane in the atmosphere. Donors will continue to work together to increase philanthropic investments toward methane reduction and engage international experts to determine how the funding will be allocated.
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