105 countries pledge to cut methane emissions by 30% by 2030
The Global Methane Pledge announced at COP26, commits signatories, including the US, Japan and Canada, to reducing their overall emissions by 30% by 2030, compared with 2020 levels.
Air pollution
Air pollution shortens millions of lives each year, but communities, scientists, and policymakers are pushing back. This archive covers policy wins, clean-energy transitions, and on-the-ground efforts that are measurably improving air quality worldwide.
More than 100 countries pledge to end deforestation by 2030 at COP26
In the first major deal to come out of the COP26 climate talks, more than 100 countries have pledged to halt and reverse deforestation by 2030. The signatories hold more than 85% of the world’s forests.
Brazil and Chile become world’s first countries to fully approve methane-busting feed additive for cows
Just a quarter teaspoon of Royal DMS’s Bovaer per cow per day consistently reduces burped methane emission by approximately 30% for dairy cows and even higher percentages (up to 90%) for beef cows.
New satellite network to find and monitor methane super-emitters
“These sort of methane emissions are kind of like invisible wildfires across the landscape,” Carbon Mapper CEO and University of Arizona research scientist Riley Duren said.
In 24 years, California has cut toxic air pollution by 78%, resulting in 82% fewer attributable deaths
Scientists at UC Berkeley are hailing the state’s diesel engine standards and other measures imposed over a number of years, even in the face of loosened environmental regulations in recent years.
Toxic sulfur dioxide emissions fell across India, Russia, and China last year– dropping 6% globally
In 2019, the levels of anthropogenic SO2 emissions fell worldwide by 6%. In only the second time ever, SO2 emissions fell in all three of the countries most responsible for emitting it: China, India, and Russia.
New Jersey passes bill to protect poor communities from pollution
The New Jersey Law will require the state’s Department of Environmental Protection to deny permit applications for a new project if it determines it will have a disproportionate impact on a certain community already facing environmental or health stressors.
Nations agree to phase out ozone-depleting chemicals in landmark global treaty
The Montreal Protocol was signed on 16 September 1987, when diplomats from dozens of nations agreed to phase out the chemicals eating a hole in the ozone layer. It became the first UN treaty ever ratified by every country on Earth, and scientists now expect the ozone layer to fully recover by around 2040.