International Effort to Curb Emissions of a Climate Super Pollutant Falls Short, UN Report Reveals | Methane emissions continue to climb despite a pledge by countries to curb climate pollution

Countries that signed the pledge agreed to collectively reduce global methane emissions from human activity at least 30 percent by 2030, compared to 2020 levels. Now, nearly halfway to the pledge’s endpoint, global methane emissions are instead on track to increase 5 percent by the end of the decade.

If the 159 countries that signed the pledge follow through on that commitment, or similar promises made under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, methane emissions would decrease just 8 percent by 2030, far short of the 30 percent goal, the report found. Three of the largest emitters—China, India and Russia—have not signed the methane pledge.

For more on this, see the full UN Global Methane Status Report 2025