A ministerial meeting of the Global Methane Pledge (GMP) took place at COP30 in Belém, Brazil. This is the first time such a meeting has been held as part of the UN Climate Change Conference. Participants delivered national statements in which they confirmed their countries’ intentions and commitments.
The Global Methane Pledge aims to reduce emissions of methane, a greenhouse gas that is 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide in the short term. 159 countries have joined these efforts in an attempt to stop global warming.
Ukraine joined the initiative in 2021 and has remained committed to its obligations ever since. Even now, despite full-scale Russian aggression.
Russia is trying to destroy Ukraine’s economy and energy sector, complicating the already complex process of implementing modern technical solutions to reduce methane emissions.
Despite this, it was only in 2024-2025 that Ukraine began systematic research and assessment of methane emissions, increased the coverage of oil and gas companies reporting under the OGMP 2.0 standard, initiated the implementation of programmes to detect and eliminate methane leaks (LDAR) from gas infrastructure, and adopted new rules for the technical operation of waste disposal sites. In addition, Ukraine is integrating measures to reduce methane emissions into its new Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC).
“Ukraine is open to partnerships with GMP member countries, financial institutions and the private sector. We are working to create investment mechanisms that will combine energy recovery and climate goals. Our contribution to methane reduction is not only a contribution to clean air and human health. It is a real step towards slowing global warming, which, according to experts, could prevent hundreds of thousands of premature deaths and millions of tonnes of crop losses each year,” said Deputy Minister of Economy, Environment and Agriculture Pavlo Kartashov in a National statement during the meeting.