The Conservation Council of WA (CCWA) is one of 16 organisations across Australia to sign a joint statement, calling on Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to commit to the Global Methane Pledge and take more action to tackle methane emissions.

Signatories to the statement - which include the Australian Conservation Foundation, the Climate Council and Greenpeace - urges the federal government to 'rapidly reduce' methane emissions across the country and for Australia to join the 120+ countries which have already signed the Global Methane Pledge, launched in 2021 at COP26 in Glasgow.

Countries which join the pledge agree to take voluntary actions to contribute to a 'collective effort to reduce global methane emissions by 30 per cent from 2020 levels, by 2030.

Methane - also known as 'natural gas' or simply gas - is both a greenhouse gas and a fossil fuel sold as 'LNG' by companies like Woodside and Chevron. Like carbon dioxide (CO2), methane is directly responsible for increasing global temperatures by trapping heat in the atmosphere and can be 80 times more potent than CO2 over a 20-year period.

Methane also produces CO2 when burned, particularly in the case of LNG which is exported in huge quantities from facilities here in WA.

The statement - which can be read in full here - requests that the Australian Government undertakes a ten steps to Establish a national Framework and commitment to reduce methane; Restore integrity to Australian methane measurement and Limit and mitigate methane emissions.

For more information about CCWA's campaign to stop fossil fuel expansion in Western Australia, visit our gas campaign page: https://www.ccwa.org.au/gaslit

ENDS 

MEDIA INFORMATION: The Conservation Council of WA (CCWA) is the state’s foremost non-profit, non-government conservation organisation representing more than 100 environmental organisations across Western Australia. 

For more information, visit: ccwa.org.au.

CONTACT: For any enquiries relating to this release, please contact Robert Davies

08 9420 7291 / 0412 272 570 or by email, [email protected]