Here Are the Pledges Made at COP26 – And Why Not Everyone Is Impressed

Cut methane emission levels by 30 percent by 2030

It was the first COP in recent history in which a major event on methane was held, and it delivered results; 105 countries, including big emitters like Brazil, Nigeria and Canada, signed the Global Methane Pledge. 

The worldwide partnership aims for each country to cut methane emission levels by 30 percent by 2030. The countries which have signed up are responsible for around 40 percent of methane emissions around the planet, whose molecules have a more powerful warming effect than carbon dioxide.

End deforestation by 2030

It was good news for forests too; 114 leaders committed to ending and reversing deforestation by 2030 – again including Brazil, where vast stretches of the Amazon rainforest have been cut down. 

A £1.1 billion ($1.5 billion) fund will be established to protect the tropical rainforest in the Congo Basin – the second largest of its kind in the entire world.