Methane and Health: Accelerating Action to Reduce Methane Emissions and Improve Health

EDF proposes holding a series of dialogues on the intersection of methane emissions and public health, which is not well understood currently.

Our goal is to advance a policy and research agenda that better characterizes the health benefits of cutting methane pollution and drives more targeted interventions that will deliver significant health and climate benefits at a local, national and global scale.

With countries poised to take meaningful action under the Global Methane Pledge, now is the time to ensure that health is central in the identification, assessment and prioritization of methane mitigation policies and interventions.

These dialogues will take place over the next 18 months, with a kick off at COP 27 in November followed by more in- depth discussions on regional and sectoral issues on the road to COP 28, and culminating in a draft statement to be presented at the COP in 2023.

The COP provides an ideal platform for advancing progress on the methane problem amongst key stakeholders— including researchers, policy makers and funders.

Through these dialogues, we will dive into regional and sectoral activities associated with methane emissions and consider their multidimensional health impacts, with a focus on identifying near-term priorities to accelerate durable solutions.