Climate action: China plans methane emission controls in key industries

China will look into methane emissions in key industries, including coal mining, agriculture and petroleum, and publish a nationwide methane emission control action plan, the environment ministry said on Thursday.

China and the United States, the world’s two biggest greenhouse gases emitters, unveiled a deal earlier this month to ramp up cooperation tackling climate change, including by cutting methane emissions.

“The formulation of a methane action plan is … an important work of China’s active response to climate change strategy, and an important measure to implement the Sino-U.S. joint declaration,” Lu Xinming, a vice director of the climate change department at the Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE), told a news briefing.