On 17 June, at the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate (MEF), a Global Methane Pledge Energy Pathway was launched. The high-level policy event was attended by Head of States of 20 countries. Amongst the participants were President of European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, UN Secretary General António Guterres and United States President Joe Biden.

The European Union and the United States published a joint press release, in which they pledged to reduce anthropogenic methane emissions at least 30 percent by 2030 from 2020 levels, and commit to the Energy Pathway, which will enable the mitigation of methane emissions. The launch of a satellite-surveillance alert and response system by the UNEP International Methane Emissions Observatory was also announced. 

Following the announcement of the pathway, in an online event, hosted by Rapporteur on the EU strategy to reduce methane emissions, MEP Maria Spyraki, stakeholders met to discuss methane reduction ambitions in context of the challenges the EU and the world faces. During this discussion, the invited speakers established that tackling methane emissions is an opportunity that must be taken to effectively limit global warming, tracking data is crucial to keep up mitigation actions, and the changed frameworks brought about by the war can be considered as opportunities. The closing remarks were delivered by MEP Spyraki – who also participated in the EuChemS workshop “The value is on circularity – Recycling-reusing-reinvesting on critical raw materials”-, summarising the urgency of regulating methane emissions.