A Steering Leadership meeting of Global Methane Initiative (GMI) was held virtually in which V.K. Tiwari, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Coal, as the Vice Chairman of the global initiative informed the participants about the work being carried out by India to mitigate the emission of methane. The emission of methane is a big concern as it is a greenhouse gas having 25-28 times harmful effects than carbon dioxide.
Global Methane Initiative (GMI) is a voluntary government and an informal international partnership with members from 45 countries, including the United States and Canada. The forum has been created to achieve a global reduction in anthropogenic methane emission through a partnership among developed and developing countries having economies in transition.
The Global Methane Initiative forum was created in 2004. It is an international public-private initiative that advances cost-effective, near-term methane abatement and recovery and use of methane as a clean energy source in three sectors: biogas (including agriculture, municipal solid waste and wastewater), coal mines, and oil and gas systems. Focusing collective efforts on methane emission sources is a cost-effective approach to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and increase energy security, enhance economic growth, improve air quality and improve worker safety.
India (https://www.globalmethane.org/partners/detail.aspx?c=india) is one of the GMI members since its inception and has taken up Vice-Chairmanship for the first time in the Steering Leadership along with the USA. The Chairperson of the Steering Leadership is from Canada. In the recent meeting, several decisions, including holding the next round of meetings in near future were taken.