Why in News?
Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, the President-Designate of COP28, has recently urged the oil and gas industry to eliminate methane emissions by 2030, as Methane have emerged as a critical concern in the fight against climate change, and to align with comprehensive net-zero emission plans by or before 2050.
COP28, or the 28th United Nations Climate Change conference is scheduled to be held between November 30 and December 12 in the UAE.

What is Methane?  
·         Methane is the simplest hydrocarbon, consisting of one carbon atom and four hydrogen atoms (CH4).
·         It is flammable and is used as a fuel worldwide.
·         Methane is powerful greenhouse gas.
·         Methane has more than 80 times the warming power of carbon dioxide over the first 20 years of its lifetime in the atmosphere.
·         It has a shorter lifespan in the atmosphere compared to carbon dioxide.
·         The common sources of methane are oil and natural gas systems, agricultural activities, coal mining, and wastes.

Impact:  
·         More Global Warming Potential:
·         The International Energy Agency (IEA) reports that fossil fuel operations generate over one-third of all methane emissions from human activity.
·         It is nearly 80-85 times more potent than carbon dioxide in terms of its global warming capacity.
·         This makes it a critical target for reducing global warming more quickly while simultaneously working to reduce other greenhouse gases.
·         Methane is responsible for around 30% of the rise in global temperatures since the Industrial Revolution.

Promotes Generation of Tropospheric Ozone:  
Increasing emissions are driving a rise in tropospheric ozone air pollution, which causes more than one million premature deaths annually.
India is a Party to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and its Kyoto Protocol (KP), and the Paris Agreement (PA). 
As a Party to the UNFCCC, India periodically submits its National Communications (NCs) and Biennial Update Reports (BURs) to the UNFCCC which includes national Greenhouse Gas (GHG) inventory containing information on methane emissions. 
As per India’s third Biennial Update Report, India’s methane emissions in 2016 (excluding LULUCF) were 409 million tone CO2e of which, 73.96% was from Agriculture sector, 14.46% from Waste sector, 10.62% from Energy sector and 0.96% was from Industrial Processes and Product Use sector.
Under the Paris Agreement, India has submitted its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), which does not bind it to any sector specific mitigation obligation or action. The goal is to reduce overall emission intensity of its GDP and improve energy efficiency of its economy over time and at the same time protecting the vulnerable sectors of economy and segments of our society. 
However, India remains steadfast in its commitment in framing and implementing its actions to combat climate change. 

The ongoing measures to reduce methane emissions are as follows:  
The National Mission on Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA), implemented by Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, involves climate resilient practices including methane reduction practices in rice cultivation. These practices contribute to substantial reduction of methane emissions.
The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) under National Innovations in Climate Resilient Agriculture (NICRA) project has developed several technologies with mitigation potential for methane from rice viz. 
(a) System for Rice Intensification – The technique has potential to enhance rice yield from 36-49% with about 22-35% less water than conventional transplanted rice; 
(b) Direct Seeded Rice – The system reduces methane emissions as it does not involve raising nurseries, puddling and transplanting. Unlike transplanted paddy cultivation, standing water is not maintained in this system; and 
(c) Crop Diversification Programme – Methane emissions is avoided due to diversion of paddy to alternate crops like pulses, oilseeds, maize, cotton and agro forestry.
Capacity building programmes are conducted through Krishi Vigyan Kendras across the country for creating awareness on climate resilient practices.
The Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying (DAHD) is implementing National Livestock Mission, which inter alia, includes Breed Improvement and Balanced Rationing. Feeding livestock with superior quality balanced ration is helping to reduce methane emissions from the livestock.
Government of India promotes green fodder production, silage making, chaff cutting, and total mixed ration under National Livestock Mission with a view to reduce methane emissions from livestock.
Through initiatives like ‘The Gobar (Galvanizing Organic Bio-Agro Resources) –Dhan’ scheme and New National Biogas and Organic Manure Programme, cattle waste utilisation is being incentivised, in addition to production of clean energy invillages. The Gobardhan scheme, inter alia, supports biodegradable waste recovery and conversion of waste into resources and reduction of methane emissions.

Why India refused to sign the ‘Methane Pledge’:  
Much to the chagrin of the developed world, India has been a tough, unrelenting negotiator at the climate negotiations.
In the 2021 Conference of Parties at Glasgow (COP26), India dug its heels in and got the wording of the text on coal changed from “phase out” to “phase down”.
This nuanced semantic shift may not seem a big change, but those at the negotiations read a lot of meaning in it and the Western media roundly criticised India for “watering down” the agreement on coal.
Similarly, India kept away from the UK-led agreement on deforestation and refused to sign the ‘Global Methane Pledge’, a proposal of the US and the EU to target a 30 per cent reduction in global methane emissions by 2030 over 2020 emission levels.
A few days back, the government gave a detailed explanation to the Parliament why it refused to sign the methane pledge. It said that fundamentally methane emissions are ‘survival’ emissions and not ‘luxury’ emissions, as in the case of the West.
The two predominant sources of methane emissions in India are ‘enteric fermentation’ (methane from the intestines of animals) and paddy cultivation (from standing water). These emissions result from agricultural activities of small, marginal, and medium farmers across India, whose livelihood stands threatened by the aforesaid pledge.
In contrast, agriculture in developed countries is dominated by industrial agriculture. In addition to impacting farmers’ income, this can impact agricultural production, especially that of paddy. India is one of the largest producers and exporters of rice.
Therefore, this pledge also has the potential to affect India’s trade and economic prospects. The government also pointed out that agriculture was not included in the emission intensity target as per India’s pre-2020 voluntary commitments.
As per the 6th Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the predominant gas responsible for climate change is CO2 which has a lifetime of 100-1,000 years.
“This pledge shifts the CO2 reduction burden to methane reduction, which has a lifetime of just 12 years,” the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, said in reply to a Parliament question.
Cattle factor
Furthermore, India has the largest cattle population in the world, which is a source of livelihood for a large section of the population. The contribution of Indian livestock to a global pool of enteric methane is very low, as Indian livestock utilises large volumes of agricultural by-products and unconventional feed material.
Finally, the government has cited a technicality for its refusal to sign the pledge. It noted that while India is a party to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Paris Agreement, the Methane Pledge is outside the ambit of the UNFCCC and its Paris Agreement.

ICAR project  
The government has also stressed that it is not as though India doesn’t care about methane emissions. It pointed to the National Innovations in Climate Resilient Agriculture (NICRA) project of the Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR) which has developed several technologies with the potential to mitigate methane emissions.
For instance, the ‘System for Rice Intensification’ has the potential to enhance rice yield from 36-49 per cent with about 22-35 per cent less water than conventional transplanted rice. Another technology, ‘Direct Seeded Rice’ reduces methane emissions as it does not involve raising nurseries, puddling, and transplanting.
  Unlike transplanted paddy cultivation, standing water is not maintained in this system. And in the Crop Diversification Programme, Methane emissions are avoided due to the diversion of paddy to alternate crops like pulses, oilseeds, maize, cotton, and agro-forestry.