France's Environment Minister Monique Barbut delivers a speech during a meeting focused on reducing methane emissions as part of France's G7 presidency, at the Maison de la Chimie in Paris, on May 4, 2026. STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN / AFP
G7 chair France pushed for faster global action to reduce methane emissions at a conference in Paris, on Monday, May 4, as the International Energy Agency said discharges from the fossil fuel sector remained near record levels.
Methane, the second biggest contributor to climate change, stays in the atmosphere far less longer than CO2, but its warming effect is roughly 80 times more potent over a 20-year period.
Using its role as rotating president of the Group of Seven industrialised powers, France convened government officials, industry leaders and experts to build momentum ahead of the UN's COP31 climate summit in November.
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