Dr Rebecca Fisher and Dr James France from the Greenhouse Gas Research Group in Earth Sciences were pleased to be invited to a climate reception hosted by King Charles to highlight solutions for the rapid reduction of methane and non-carbon dioxide pollutants, which took place at St James’s Palace, London on Wednesday 24th June.

Dr Rebecca Fisher and Dr James France from the Greenhouse Gas Research Group in Earth Sciences

The event was organised by the UK government and included speeches from Ed Miliband MP, (Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero) and António Guterres (United Nations Secretary-General).

The message from António Guterres was clear:
 "Methane is the super Super-pollutant: invisible, odourless, and driving nearly a third of today’s global warming. But unlike carbon dioxide, it breaks down in a decade or two. So cutting methane is the single fastest brake we can pull on a warming planet."

The reception brought together around 250 leaders from government, business, finance, philanthropy, academia and civil society around a shared message: tackling methane and other super pollutants is one of the fastest and most effective ways to slow near-term warming, while also strengthening economies, improving public health and protecting food systems. Action on methane and other super pollutants could avoid up to 0.6°C of warming by 2050 while delivering immediate benefits for people and communities around the world.

Dr Rebecca Fisher commented, “We had some very fruitful discussions with the other attendees about how to best reduce methane emissions, sharing our research findings.”

For more than 30 years, the Greenhouse Gas Research Group at Royal Holloway has been at the forefront of climate science, investigating the sources of methane emissions and working towards reducing their impact on global temperatures.

Find out more about the work of the Greenhouse Gas Research Group in Earth Sciences here: