Mohamed A. Sultan

And I've joined the Global Methane Hub, and it's become abundantly clear that effective climate progress also requires methane action.

And that is because methane is such a powerful greenhouse gas.

It has contributed up to 45 percent of the net warming that we're experiencing today.

That's because it is 86 times more powerful at trapping heat than carbon dioxide is over 20 years.

And all of you and myself, we know that we've got to do so many things simultaneously to address this question of both climate and development.

And long-term decarbonization is one of the primary goals.

But methane offers us an additional opportunity.

If we're able to come together and reduce methane emissions by 50 percent over the next 20 years, it allows us the opportunity to lower the rate of global warming by 0.3 degrees Celsius.

That may not sound like much, but it is a lifeline.

It is also one of the most effective ways that we know of to reduce short-term, climate-induced vulnerability.

and that is important all over the globe, obviously, but it is critically important for this continent that's disproportionately affected by the effects of climate change.

We lose up to five percent of our yearly economic output to adverse climate events.

The costs of adapting societies, our societies and our economies, to changing climate are skyrocketing.

upwards of 50 billion dollars.

So this idea of addressing short-term vulnerability, it's not a nice-to-have.

It's an imperative as we build towards long-term resilience.

And look, 60 percent of these vulnerability-inducing emissions come from sectors that have traditionally been associated with economic progress.

fossil fuel energy, waste management and sanitation, as well as agriculture, rice production and livestock.

Some regions are emitting a lot more than others and need to do a lot more and a lot faster to address their own emissions if we're going to meet our collective objectives.

Africa has a lower footprint than many other regions.