Climate Summit 2026: High-Level Solutions Dialogue on Methane

About the Event Context The United Nations Secretary-General will convene a High-Level Meeting on Climate Action and the Just Transition during the High-Level Week of the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York. The Meeting will focus on the leadership, implementation and international cooperation needed to accelerate delivery across the three pillars of the Paris Agreement. It will include a series of multi-stakeholder Solutions Dialogues, bringing together governments, international organizations and financial institutions, business, investors, subnational actors, civil society and the UN System to identify practical partnerships and solutions to help accelerate implementation across critical sectors and priorities. In this context, a High-Level Solutions Dialogue on Methane is being convened by UN Environment Programme, Bloomberg Philanthropies and the UN Secretary General’s Climate Action Team, building on last year’s dialogue and subsequent developments in this area. As the world is entering an era of temporary 1.5°C overshoot, it is essential that urgent action is taken to limit its peak and duration and bring temperatures back down as soon as possible. Against this backdrop, cutting methane emissions stands out as one of the fastest and most effective opportunities to slow near-term warming while delivering immediate benefits for public health, energy security and sustainable development. Recent evidence has strengthened the case for action, showing that methane reductions can generate rapid climate and socio-economic gains at comparatively low cost. Recognizing both the urgency and the opportunity, in June of this year, the United Nations Secretary-General has called for accelerated methane action across the three largest emitting sectors: fossil fuels, waste and agriculture. His agenda highlights a clear path forward: stronger policies, greater transparency, better data and increased investment to unlock methane reductions at scale. Central to this vision is the prospect of achieving near-zero methane emissions from the oil and gas sector, the single largest cost-effective opportunity for immediate methane reductions. Proven technologies and operational practices already exist to drastically reduce emissions, eliminate waste and deliver significant benefits. As the UN's leading environmental authority, UNEP has been tasked with spearheading this agenda by mobilizing science, partnerships and implementation support to accelerate global methane action. This high-level dialogue will bring together leaders across the methane community to advance ambition and action in the three priority sectors identified in the Secretary-General's Call to Action – fossil fuels, waste and agriculture – with a focus on the transformative opportunity to achieve near-zero methane emissions from the oil and gas sector through strengthened policy, transparency and markets.