Mottley urges global methane action, calls youth to lead climate fight

Prime Minister Mia Mottley has called for the formation of a global coalition to cut methane emissions by 2040 and has challenged Barbadian youth to take the lead in the fight against climate change.

Speaking at the launch of the Green Rising in Barbados initiative on Friday, Mottley warned that waning international resolve threatens the planet’s future and said decisive action on methane could make a critical difference.

She revealed that she had already raised the proposal for a global methane coalition directly with Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and France’s President Emmanuel Macron ahead of the COP30 summit.

The prime minister identified landfills, livestock farming and gas flaring as major methane sources and argued that addressing them could yield both environmental and economic benefits.

“If you fix the pipes, you earn more money. If you stop flaring the gas, you can monetise it,” she said. “It’s a win-win for those in the oil and gas industry and for those of us trying to save the planet.”

Mottley described methane as one of the most urgent climate threats, noting that while it is up to 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide, it remains in the atmosphere for only about 12 years.

“So the moment you stop the production of methane, you begin to give the Earth and its lungs space again,” she said.

She said scientists have confirmed that reducing methane could lead to a drop in global temperatures by 0.3 to 0.5 degrees Celsius, a crucial step for vulnerable nations striving to remain within the 1.5-degree warming limit.

“For us, that is gold,” the prime minister said.

Despite the urgency, Mottley cautioned that global commitment is faltering, with some leaders placing profit ahead of the planet.

“There are those who are no longer willing to walk the walk. They believe there is space to jump off the ship and become singularly focused on profit over people and planet,” she said.

She also criticised growing pressure on small developing nations to forgo natural resources without sufficient financial support, calling it both unfair and unsustainable.

“You’re asking countries that haven’t even got off the ground to give up the very means of funding their development,” she said. “That’s not justice.”

Mottley urged young Barbadians to embrace leadership in the climate fight, warning that failing to prepare the next generation would come at a heavy cost.

“Unless we prepare our children, unless we get them to understand what is at stake, we will not win the battle to save this planet,” she said. “I want the children here to embrace this as a major part of the Green Rising movement locally and internationally, and I ask those in Barbados to lead it with me.” (SM)