Leaders vow to protect forests, plug methane leaks at COP26

By FRANK JORDANS and JILL LAWLESS
Associated Press

GLASGOW, Scotland (AP) — World leaders are promising to protect Earth’s forests, cut methane emissions and help South Africa wean itself off coal at the U.N. climate summit. The flurry of deals announced Tuesday are intended to avert catastrophic global warming. Britain hailed the commitment by more than 100 countries to end deforestation in the coming decade as the first big achievement of the conference known as COP26. But experts noted such promises have been made and broken before. The U.K. government said it has received pledges from leaders representing more than 85% of the world’s forests to halt and reverse deforestation by 2030. Meanwhile, the U.S. launched a plan to reduce methane emissions, a potent greenhouse gas that contributes significantly to global warming.