France, May 4 -- Officials, industry leaders and experts gathered in Paris at France's invitation on Monday, with the aim of building momentum ahead of the UN's COP31 climate summit in Antalya, Turkey this November.

The meeting comes at a critical moment for methane - the second biggest driver of global warming after carbon dioxide, but far more potent in the short term.

Over a 20-year period, methane traps roughly 80 times more heat than CO2, even though it lingers in the atmosphere for a much shorter time. That makes cutting methane one of the fastest ways to slow warming.

"I sincerely hope that the discussions we will have today will enable us to join our forces to accelerate the implementation of effective solutions to reduce metha...