Obama and Justin Trudeau of Canada disclose efforts to combat climate change

Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada, met with President Obama on Thursday for the first official visit by a Canadian leader in 19 years, a large diplomatic honor possible in part by new promises of cooperation in the fight against climate change .

Mr. Obama and Mr. Trudeau announced Thursday morning new planet commitments to reduce emissions of global methane, a chemical contained in natural gas, which is about 25 times more potent than carbon dioxide and that may leak from the drilling of wells and pipelines.

In a joint statement, the leaders pledged that their two countries "play a leading role internationally in the global low carbon economy in the coming decades." As part of the announcement, officials of the United States said they would immediately begin a new attempt to regulate emissions of methane from existing systems for oil and gas installations, although complete that process before the end of the term of Mr. Obama's unlikely.

"Methane is 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide in global warming," said Gina McCarthy, the administrator of the Agency for Environmental Protection. "It has become clear that it is time for the EPA to take additional measures to regulate existing sources in oil and gas."

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