New report titled “The Imperative of Cutting Methane from Fossil Fuels” released jointly by the International Energy Agency, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the UNEP-convened Climate and Clean Air Coalition, emphasizes the significance of targeted methane mitigation to combat global warming.
Key Findings from the Report
Methane Emissions and Global Warming
- Mitigating methane emissions is essential to limit global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.
- Methane is a highly potent greenhouse gas responsible for about 30% of global warming since the Industrial Revolution.
- These efforts could prevent approximately 0.1°C of warming by 2050.
Current Methane Emission Scenario
- Globally, approximately 580 million tonnes of methane are emitted annually.
- Human activities contribute to 60% of these emissions.
- Fossil fuel operations alone were responsible for about 120 million tonnes of methane emissions in 2022.
- Under current trajectories, total anthropogenic methane emissions could rise by up to 13% between 2020 and 2030.
Need for Targeted Methane Mitigation
- Even with deep cuts in fossil fuel use, not addressing methane could lead to global temperatures exceeding 1.6°C by 2050.
- Targeted methane mitigation measures are imperative and should complement decarbonization efforts.
- Existing technologies can help avoid over 80 million tonnes of annual methane emissions from fossil fuels by 2030.
- These solutions are estimated to be cost-effective, often at low or even negative cost.
- Around USD 75 billion is required by 2030 for all methane reduction measures in the oil and gas sector in the Net Zero scenario.
- Actions such as eliminating routine venting and flaring and repairing leaks are a must to reducing methane emissions from the energy sector and for this, the organisations called for appropriate regulatory frameworks.
- Most measures can and should be financed by the industry itself, but a number of low- and middle-income countries may face barriers to accessing capital for some interventions, which may not be implemented without concessional financing.
Economic and Health Benefits
- Methane is the primary reason for ground-level ozone pollution and mitigation efforts will help prevent “nearly one million premature deaths through 2050, which is equivalent to the current population of Amsterdam, Netherlands”.
- Achieving methane reduction targets will result in the prevention of 95 million tonnes of crop losses for wheat, rice, soy and maize (corn).
- These savings are equivalent to roughly 60% of the volume of wheat, rice, soy and maize produced in Africa in 2021.
- Avoiding such losses of crops, labour and forestry will “provide direct economic benefits valued at more than USD 260 billion between 2020 and 2050”.