PARIS: Climate talks often revolve around reducing the most dangerous greenhouse gas, CO2.
But another strong heat-trapping emission – methane – will be sought at a global forum in Geneva this week.
Methane – which is potent but relatively short-lived – is a key target for countries looking to rapidly reduce emissions and slow climate change.
This is mainly because large amounts of methane simply escape into the atmosphere from oil and gas projects.
Methane emissions from the fossil fuel industry have been rising for three years in a row, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA), and will reach near-record levels in 2023.
Atmospheric methane (CH4) is abundant in nature and is the primary component of gaseous fuel.
It is the second largest contributor to climate change, accounting for roughly 30 percent of global warming since pre-industrial levels, according to UN climate experts.
Methane only stays in the atmosphere for about 10 years, but it has a much stronger warming effect than CO2.
Its warming effect is 28 times that of CO2 in 100 years (and 80 times in 20 years).
The exact amount of methane released into the atmosphere remains subject to “considerable uncertainty”, according to the IEA, despite advances in monitoring emissions using satellites.
And scientists are puzzled by the steady increase in methane in the atmosphere, concentrations of which are now more than two and a half times higher than pre-industrial levels.
Most methane emissions – about 60 percent – are linked to human activity, the IEA says, and the rest comes from natural sources, particularly wetlands.
The biggest culprit is agriculture, which is responsible for about a quarter of this pollution.
Most comes from livestock — cows and sheep release methane during digestion and in their manure — and rice farming, where flooded fields create ideal conditions for methane-emitting bacteria.
The energy sector – coal, oil and gas – is the second largest source of anthropogenic methane, which leaks from pipelines and other energy infrastructure or is intentionally released during maintenance.
A study published in the journal Nature in March found that oil and gas projects in six major producing regions of the United States emitted three times more methane than the government estimated — a loss worth $1 billion.
Discarded household waste also creates large amounts of methane as it decomposes if left to rot in landfills.
The IEA estimates that rapid reductions in methane emissions from the fossil fuel sector could prevent warming of up to 0.1 degrees Celsius by mid-century.
That might sound modest, but such a reduction would have a bigger impact than “immediately removing all the cars and trucks in the world from the road,” the agency said.
IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol called it “one of the best and most affordable” options for reducing global warming.
This could be achieved by repairing leaky infrastructure and eliminating routine flaring and venting during pipeline maintenance.
This month, the IEA said the fossil fuel industry could avoid about 40 percent of its methane emissions at no net cost.
“Leakage is too high in many areas where natural gas is produced, but some countries, notably Norway, have shown that it is possible to extract and supply natural gas with minimal levels of leakage,” said Energy Program Director William Gillett of the European Academies Science. AFP was told by the advisory council (EASAC).
In the case of agriculture, it is possible to modify the diet of animals, for example by adding a compound to improve their health and the health of the planet.
For rice paddies, changes in water management are the “most promising” way to reduce emissions, says a report by the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization.
A joint EU-US “Global Methane Ledge” was launched in 2021, aiming to reduce global methane emissions by 30 percent by 2030 compared to 2020 levels.
Since then, about 150 countries have signed up, but not the big emitters China, India and Russia.
“It will be essential to slow down climate change that the most important players who have not yet joined will get involved,” Gillett said.
The United States and China have announced they will include methane in their climate action plans, and Beijing has unveiled a plan to control its emissions — albeit without a quantified target.
However, voluntary initiatives lack strict measures to hold companies and countries accountable.
