Methane emissions to rise by 5-13% till 2030: Report

Published
26th Nov, 2022

Context

The latest Global Methane Assessment: 2030 Baseline Report, launched at the Climate and Clean Air Ministerial Meeting at COP27, highlighted that the Methane emissions is going to rise by 5-13% till 2030.

Key highlights of the Report:

There is an estimated increase of 20-50 million tonnes of methane per year above current levels.
This greenhouse gas is responsible for nearly 45 per cent of current net warming.
The report evaluated the baseline (a scenario of what would happen without efforts) such as the Global Methane Pledge.

The Global Methane Pledge was announced last year at CoP26. The goal is to slash global methane emissions by at least 30 per cent from 2020 levels by 2030. Achieving the pledge could eliminate over 0.2 degree Celsius of warming from 2040-2070.

At CoP27, 150 nations joined the pledge, where India and China have not made the commitment yet.

Methane levels in the atmosphere in 2021 reached a record high of 1908 parts per billion. This is 262 per cent of the preindustrial era levels, according to the World Meteorological Organization.
Major sources of methane: Agriculture, human activity, fossil fuels, solid waste and wastewater

At CoP27, UN launched the Methane Alert and Response System (MARS) to track methane emissions. It will go live in January 2023.

It is a part of global efforts to slow climate change by tackling global warming gas.
It will use state-of-the-art satellite data to identify significant emission events, notify relevant stakeholders, and support and track mitigation progress.

Steps taken to Curb Methane Emissions:

COP 26 Pledges: At COP26 in Glasgow, over 100 countries signed an agreement to cut methane emissions by 30% by 2030.
MethaneSAT:Controlling methane emissions will require further scrutiny of its sources. To this end, satellites that will track methane leakage such as MethaneSAT have been planned to launch.
The International Energy Forum (IEF) launched the IEF Methane Initiative in June 2021to develop a methane emissions measurement methodology.