The Benefits of Reducing Methane Emissions

The Briefing

• Almost half of net global warming comes from methane emissions—but only 2% of all climate financing goes towards its reduction.
• By 2030, 45% of anthropogenic methane emissions can be reduced with available, targeted solutions combined with additional measures that are aligned with development goals.

The Benefits of Reducing Methane Emissions

Methane is highly potent, capturing 84 times more heat than CO₂ in its first 20 years in the atmosphere.

In spite of these dangers, methane abatement receives a fraction of all climate financing. Based on an analysis from the Climate Policy Initiative, $110 billion in funding is needed annually, or about tenfold the amount spent today.

This infographic sponsored by Carbon Streaming Corporation looks at the benefits of mitigating methane emissions across key sectors.

The Benefits of Reducing Methane Emissions

The risk of methane emissions is substantial: it has contributed to nearly half of net global warming.

The good news is that future emissions can be cut significantly. Methane solutions that are currently available, combined with additional measures that target priority development goals, can cut 45% of human-caused methane emissions by 2030, equivalent to about 180 million tonnes per year (Mt/yr).

This translates into 0.28°C in avoided warming between 2040 and 2070 along with 255,000 premature deaths being avoided due to rising ozone concentrations.

Source: UN Environment Programme

On top of this, 26 million tonnes of crop losses could be avoided each year—equal to about 10% of America’s total food production annually—by utilizing these combined reduction measures.

Methane Mitigation Potential by Sector

As a noxious greenhouse gas, methane is often found in livestock emissions, landfills, and natural gas. For these reasons, the agricultural, waste, and fossil fuel sectors produce the most methane emissions annually.

Where do the largest opportunities lie in mitigating emissions?

Waste

The waste sector presents an opportunity to reduce 29-36 million tonnes of methane emissions annually. The vast majority—80% of landfill emissions and 70% of wastewater methane emissions—can potentially be mitigated by 2030 with technologies that are technically feasible today.

Agriculture

By 2030, 30 million tonnes of methane emissions have the potential to be removed each year in the agricultural sector. In fact, 30% of livestock emissions can be potentially eliminated in a technically feasible way over this time period.

Fossil Fuels

The highest potential is found in fossil fuels, with up to 57 million tonnes of methane emissions from the oil and gas sector and up to 25 million tonnes from the coal sector having the potential to be mitigated each year by 2030. Research shows that up to 80% of targeted measures in the oil and gas sector and up to 98% of coal measures could be implemented at negative or low cost.

In particular, methane leak detection and repair in the oil and gas industry represent a significant opportunity. For instance, between 2019 and 2021, over 2,400 large methane leaks took place.

Significant Potential

Today, technologies to fight methane emissions are readily available, with the potential for immediate benefits.

Consider how 0.1°C in warming could be prevented by 2050 using methane abatement technologies in the oil and gas sector. This is equivalent to eliminating the entire emissions of road vehicles—from cars to two-wheelers—globally.

Given the grave threat methane emissions pose to the planet and society, methane abatement solutions present significant opportunities using current technologies.

Carbon Streaming supports mitigating methane emissions with its carbon credit streams on projects in Canada and India.

Where does this data come from?

Source: UN Environment Programme, ‘Global Methane Assessment: Benefits and Costs of Mitigating Methane Emissions’ (May 2021)