According to the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), only around 12% of alerts from its methane tracking system have led to action.
Methane is a highly potent greenhouse gas, with 80 times the warming potential of carbon dioxide over a 20-year period. Cutting emissions is considered one of the fastest and most cost-effective ways to slow global warming in the near term.
UNEP launched its Methane Alert and Response System (MARS) in 2022 to identify unintentional leaks from the oil and gas industries. The system uses satellites to track emissions that are invisible and odourless, providing free, verified data to governments and companies so they can act quickly.
The latest UNEP International Methane Observatory report shows that the rate of response to alerts has risen from 1% last year to 12% this year. However, the agency stressed that much stronger action is needed to meet the global target of cutting methane emissions by a third by 2030.
“Reducing methane emissions can quickly bend the curve on global warming, buying more time for long-term decarbonisation efforts,” said Inger Andersen, Executive Director of UNEP. “But the important progress on reporting must translate into cuts to emissions.”
Andersen called on oil and gas producers to join the Oil and Gas Methane Partnership 2.0, the leading global standard for tracking and reducing emissions in the sector. The initiative underpins regulations in major markets such as the European Union.
UNEP is now expanding the MARS system to cover methane leaks from coal mines and waste sites, and increasing efforts to monitor emissions from the steel industry, which still depends heavily on coal.
The report notes that affordable solutions to tackle methane emissions in steel production already exis,t but are often overlooked in decarbonisation strategies.
–UN/ChannelAfrica–
