Methane Global Tracker Report 2023

Methane Global Tracker Report 2023

News: The International Energy Agency (IEA) released the annual Methane Global Tracker report in 2023.

Key Findings:
 The energy sector accounts for around 40% of the total average methane emissions from human activity.
 Oil and natural gas companies are known to release methane into the atmosphere when natural gas is flared or vented.
 It is also released through leaks from valves and other equipment during the drilling, extraction and transportation process.
 Fossil fuel companies emitted 120 million metric tonnes of methane into the atmosphere in 2022 and have done nothing to find and fix leaking infrastructure.

Key Recommendations:
 Methane cuts (by 75%) from the energy sector are among the cheapest options to limit near-term global warming (lower global temperature rise by nearly 0.1 degree Celsius by mid-century).
 Reducing wastage by measures such as leak detection, repair and upgrading leaky equipment would cost less than 3% of the net income received by the oil and gas industry in 2022.
 Methane emissions can be reduced with the help of the right policies and implementation and cheap and readily available technology.

Why is it important to cut methane emissions?
 A greenhouse gas (GHG) responsible for 30% of the warming since preindustrial times, second only to carbon dioxide (CO2).
 Unlike carbon dioxide, which can survive in the atmosphere for centuries, methane lingers for only around 12 years, but its heat-trapping potential is about 80 times higher than that of carbon dioxide over a 20-year timespan. Methane can also further break down into carbon dioxide when it combines with other atmospheric gases such as oxygen.
 IPCC says that the world must cut methane emissions by at least 30% by 2030.

What efforts have been made globally to contain methane emissions?
 Global Methane Pledge
 Methane Alert and Response System (MARS) was launched at the COP27 to the UNFCCC in Sharm ElSheikh, Egypt.
 UNEP’s International Methane Emissions Observatory (IMEO) strategy – To get policy-relevant data into the right hands for emissions mitigation.