The latest Global Methane Status Report from UNEP and the CCAC shows that while considerable progress has been made since the launch of the Global Methane Pledge in 2021, more work is required to align with the level of action needed to meet the Pledge’s target of a 30% cut from 2020 levels by 2030.

Launched on the sidelines of COP30 in Belém, Brazil, last week, the report provides a comprehensive assessment of progress and remaining gaps in efforts to cut methane – a potent greenhouse gas responsible for nearly a third of current warming, according to UNEP.

The report shows that although methane emissions are still rising, projected 2030 emissions under current legislation are already lower than earlier forecasts due to a mix of national policies, sectoral regulations and market shifts.  

It warns that only ‘full-scale implementation of proven and available control measures’ will close the gap to the Global Methane Pledge’s target.  

Urging ‘decisive methane action’, attendees of the Global Methane Pledge Ministerial meeting at the UN Climate Summit stressed that the policies, technologies and partnerships needed to meet the target ‘are available but require rapid scale-up’. Existing control measures include leak detection and repair programmes, plugging of abandoned wells in the oil and gas sector, water management measures for rice cultivation, or source separation and treatment of organic waste in the agriculture and waste sector. Ministers also called for ‘increased transparency from countries on ambition and action to track progress’.

Over 80% of 2030 emissions reduction potential can be achieved at low cost, according to the report, with measures in the energy sector offering 72% of the overall mitigation potential, followed by waste (18%) and agriculture (10%).

The report suggests that Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and national Methane Action Plans submitted by mid-2025 could translate into an 8% cut in methane emissions by 2030 below 2020 levels. ‘If fully implemented, this would be the largest and most sustained decline in methane emissions in history,’ says UNEP.  

The ‘benefits far outweigh the costs,’ continues UNEP. The report estimates that full implementation of technically feasible reductions globally could prevent over 180,000 premature deaths and 19mn tonnes of crop losses each year by 2030. Furthermore, all ‘fossil fuel mitigation could be deployed at just 2% of the sector’s 2023 income’.

Major economies and better data will be key to success. Some 72% of global methane mitigation potential lies in G20+ countries, where emissions could fall by 36% by 2030 compared to 2020 levels by mitigating methane in agriculture, waste and fossil fuel sectors, according to the report. Stronger measurement, reporting and finance are ‘essential to track progress, target major sources and close the investment gap’, it says.

Inger Andersen, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Director of UNEP, adds: ‘Reducing methane emissions is one of the most immediate and effective steps we can take to slow the climate crisis while protecting human health.’

OGCI launches step-by-step guide to help oil and gas companies reduce methane emissions

Meanwhile, the OGCI has released a Satellite Methane Detection Response Playbook.

Since 2021, OGCI’s Satellite Monitoring Campaign has provided operators in countries such as Iraq, Kazakhstan, Algeria and Egypt with satellite-acquired emissions data, along with technical support and resources to strengthen their detection, verification and mitigation capabilities.

The new Playbook aims to help local operators translate satellite data on methane emissions into operational action. It provides a six-step framework that guides companies from initial satellite notification, through on-the-ground investigation, repair prioritisation and corrective action, post-mitigation validation, response preparation and documentation, and continuous improvement and learning integration.

OGCI member companies developed the toolkit with support from emission data platform provider Aerscape.  

Bjørn Otto Sverdrup, Chair of OGCI’s Executive Committee, comments: ‘Satellite detection delivers results when it triggers fast, disciplined action on the ground. OGCI’s new Playbook gives operators a tried and tested clear, repeatable process to move from notification to verification to abatement. [It] draws on a decade of experience from OGCI member companies and is designed for use across a wide range of operating environments. It will help operators act quickly, document outcomes and reduce emissions quickly and efficiently.’

Over the past decade, OGCI’s 12 member companies have made good progress reducing methane emissions from operated assets to meet their ambition of near zero methane emissions by 2030. As recently reported in New Energy World, since 2017 OGCI’s members have reduced their aggregate upstream operated methane emissions by 63%, and cut routine flaring by 72% since 2018.