Steep methane emission cuts are needed this decade to stem global warming, report says

Methane is a very powerful greenhouse gas, and it now makes up nearly one-fifth of worldwide greenhouse gas emissions, notes a new report by the United Nations Environment Programme and the Climate and Clean Air Coalition. But if human-caused methane emissions can be reduced by up to 45% this decade, the world would stay within reach of the Paris Agreement’s goal to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 °C, the report says. Most human-caused methane emissions come from three sectors: agriculture, fossil fuels, and waste, according to the report. The big hitters are livestock digestion and manure, which account for 32% of global emissions; oil and gas extraction, processing, and distribution, 23%; landfills and waste treatment, 20%; and coal mining, 12%. The most cost-effective, direct, and quick means to reduce methane emissions is to focus on controlling leaks from oil and natural gas operations, the report emphasizes. Doing so would simultaneously help control global warming and make better use of a valuable natural resource that is also a feedstock for the chemical industry.