Climate Change Adaptation through Reducing Methane Emissions

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Climate & Clean Air Coalition report say that slashing methane emissions is an important step in slowing global warming.

According to the ‘Global Methane Assessment, Benefits and Costs of Mitigating Methane Emissions’ report:

“Reducing human-caused methane emissions is one of the most cost-effective strategies to rapidly reduce the rate of warming and contribute significantly to global efforts to limit temperature rise to 1.5°C. Available targeted methane measures, together with additional measures that contribute to priority development goals, can simultaneously reduce human-caused methane emissions by as much as 45 per cent, or 180 million tonnes a year (Mt/yr) by 2030. This will avoid nearly 0.3°C of global warming by the 2040s and complement all long-term climate change mitigation efforts.  It would also, each year, prevent 255,000 premature deaths, 775,000 asthma-related hospital visits, 73 billion hours of lost labour from extreme heat, and 26 million tonnes of crop losses globally.”

The report shows the opportunities available to reduce methane, how to do it, and why acting now matters.

According to the report, the atmospheric concentration of methane is increasing rapidly compared to the 1980s, and half of it comes from human activities such as fossil fuels, waste management, and agricultural practices. 

Compared with carbon dioxide, methane stays relatively short in the atmosphere at about 12 years; however, it is ten times more potent at warming the atmosphere than CO2.

Prof Drew Shindell, at Duke University, who led the UN report, said, “We’re seeing so many aspects of climate change manifest themselves in the real world faster than our projections, such as increasing heatwaves, wildfires, droughts and intense storms. We don’t have much to do about that, other than this powerful lever on near-term climate of reducing methane. We should do this for the well-being of everybody on the planet over the next 20 to 30 years. It’s vital to reduce methane for the sake of near-term climate change. But it’s also vital to reduce CO2 for the sake of long-term climate change. The good news is that most of the required actions [to cut methane] also bring health and financial benefits” (Carrington, 2021).

The report finds that 42% of methane emissions are from agriculture, mainly cattle burps, manure, and paddy fields. Whether intentional or unintentional, methane leaks from fossil drilling sites, coal mines, and pipes also contribute to 36% and 18% of landfill sites.  

The report highlights the good news that rapid and meaningful GHG reduction is possible through existing technologies and is very cost-effective. In addition to saving money, cutting methane emissions could protect human health and crop yields. Methane causes the formation of ground-level ozone, a harmful pollutant to the human body, and suppresses plants, forests, and crop growth and yields.

The fossil fuel sector presents the most significant potential for methane reductions at 60%, followed by the waste sector at 35%, and the agriculture sector at 25%. 

Plugging leaks in the oil and gas production and transmission can significantly reduce methane emissions at a minimal cost.

It warns that the expansion of natural gas will be detrimental to achieving the 1.5°C warming limit without the “massive-scale deployment of unproven carbon removal technologies.” The waste sector could reduce emissions through better sewer and waste treatment and disposal globally.  

Improved management of rice paddies can slash emissions, but decreasing the largest methane emitters—livestock—is much harder.

Other measures that do not specifically target methane can also help reduce methane emissions. The report says these include reducing demand for fossil fuels by increasing renewable energy and energy efficiency, reducing food waste and loss, improving livestock management, and adopting a lower meat and dairy diet.

To read the entire report, click the link below: