May 6, 2021

expert reaction to the Global Methane Report

The Global Methane Report has been published by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

Prof Myles Allen, Professor of Geosystem Science, University of Oxford, said:

“The report’s focus on warming outcomes, rather than the thoroughly misleading notion of ‘CO2-equivalent emissions’, is very welcome. Action on methane is urgently needed, and hampered by this outdated notion of CO2-equivalence (universally used by carbon footprint calculators, governments and the UN) which understates the warming impact of any new methane source (less than 20 years old) by a factor of 4-5, while at the same time overstating the warming impact of a steady methane source by a factor of 3-4. The report’s authors acknowledge this implicitly in their modelling, but are evidently too tactful to highlight it in the executive summary.”

Prof Euan Nisbet, Greenhouse Gas Group, Royal Holloway, said:

“This is an extremely important report that clearly shows the value and practicality of urgently cutting human-influenced methane emissions. The actions it suggests, like cutting gas leaks and landfill emissions, are sensible, cost-effective and economically realistic. If fully implemented, these relatively inexpensive measures will help avoid nearly 0.3C of warming by mid-century,  and will make a major contribution to meeting the Paris Agreement goal of limiting global warming to 1.5C. Moreover, cutting methane emissions will bring many other allied benefits, for example to human health.”

Dr Joeri Rogelj, Director of Research at the Grantham Institute, Imperial College London, said:

“To meet the Paris goals, carbon-dioxide needs to decline to net-zero around mid-century, but has to go hand in hand with deep reductions in methane. This report once again shows that the only sensible way to deal with methane pollution is to keep in mind that it is not only a climate pollutant, but that it is more widely damaging to public health and sustainable development. Not decreasing methane emissions while options to do so are readily available is ethically untenable.

“Methane occupies a special place in the land of climate pollutants. It’s the second most important greenhouse gas, after carbon dioxide; its emissions can be reduced rapidly with readily available measures and this can impact temperature over the next decades; and finally, it not only causes climate damage, but also air pollution that leads to hundreds of thousands of premature deaths and crop harvest losses. Together, this costs the economy billions.”

NEW QUOTE Dr Michelle Cain, Lecturer in Environmental Data Analytics at Cranfield University, said:

“This report focusses on how much impact methane emissions cuts can have on the temperature. This is really important, because cutting methane emissions has rapid consequences for the temperature as it’s a potent greenhouse gas, but short-lived in the atmosphere. This means that we can cut the global warming that methane is responsible for in the coming decades by cutting methane emissions – the modelling in the report shows temperatures 0.28C lower in 2030 when their suggested, currently available, measures are implemented. This is a huge lever, as CO2 emissions will continue driving temperatures upwards until they reach net-zero.

“The report also shows the benefits to health of reducing methane. This climate and health impact is well understood, and the basic picture been known for many years. What is less clear is how to enact these changes in all sectors across the world.

“This report is a helpful basis for policy makers to clearly see the potential of methane reductions as another tool for climate action, in addition to the primary goal of eliminating CO2 emissions.”

Prof Dave Reay, Chair in Carbon Management and Executive Director of the Edinburgh Climate Change Institute, University of Edinburgh, said:

“Seldom in the world of climate change action is there a solution so stuffed with win-wins. This blunt report makes clear that slashing emissions of methane – a powerful but short-lived greenhouse gas – will deliver large and rapid benefits for the climate, air quality, human health, agriculture, and the economy too.

“The prime target is the global production and supply of oil, gas and coal. Through wasteful extraction methods and leaky supply lines these fossil fuels currently carry with them a hefty hidden climate penalty, even before they are burned. By capturing methane from oil wells and coal mines, and plugging all those leaks, a major driver of climate change is cut down to size while simultaneously creating new green jobs and improving air quality for us all.

“Meeting the Paris Climate Goals will need every climate action trick in the book. Cutting methane emissions should be on page 1.”

Prof Grant Allen, Professor of Atmospheric Physics, University of Manchester, said:

“Cutting human sources of methane is a clear quick-win for climate. It is the second-most important greenhouse gas (after carbon dioxide) in terms of warming. Methane has a lifetime in the atmosphere of around 10 years, compared with ~100 years for nitrous oxide and ~1000 for carbon dioxide.  This means that any reduction in methane emissions we can make now can have big  impacts on slowing the rate of global warming very quickly as methane decays quickly in the atmosphere.

“This UN report identifies available measures that could be implemented quickly (by 2030) to reduce methane emissions by 45% compared with today. Many of these measures are easy to implement right away, such as better controlling unnecessary leaks of methane from the oil and gas industry. Others may require rapid policy action and changes in how we use energy from natural gas. The report shows that if we can take global action to achieve such a reduction, we could avoid up to 0.3C of warming by the 2040s.

“To be clear, this does not mean that cutting methane emissions alone can solve the warming problem; we must also continue to reduce CO2 emissions to meet Paris Agreement targets and avoid dangerous warming. But it does mean that we can help to quickly slow the rate of global temperature increase and avoid some significant degree of warming in the near future. But achieving this will require global action.”

Declared interests

Prof Dave Reay: “No interests to declare.”

Prof Grant Allen: “holds funding from UNEP (CCAC) to quantify methane emissions from offshore oil and gas facilities and holds UKRO funding to study the global methane budget.”

None others received