The International Energy Agency’s (IEA’s) Global Methane Tracker, released on February 23, shows that emissions from oil, gas and coal are on the rise again, underscoring the need for greater transparency, stronger policies and immediate action.

The new IEA analysis states that global methane emissions from the energy sector are about 70% greater than the amount national governments have officially reported, underlining the urgent need for enhanced monitoring efforts and stronger policy action to drive down greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions.

Methane is responsible for about 30% of the rise in global temperatures since the Industrial Revolution, and quick and sustained emission reductions are key to limiting near-term warming and improving air quality, the IEA states in the report, which explains that methane dissipates faster than carbon dioxide (CO₂) but is a much more powerful GHG during its short lifespan, “meaning that cutting methane emissions would have a rapid effect on limiting global warming”.

The energy sector accounts for about 40% of methane emissions from human activity, and this year’s expanded edition of the IEA’s Global Methane Tracker includes country-by-country emissions from coal mines and bioenergy for the first time, in addition to continued detailed coverage of oil and natural gas operations.

Methane emissions from the energy sector grew by just under 5% last year, still lower than 2019 figures, and slightly lagging in the rise in overall energy use, indicating that some efforts to limit emissions may already be paying off.

“At today’s elevated natural gas prices, nearly all of the methane emissions from oil and gas operations worldwide could be avoided at no net cost,” comments IEA executive director Fatih Birol.

He adds that the IEA “has been a longstanding champion of stronger action to cut methane emissions”, which the IEA believes is dependent on transparency on the size and location of emissions.

This is why the “massive under-reporting” revealed by the Global Methane Tracker is “so alarming”.

Last year, significant emissions were confirmed in Texas, in the US, and parts of Central Asia, with Turkmenistan alone responsible for one-third of large emissions events seen by satellites in 2021.

Satellites have greatly increased the world’s knowledge of emission sources, and the IEA’s Global Methane Tracker incorporates the latest readings from satellites and other science-based measurement campaigns.

While measured data continues to improve, the coverage provided by satellites is still far from complete, the IEA notes that existing satellites do not provide measurements over equatorial regions, offshore operations, or northern areas such as the main Russian oil and gas producing areas.

However, the IEA stresses that uncertainty over emission levels is no reason to delay action on methane.

“Major reductions can be achieved with known technologies and with tried and tested policies that have been proven to work effectively,” the agency says, adding that the Global Methane Tracker includes a new detailed policy explorer that provides examples of effective implementation and shows where these policies could be most impactful.

If all methane leaks from fossil fuel operations in 2021 had been captured and sold, then natural gas markets would have been supplied with an additional 180-billion cubic metres of natural gas – equivalent to all the gas used in Europe’s power sector and more than enough to ease today’s market tightness.

The intensity of methane emissions from fossil fuel operations range widely from country to country, with the best-performing countries and companies being more than 100 times better than the worst.

Global methane emissions from oil and gas operations would fall by more than 90% if all producing countries matched Norway’s emissions intensity, which is the lowest worldwide, the agency comments, pointing to Norway’s commitment under the Global Methane Pledge.

The Global Methane Pledge, launched in November by more than 110 countries at the COP26 Climate Change Conference, in Glasgow, Scotland, marked an important step forward and is led by the European Union and the US.

Pledge participants agreed to reduce methane emissions from human activities – including agriculture, the energy sector and other sources – by 30% by 2030.

However, more major emitters need to join, the IEA notes, stating that, of the five countries with the largest methane emissions from their energy sectors – China, Russia, the US, Iran and India – only the US has signed the pledge.

“The Global Methane Pledge must become a landmark moment in the world’s efforts to drive down emissions,” says Birol, who adds that cutting global methane emissions from human activities by 30% by the end of this decade “would have the same effect on global warming by 2050 as shifting the entire transport sector to net-zero CO₂ emissions”.