As the 30th Conference of the Parties (COP30) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change convenes in Belém, Brazil, much of the global discourse is expected to orbit around deforestation, Amazon conservation, and carbon dioxide emissions. Yet, methane (CH4), a greenhouse gas far more potent than CO2 in the short term, lurks in the background, exerting outsized influence on the climate. Over a 20-year horizon, methane’s global warming potential is roughly 80 times that of CO2, making it one of the strongest climate forcers. Unlike CO2, which accumulates and lingers in the atmosphere for centuries, methane breaks down more quickly, but its immediate warming effect gives it a powerful role in near-term climate mitigation.
This immediacy has elevated methane on the international stage. The Global Methane Pledge, adopted by 159 countries and the European Union, aims to reduce global methane emissions by 30 per cent by 2030 (relative to 2020 levels). However, despite the growing global momentum, the latest Global Methane Status Report—launched at COP30 by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Climate and Clean Air Coalition—warns that the current pace of action is insufficient. For India, a major methane emitter in its own right, this represents a critical moment: is the country ready to grapple fully with its methane challenge, or will it remain muted in a debate that is rapidly gaining diplomatic and scientific urgency?
India’s methane emissions profile is large, varied, and deeply linked to its agrarian economy. According to the UN’s 2025 Global Methane Status Report, India emitted approximately 31 million tonnes of methane in 2020, making up about 9 per cent of global methane emissions. The report further underscores that agricultural activities, specifically livestock, rice cultivation, and crop-residue burning, account for a substantial portion of this burden, contributing to nearly 12 per cent of global agricultural methane emissions.
Within agriculture, livestock methane is particularly significant. Research published in Aerosol and Air Quality Research estimates that India’s livestock sector emits 12.74 teragrams (Tg) of methane annually, comprising 11.63 Tg from enteric fermentation and 1.11 Tg from manure management. These emissions are not evenly distributed: district-level analysis suggests that roughly 100 out of India’s 721 districts account for nearly 40 per cent of the total livestock methane, pointing to clear geographical hotspots.
Rice cultivation adds another major dimension. Wet paddy fields, especially under continuously flooded conditions, are known methane emitters, and India’s extensive rice-growing regions make this a nontrivial source. Moreover, crop-residue burning, particularly of stubble, has emerged as a worrying methane hotspot. According to UNEP, India is now among the global centres of methane emissions from residue burning—a “win-win” target for both climate mitigation and air-quality improvement.
Yet, despite the scale of the problem, India’s response remains muted and fragmented. The UN status report explicitly notes that India lacks a dedicated policy framework to curb methane from agriculture, even though this is its single-largest source. Its nationally determined contributions (NDCs), in fact, make no specific mention of methane reduction measures in agriculture, underscoring a deep policy disconnect.
COP30 may very well be a turning point for methane diplomacy, and for India’s climate strategy. The first Global Methane Status Report, unveiled during COP30’s Global Methane Pledge Ministerial, provides both a sobering diagnosis and a call to action. While some progress has been made since 2021, the report warns that without serious scaling of mitigation efforts across agriculture, energy, and waste sectors, the world will miss the pledge’s 2030 target. Agriculture, in particular, is singled out as one of the most challenging sectors due to its inherent links with food systems, livelihoods, and rural economies.
For India, this moment carries both risk and opportunity. Diplomatic risk arises because being outside core methane commitments could weaken India’s climate bargaining position. If global finance and technology flows increasingly target methane mitigation, India could be seen as reluctant or unprepared. On the other hand, this can be shaped as a moment of leadership. India can champion a development-first methane strategy—one that aligns agricultural methane reduction with rural welfare, health, and energy access. Given that its methane emissions are deeply rooted in smallholder dairying, paddy farming, and rural residue burning, India is uniquely positioned to argue for a differentiated, justice-centred plan at COP30.
Confronting India’s methane blind spot requires a bold, coherent strategy—one that integrates data, rural equity, and global diplomacy. A starting point must be strengthening methane emission inventories and monitoring systems. India needs a robust Measurement, Reporting and Verification (MRV) architecture that uses satellite observation, ground-based measurements, and district-level hotspot mapping to identify how, where, and by how much methane is being emitted. Better data would enable more targeted domestic policy and make India’s global pledges more credible.
On the mitigation front, aligning methane action with rural development is not just possible—it’s strategic. Techniques such as Alternate Wetting and Drying (AWD) for rice fields can dramatically lower methane emissions while conserving water, thus benefiting water-stressed farmers without asking them to sacrifice productivity. Similarly, the dairy sector offers vast, untapped potential: studies suggest that improving fodder quality, adopting ration-balancing, and even using feed additives could reduce enteric methane emissions by as much as 30 per cent while enhancing milk yields.
Crop-residue burning also offers dual benefits. Investing in decentralised biogas or compressed biogas (CBG) infrastructure could turn waste into clean energy, reduce open field burning, and trap methane for productive use. Several Indian states have already experimented with such models and scaling them could align climate action with rural economic opportunity.
To drive these changes, India must leverage COP30 as a diplomatic platform. By building a coalition of agricultural methane emitters, especially in the Global South, India can push for climate finance instruments that support mitigation rooted in livelihoods. It can demand grants, low-interest financing, and technology transfer for biogas adoption, feed innovation, and water management—designed to lift rural incomes while cutting emissions. Crucially, India should integrate methane mitigation into its NDC, clearly articulating sectoral targets and strategies.
Failing to act on methane is more than a scientific oversight; it is a strategic gamble. Without a national methane roadmap, India risks being sidelined as global climate policy increasingly formalises around methane. Funding opportunities, technology partnerships, and diplomatic alliances may flow elsewhere if India is perceived as non-committal. Such isolation could weaken India's broader climate credibility.
Domestically, the costs are equally serious. Smallholder farmers, pastoralists, and rice-growing communities stand to lose if mitigation policies arrive without meaningful support. If interventions don’t consider their livelihoods, climate action could become yet another burden on the most vulnerable. Moreover, by ignoring methane, a gas that accelerates warming faster than CO2, India may undermine its own climate ambitions and lose out on some of the most immediate gains available to slow warming.
Methane may not dominate headlines the way deforestation or carbon dioxide do, but in the race to avert catastrophic warming, it is one of the most effective levers. COP30 offers India a singular opportunity to address its methane blind spot, not just as an environmental issue but as a foundational strategy for climate diplomacy, rural development, and global leadership.
By embracing a comprehensive methane strategy, grounded in rigorous measurement, rural-centric mitigation, and equitable financing, India can transform a vulnerability into strength. The world is waking up to the urgency of methane; India cannot afford to sleepwalk through this moment. It is time for a methane strategy that matches the country’s ambitions, protects its people, and underwrites its climate credibility.
Amal Chandra is an author, policy analyst & columnist.
Views expressed are the author’s own and don’t necessarily reflect those of Down To Earth