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Only over 1 per cent of governments and companies have responded to methane alter leaks from around the world, according to a United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report launched at the 29th Conference of Parties (COP29) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
More than 1,200 notifications about major methane plumes have been detected around the world by the Methane Alert and Response System (MARS) over the last two years, launched by UNEP at COP27 in Egypt to provide satellite-driven notifications on very large methane emissions.
“In Algeria and Nigeria, two leaks were plugged after notifications were received. The relatively simply fixes have led to avoided annual emissions equivalent of one million cars being taken off the road,” Inger Andersen, executive director of the UNEP, said at a press conference.
More than 150 countries, accounting for a little over 50 per cent of global anthropogenic methane emissions, have signed up to the Global Methane Pledge, which was launched at COP26 in November 2021 to catalyse action to reduce methane emissions by 30 per cent by 2030. This goal has the potential to reduce warming by at least 0.2°C by 2050.
The atmosphere has roughly 2.5 times the amount of methane than there was during pre-industrial times and emissions have been rising in recent years. Methane emissions from human activities is responsible for roughly one-third of the warming.
Andersen highlighted that while data-driven tools are ready, as per the report, governments and companies must engage at scale to translate their pledges into climate action.
The report showed that so far, 20 countries have appointed dedicated focal points to collaborate directly with UNEP on MARS. These countries make up nearly two-thirds of nations where emissions have been detected.
These countries include Algeria, Azerbaijan, Argentina, Bahrain, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Colombia, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Malaysia, Mexico, Mozambique, Nigeria, Oman, South Africa, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, the United States and Uzbekistan.
The top three countries that received the most alerts include Turkmenistan, US and Iran. India stood at the 12th spot, with 19 alters issued. However, UNEP acknowledges that this should not be construed as a definitive ranking of countries’ total methane emissions. Countries may be underrepresented as it is more difficult to detect emissions from some nations via satellite due to surface conditions, cloud coverage and environmental conditions, among other factors.
Though UNEP did not share details of countries and governments that have not responded to the alerts, they told reporters at the press conference that they would share a list or aggregate.
UNEP calls on countries to engage more actively. The limited response to notifications remains a significant concern. Through MARS, the UNEP’s International Methane Emissions Observatory (IMEO) provides data that allows stakeholders to take prompt and informed action regarding specific methane emissions sources.
The report shows that of the over 1,200 emission alerts sent to governments and companies, fewer than half have been acknowledged. Of those, only 15 have shared information with IMEO about the source of the emissions and whether any mitigation action was considered or taken. “This low engagement rate highlights the critical gap between receiving data and taking timely action to reduce emissions,” the report added.
“We are still quite far from achieving these pledges,” Drew Shindell, Chair of the UNEP-convened Climate and Clean Air Coalition Scientific Advisory Panel, said in a statement. “It’s nice to have ambition but at the moment it’s similar to carbon dioxide — lots of pledges but still much to do,” the expert added.
Some countries have requested additional support developing MARS response mechanisms and technical capabilities.
