Regional hotspots

The report details methane emissions by sector and region, identifying key contributors. The top five emitters of anthropogenic methane in 2022 were China (16%), India (9%), the USA (7%), Brazil (6%), and Russia (5%). Notably, emissions from coal exploitation in China and oil and gas extraction in the Middle East are major contributors.

In contrast, Europe and Australia have seen successful reductions in methane emissions over the past two decades.

Methane emissions from agriculture, including livestock and rice paddies, remain the largest source, accounting for 40% of global anthropogenic emissions. Fossil fuel activities contribute 34%, while waste handling and biomass burning add 19% and 7%, respectively. The growth in emissions from these sectors is primarily due to increased activities in developing regions and intensified exploitation of fossil fuels.

Implications for climate goals and mitigation strategies

Addressing the methane crisis is crucial for achieving climate goals.

Currently, there are no technologies capable of directly removing methane from the atmosphere, making it imperative to reduce emissions at their source. To address this, the report suggests several strategies for reducing methane emissions, particularly in the fossil fuel and waste sectors. These include leak detection and repair, recovery of vented gas, and improved waste management practices.

Although the agriculture sector poses more challenges, measures such as feed changes for livestock and improved manure management offer potential solutions.

Satellites offers a consistent and global view of methane concentrations in the atmosphere and were used by the team for modelling the changing methane emissions, attributed to the main methane sources. These so-called ‘top-down’ estimates were compared to independent ‘bottom-up’ estimates from traditional inventories and derived from land surface models.

ESA's commitment to tackling methane emissions

To address the rising challenge of methane emissions, ESA is spearheading several initiatives to improve methane monitoring, mitigation and support better methane budget assessments to guide reduction efforts.