Reducing methane emissions from the fuel and energy sector will slow the rate of global warming and improve public health. This is the conclusion reached by the authors of a new report of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP).
The report was presented by the Climate and Clean Air Coalition together with the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP). Its co-authors showed numerous benefits of methane emission reduction: it slows global warming, improves air quality, improves the food situation by preventing crop losses, creates new jobs and increases labor productivity.
Experts reminded that methane as a global warming factor is no less dangerous than carbon dioxide. Human activity is not the only, but the essential source of methane emissions into the atmosphere. Thus, methane accounts for one fifth of all harmful gases. The good news is that unlike CO2, which stays in the atmosphere for 100 years, methane breaks down quickly, with most of it breaking down in ten years. This means that by starting to reduce methane emissions today, we can quickly slow the rate of warming in the short term.
The new report says that a 45 percent reduction in anthropogenic methane can be achieved as early as this decade. That would lead to a 0.3 degree Celsius slowdown in global warming by 2045, helping to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement. Recall that the agreement aims to keep global temperature rise within 1.5 degrees Celsius.
In addition, since methane is a key ingredient in the formation of ground-level ozone – smog – it is not only a factor of climate change, but also a dangerous air pollutant. Reducing its emissions by 45 percent could prevent 260,000 deaths and avoid the hospitalization of 775,000 people suffering from asthma. It would also help prevent the loss of millions of tons of crops each year.
“Reducing methane emissions is the strongest lever to slow climate change over the next 25 years. Work in this area will complement the necessary steps to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. And the benefits to society, the economy and the environment far outweigh the costs,” said UNEP Executive Director Inger Andersen.
And experts believe that 45 percent of methane emissions from the oil and gas sector can be prevented without significant additional costs. They call on countries that emit large amounts of methane to include information on measures to reduce it in their national climate change reports.