Press: Global assessment - urgent steps must be taken to reduce methane emissions this decade

The assessment, for the first time, integrates the climate and air pollution costs and benefits from methane mitigation. Because methane is a key ingredient in the formation of ground-level ozone (smog), a powerful climate forcer and dangerous air pollutant, a 45% reduction would prevent 260 000 premature deaths, 775 000 asthma-related hospital visits, 73 billion hours of lost labour from extreme heat, and 25 million tonnes of crop losses annually.

“It is important to specifically focus on methane mitigation as part of climate action in this decade, leading to further reductions up to 2050. It is a positive sign that more countries are now acknowledging this. Slashing methane emissions is the main lever to slow the pace of global warming in the near term because it is relatively short-lived in the atmosphere. It is also necessary to reduce emissions by about 45% by 2030 from current levels to increase the chance of meeting the Paris Agreement 1.5˚C target.”

- Johan C. I. Kuylenstierna co-author of the report and Research Leader at SEI

The need for action is urgent. Human-caused methane emissions are increasing faster than at any time since record-keeping began in the 1980s. Despite a COVID-19 induced economic slowdown in 2020 that prevented another record year for carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions, the amount of methane in the atmosphere shot up to record levels according to data recently released by the United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). 

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