Fossils’ response to methane leaks improves too slowly, 90 per cent still ignored: UN

As governments and fossil fuel companies largely fail to act on alerts from methane-detecting satellites, a new report says they’re undermining their own operations and bottom lines while missing a key climate mitigation opportunity.

Over the last year, the share of alerts leading to action rose from 1 per cent to 12 per cent, writes the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)’s International Methane Observatory (IMEO) in its annual report.

“This is real progress, yet it also underscores the gap that remains: almost 90 per cent of satellite-detected emission events flagged by UNEP still go unaddressed by governments and companies.”

Climate scientists agree that tackling methane emissions is the fastest way to slow near-term climate change. That’s because methane is a potent greenhouse gas with a warming potential 84 times stronger than that of carbon dioxide over the 20-year span when humanity will be scrambling to get climate change under control.

The IMEO developed a Methane Alert and Response System (MARS) which uses a network of 17 satellites to monitor for methane plumes that can indicate leaks from oil and gas infrastructure. MARS has issued over 3,500 alerts to 33 countries since it was started three years ago, according to the report. The alerts are meant to warn people on the ground to address the leaks, but response rates have been minimal: last year’s response rate was only 1 per cent, making this year’s 12 per cent an improvement.

The percentages reflect 25 documented instances of emissions reduction facilitated or verified by MARS to date, 19 of which were documented since the last report in November 2024. IMEO head Giulia Ferrini said 100 per cent or near-100 per cent rates in some of the better-performing countries—like Yemen, Argentina, and Oman—have resulted in major emissions cuts, reports Bloomberg.

MARS works alongside UNEP’s voluntary Oil and Gas Methane Partnership 2.0 (OGMP 2.0), which includes oil and gas companies that have committed to reducing methane emissions. Membership has grown since OGMP started five years ago, reaching 153 companies across 90 countries that account for 42 per cent of global oil and gas production.

“Members are shifting to measurement-based emission inventories, uncovering previously undetected emissions, and implementing cost-effective mitigation measures,” the report states.

But despite the progress, “actions remain too slow,” UNEP Executive Director Inger Andersen told Reuters.

“We are talking about tightening the screws in some cases,” she said of methane leaks in the oil and gas sector, such as from flaring and venting. “We can’t ignore these rather easy wins.”

Pembina Institute senior analyst Amanda Bryant has issued similar recommendations for Canadian oil and gas companies, suggesting cost-effective opportunities like better leak monitoring, improved facility design, and using satellites to trigger responses to large leak events.

Methane solutions are abundant and “common sense,” said UNEP Director of Climate Change Martin Krause. “From capturing gas that can be sold to eliminating revenue-draining inefficiencies, cutting methane is among the smartest investments any operator can make,” Krause writes in the report. “Companies that act decisively are not just reducing emissions: they are strengthening efficiency, competitiveness, energy security, and public trust.”

With less than five years to achieve the Global Methane Pledge to cut emissions 30 per cent from 2020 levels by 2030, “the moment has come to pull the emergency brake,” he adds, just a couple of weeks before signatories meet for another UN climate summit in Belém, Brazil.