This Global Methane Assessment highlights one of the greatest opportunities available today to simultaneously address interlinked planetary crises and make peace with nature. Methane is a powerful and short-lived climate pollutant which drives climate change and harms human and ecosystem health by contributing to the formation of ground-level ozone. Over the past decade, global methane emissions have risen at a rate faster than at any time in the last 30 years. While methane has both human and natural sources, recent increases are attributed to activity in three anthropogenic sectors, namely fossils fuels, waste and agriculture.
The assessment highlights the critical role that cutting methane emissions, including from the fossil fuel industry, plays in slowing the rate of global warming. Cutting human-caused methane by 45 percent this decade would keep warming beneath a threshold agreed by world leaders. There are multiple benefits to acting including: the rapid reduction of warming, which can help prevent dangerous climate tipping points; improved air quality that can save hundreds of thousands of lives; improve food security by preventing crop losses; and create jobs through mitigation efforts while increasing productivity through reduced heat stress.