Global Methane Pledge - statistics & facts

One of the widespread concerns associated with warming climate is the increase in atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations that accelerate climate change. While carbon dioxide (CO₂) reductions took center stage in slowing down global warming, other greenhouse gas reductions were overlooked for a very long time. A major greenhouse gas contributing to the rising concentration in the Earth's atmosphere is methane. Additionally, methane is also a precursor to ground-level ozone pollution. Thus, tackling methane emissions is expected to bring climate benefits and improve air quality.

Global Methane Pledge

The recent 26th Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change highlighted that methane mitigation is essential to addressing climate change. In the first week of COP26, the United States and the European Union announced a ground-breaking methane pledge. Officially announced on 2nd November 2021, the Global Methane Pledge was undertaken by over 100 countries to reduce global methane emissions by 30 percent from 2020 levels in all sectors by 2030. To slow down the global temperature rise by 0.2 degrees by 2050. Although the methane commitment now includes some of the largest methane emitters - India, China, and Russia did not sign the pledge. A part of the global methane reduction strategy, the pledge is the first-ever global political commitment to methane.

Who is responsible for methane emissions?

As the second most abundant anthropogenic greenhouse gas after CO₂, methane accounts for about 20 percent of the global emissions and is responsible for about one-third of current climate warming. Methane is emitted naturally from microbes in natural wetlands during the anaerobic decomposition of organic matter. Human activities such as energy production, agricultural production, and landfills contribute to the rest. The abundance of methane in 2019 relative to 1750 was 260 percent. The concentration of methane increasing steadily would have severe implications on climate change. The largest source of anthropogenic methane emission is agriculture, closely followed by the energy sector, including emissions from coal, natural gas, and biofuels. China was the largest methane-emitting country worldwide, with more than 1.2 billion metric tons of CO₂ equivalent.

Strategies to reduce emissions

It is the anthropogenic methane emissions that are growing at an alarming rate. It is indisputable that fossil fuels cause about a third of methane emissions from human activities. While most of the world's economies are still heavily dependent on fossil fuels, reducing fossil fuel extraction can simultaneously eliminate anthropogenic methane and carbon dioxide emissions. It is quite a challenge for oil- and gas-producing nations to develop strategies and alternatives in taking simple, affordable steps to cut their emissions. To slow the rate of global warming, cutting emissions at the source is as essential as decarbonizing energy systems. Undoubtedly, mitigation in sectors dominated by human activities would significantly impact the growth of atmospheric methane.
This text provides general information. Statista assumes no liability for the information given being complete or correct. Due to varying update cycles, statistics can display more up-to-date data than referenced in the text.
Published by Ian Tiseo, Feb 27, 2024

Key insights

Global methane emissions
10.5 GtCO₂e
Largest sector of methane emissions
Agriculture
Global methane emissions per capita
1.42 MtCO₂e/cap
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Editor’s Picks Current statistics on this topic

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Annual methane (CH4) emissions worldwide from 1970 to 2022 (in million metric tons of CO₂ equivalent)

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Annual methane emissions worldwide 1970-2022

Methane (CH₄) emissions per capita worldwide in 2020, by select country (in metric tons of CO₂ equivalent)

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Global per capita methane emissions 2020, by country

Annual greenhouse gas emissions worldwide from 1970 to 2022 (in billion metric tons of CO₂ equivalent)

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