Methane Emissions: Impacts & Mitigation

• A UNEP report released at COP30 (Belem, Brazil) identifies India as a global methane hotspot, especially from stubble burning and waste burning.
• UNEP notes methane reduction as one of the fastest routes to slowing global warming, with direct benefits for agriculture and food security.

About Methane

• Methane is odourless, colourless, and tasteless, and lighter than air. It is the main constituent of natural gas.
• It is the most important GHG after carbon dioxide.
• Its lifetime in the atmosphere is much shorter than carbon dioxide (i.e., it is short-lived).
• Methane accounts for 30% of global warming since preindustrial times.
• Methane is 80 times more potent than CO₂ over a 20-year period.

India’s Methane Emission Profile

• India is now the world’s 3rd-largest methane emitter, contributing around 31 million tonnes annually (≈9% of global emissions).
• Agriculture is the largest source, led by livestock (enteric fermentation, manure), rice cultivation (projected to rise 8% by 2030).
• Crop-residue burning has become a rapidly growing hotspot, reversing global trends and intensifying seasonal pollution in northern India.
• Waste burning contributes significantly; emissions rose from 4.5 MT (1995) to 7.4 MT (2020), a 64% increase. Global growth over the same period was 43%.
• Agriculture emitted ~20 MT of methane in 2020; the energy sector emitted ~4.5 MT.

Challenges in Methane Emission Mitigation

• India’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) do not specify mitigation measures for agricultural methane, even though it is the largest source.
• India continues its stand that farm-sector mitigation cannot be mandated and focus should remain on adaptation.
• At COP30, India’s official statement avoided mentioning methane, even as emissions from agriculture and waste systems rise.

Initiatives to Control Methane Emissions

• Global Methane Pledge: Launched at COP26 by the USA & European Union. Participants joining the Pledge agree to take voluntary actions to contribute to a collective effort to reduce global methane emissions at least 30 percent from 2020 levels by 2030.
• Global Methane Initiative: It is a voluntary, international public-private initiative that aims to reduce global methane emissions and to advance the abatement, recovery, and use of methane as a valuable clean energy source.
• International Methane Emissions Observatory (IMEO): Launched by UNEP to provide open, and actionable data to to reduce methane emissions.
• Methane Alert and Response System (MARS): Launched under IMEO, it is the 1^st global satellite detection & notification system providing actionable data on very large methane emissions across globe.

Way Forward

• Farm Diversification: Shift from water-intensive paddy to millets/pulses to reduce methane from rice cultivation. E.g. MSP-backed Shri Anna Mission for climate-resilient cropping.
• Methane Capture: Promote CBG plants for landfill methane capture. E.g. SATAT Scheme
• Waste Reform: Strict enforcement of waste segregation, landfill capping, and biomethanation.
• Methane Monitoring: Use satellite-based monitoring for real-time methane hotspots.
• Policy Integration: Include methane mitigation explicitly in NDC updates and state climate action plans.