Efforts to combat methane emissions are receiving a significant financial boost, with a new investment of $100 million aimed at expanding satellite monitoring. This initiative, announced by Bloomberg Philanthropies on March 14, 2024, coincides with a summit in Brazil ahead of the COP30 climate conference. The funding is part of a broader effort to reduce emissions of methane, a potent greenhouse gas that has at least 80 times the heat-trapping capability of carbon dioxide in its first two decades of release.
The initiative seeks to enhance global awareness and response to methane emissions, which are primarily produced by oil and gas production, agriculture, landfills, and natural sources such as wetlands and wildfires. Increasingly, companies, environmental organizations, and philanthropic groups are utilizing satellites and handheld cameras to monitor methane plumes. The data collected is being made more accessible, which has started to prompt action from some polluters.
Riley Duren, CEO and founder of Carbon Mapper, a not-for-profit organization focused on methane emissions, emphasized the need to scale up global action. He noted that there exists a significant “gap between data and action on methane emissions.” The additional funding will allow the expansion of global alert networks that collaborate directly with businesses, utilities, and government regulators to address major methane emitters. This includes monitoring the effectiveness of repairs aimed at reducing leaks.
Initiative Aims for Transparency and Accountability
The program is viewed as a critical step in the global effort to tackle methane, especially following an agreement among numerous countries to cut emissions from human activities by at least 30% from 2020 levels by the end of the decade. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres remarked on the initiative, stating, “This initiative can help usher in a new era of transparency and accountability. We have the technologies. What we need now is maximum ambition, acceleration and cooperation.”
The new funding will strengthen cooperation with nine major methane-emitting countries, including Indonesia, Mexico, and Nigeria. In the United States, states such as California, Texas, New Mexico, and Pennsylvania will also be focal points for this initiative.
In a related effort, the Global Methane Hub is launching a project to reduce methane emissions and water use from rice cultivation. This initiative aims to develop low-emission varieties of rice, one of the world’s most significant food staples. Some rice strains can generate 70% less methane and use half the water compared to traditional varieties. According to Marcelo Mena-Carrasco, CEO of the Global Methane Hub, there is a pressing need for research to identify rice breeds with a reduced climate impact.
The Global Methane Hub is receiving support from the Bezos Earth Fund and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which have committed $25 million to the Rice Methane Innovation Accelerator initiative. Mena-Carrasco stated, “The intention would be to have ways to reduce those emissions fast and add a net benefit to the farmer.”
The announcement of this funding marks a pivotal moment in the ongoing battle against climate change, highlighting the urgent need for innovative solutions and collaborative efforts to address methane emissions on a global scale.
