Nord Stream spill is biggest methane leak ever, but minuscule compared to global release of the greenhouse gas: UNEP

Subject: Environment

Section : Climate Change

Context: A massive plume of highly concentrated methane was released into the atmosphere after the incident in September 2022.

Report findings:

A UNEP-led assessment found that the rupture of the Nord Stream natural gas pipeline under the Baltic Sea is the biggest single event that led to the massive release of climate-damaging methane. But the incident is a “drop in the ocean compared to the amount of methane released globally”.
The amount of methane released during the incident represents less than 0.1 per cent of the total annual human-made methane emissions.
It also equals the methane emissions the oil and gas industry generates in a single day.
International Methane emission observatory (IMEO) is creating a worldwide public database of methane emissions with unparalleled precision and granularity to spur action to reduce methane emissions.

Methane emission:

In October 2023, scientists had identified more than 50 ‘super-emitters’ of heat-trapping methane gas in central Asia, west Asia and the southwestern United States.
Most of these sites have ties with agriculture and fossil fuel industries.
Methane accounts for a small portion of human-induced greenhouse gas emissions compared to carbon dioxide. But it is thought to be 80 times more efficient than carbon dioxide at trapping atmospheric heat in the 20 years following its release.
Methane stays in the atmosphere for only ten years, unlike CO2, which persists for hundreds or thousands of years.
This indicates that a significant decrease in methane emissions might sharply reduce anticipated global warming by the middle of the century.

International Methane Emissions Observatory (IMEO)

Launched by: UN Environment Programme (UNEP) with support from the European Union
Launched at the recent G20 Summit.
Objective of the IMEO
- The observatory aims to provide credible data to track the country’s progress on meeting methane reduction pledges and to promote best practices.
- It will initially focus on methane emissions from the fossil fuel sector and then expand to other major emitting sectors like agriculture and waste.
- It will also monitor commitments made by countries in the Global Methane Pledge, a US- and EU-led effort to slash methane emissions by 30% by 2030.