In a speech in Beijing on October 15, Nicholas Burns, the US ambassador to China, said he hoped the country would unveil an ambitious, economy-wide programme covering all greenhouse gas emissions and he called methane a “super-pollutant”.
“China can make more progress on implementing its methane action plan, controlling industrial nitrous oxide, and setting or strengthening methane standards for coal, oil and gas, landfill, and waste water,” Burns said.
As global leaders prepare to meet in Baku, Azerbaijan, for the United Nations’ COP29 climate summit this month, the world’s attention is focused on methane and its largest emitter: China.
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With a warming power 80 times stronger than that of carbon dioxide on a 20-year timescale, methane is responsible for around 30 per cent of the increase in global temperatures since the Industrial Revolution, according to the International Energy Agency. China produces about 14 per cent of the world’s methane emissions each year.
Last November, China unveiled an action plan to reduce methane emissions, which included sector-specific targets and emphasised better monitoring and supervision. It did not, however, include firm targets or timetables for reducing methane emissions. In addition, China has not signed the Global Methane Pledge, which was ratified in 2022 by more than 150 countries that are responsible for about half of global human-caused methane emissions. The pledge seeks by 2030 to cut methane emissions by at least 30 per cent from 2020 levels.
Energy experts say China must address methane emissions from the fossil-fuel sector, develop monitoring and tracking technologies, introduce a firm target for reduction and enhance its global cooperation – especially with the US.
“For China, addressing fugitive emissions from the fossil fuel industry is the most promising area for mitigation,” said Pep Canadell, chief research scientist at the Australia-based Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation.
For China, the largest source of methane is the fossil fuel sector. Specifically, coal mining accounted for about 40 per cent of the 64.11 million tons of methane that China emitted in 2018, according to the latest data from the nation’s greenhouse gas inventory. Agriculture and landfills were the second and the third largest sources of methane.
China has made some strides along these lines. The government’s revised national standard for emissions seeks to ban the discharge of coal mine methane with concentrations in excess of 8 per cent, down from a 30 per cent limit at present.
“While this draft is still under discussion and not yet finalised, it signals an intent to put more pressure on coal companies to adopt stricter measures for reducing methane emissions,” said Dorothy Mei, project manager at Global Energy Monitor (GEM).
On the consumption front, China has said it will cut its coal use starting in 2026. This is a major opportunity to address the issue of methane emissions from coal mines, according to Lauri Myllyvirta, a senior fellow at the Asia Society Policy Institute.
But China has no national standard for addressing emissions from abandoned mines, Mei said, adding that thousands of pits have been closed in recent years. She also said China is challenged in terms of collecting methane emissions data.
“The lack of a systemic inventory and effective monitoring hinders our ability to fully understand the scale of methane emissions, let alone develop effective mitigation strategies,” GEM’s Mei said. “After all, you can’t manage what you can’t measure.”
Experts said satellites and other remote sensing technologies could help gather and process methane data, which would lead to better management and help meet reduction targets.
“A number of relatively new satellites, and more to come, are well suited to identify emission hotspots, particularly from the coal, oil, and gas industries,” said Australian research scientist Canadell.
By the end of the year, China is expected to launch a commercial satellite to monitor global methane emissions. And last month, an investment fund affiliated with China National Petroleum Corp said it invested in Oiler, a Jiangsu-based company that developed a gas leak monitoring system to offer real-time tracking of methane leaks.
“In China’s system, once there is a measurable, quantitative target allocated to key actors, a lot can happen really quickly,” said Myllyvirta of the Asia Society Policy Institute. He added that significant progress is unlikely to occur without a firm target because methane reductions “usually are not profitable without additional incentives”.
There is a shortage of financial incentives for methane reduction. Mei said the government needs to offer stronger incentives, including tax breaks or carbon credits.
On the agricultural front, methane-reduction efforts need to be balanced with food security and the interests of smaller farmers who make up most of the sector, according to Chen Meian, senior analyst from the non-profit Institute for Global Decarbonisation Progress (iGDP). She said technical training, capacity-building programmes and financial support are needed to overcome obstacles.
“The small scale of these farms makes it difficult to implement and expand methane reduction technologies effectively,” she said.
China’s cooperation with the rest of the world is also crucial to tackling methane emissions. After unveiling the Sunnyland Statement that enhances cooperation on climate matters last November, the US and China will host a summit at COP29 to focus on methane and other non-CO2 greenhouse gases.
The experts said cooperation on methane has been hampered by geopolitical tensions. Mei from GEM said the private sectors of the two countries need to come together to invest in tools for methane reduction.
“Both countries show a large share [of methane emissions] coming from livestock management,” said Chen from iGDP. “It would be beneficial for them to collaborate in this area by engaging in joint research and sharing best practices.”
More from South China Morning Post:
- As methane takes centre stage, how will China, the largest emitter of greenhouse gas globally, reduce emissions?
- China releases action plan to reduce methane emissions ahead of COP28 climate summit
- China’s suspension of climate talks with the US puts decarbonisation timeline, methane reduction targets and research at risk
- PetroChina joins the world’s 2050 net zero pledge to slash oil and gas industry emissions
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