'Inaction is a choice': UN push targets 80% response to methane leaks seen from space

Methane leaks visible from orbit in near real time are becoming harder to ignore, and a new initiative is aimed at the governments and companies that still are not responding fast enough.

What happened?

According to a recent press release, the U.N. Environment Programme and Bloomberg Philanthropies are expanding support to help countries deal more effectively with major methane leak alerts, with the ultimate goal of increasing response rates to leaks to 80% by 2030. 

The current overall response remains low, UNEP says: only 13% of leak alerts receive any follow-up worldwide, even though 10 countries have already reached an 80% response rate.

Using satellite observations, UNEP's Methane Alert and Response System, or MARS, flags very large methane releases — often called "super-emitters" — and sends alerts to countries and operators.

UNEP says MARS has helped lead to upwards of 40 confirmed fixes in 10 countries since its 2023 launch, after issuing more than 5,000 alerts across 33 countries.

Why does it matter?

Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas, but it does not remain in the atmosphere nearly as long as carbon dioxide. In turn, cutting it can deliver quick benefits for the climate. UNEP says it is responsible for roughly a third of current global warming.

The announcement also included a statement from United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, who said, "Carbon dioxide remains the principal driver of long-term warming. But it is also time to prioritize the cutting of methane."

He added that "aggressive cuts could produce visible temperature relief within a generation."

UNEP also said many of the biggest leaks can be addressed relatively cheaply, with some fixes possible at little or no cost.

UNEP cited Algeria as an example, saying that one MARS alert led to repairs to a leak that had persisted for decades. According to the agency, the near-term climate benefit was comparable to taking about 500,000 cars off the road each year.

The fossil fuel industry and methane emissions play a major role in intensifying extreme weather disasters that destroy homes, livelihoods, and local economies. It also contributes to air and water pollution linked to asthma, heart disease, cancer, and premature death. At the same time, many families continue to face high energy costs even as corporate profits remain elevated.

Delays driven by industry lobbying can also slow the expansion of cleaner, cheaper energy solutions, while sluggish efforts to mitigate emissions leaks can pose long- and short-term health risks. 

Inger Andersen, Executive Director of UNEP, framed the issue as one of accountability: "We can now see methane pollution as it happens, in near real-time, from space."

"With this capability, inaction is not an oversight — it is a choice," Andersen added. 

Michael R. Bloomberg, U.N. Special Envoy on Climate Ambition and Solutions and founder of Bloomberg L.P. and Bloomberg Philanthropies, said, "we have the data we need to stop methane leaks, and now we are helping countries turn that data into faster, bolder action."

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