The new study, published in Nature Communications, found that methane emissions are being underreported by at least the equivalent of between 170 million and 3.3 billion tons of carbon over a decade, depending on the metric used in calculating the shortfall.
The new study, published in Nature Communications, found that methane emissions are being underreported by at least the equivalent of between 170 million and 3.3 billion tons of carbon over a decade, depending on the metric used in calculating the shortfall.
This means that each year, on average, companies around the world have potentially underestimated their carbon footprint by as much in total as the annual carbon emissions of the UK in 2022. This represents a significant methane emissions gap that could cost between $1.6 billion (£1.3 billion) and $40 billion (£32 billion) to fix.
Lead Author Dr Simone Cenci (UCL Bartlett School of Environment, Energy & Resources) said: “The cumulative emission gap we have documented in this work shows how important it is to standardise the reporting of methane emissions. Methane is a potent greenhouse gas and the first step towards properly addressing its effect on climate is to make sure that it’s accounted for properly. Adopting a global standard is in principle easy for companies as it essentially only requires the adjustment of a few conversion factors when calculating their greenhouse gas footprint. However, it requires global coordination as companies are currently often subject to fragmented regulations.”
Read More: University of College London
Photo Credit: jrperes via Pixabay
