THE IMMEDIATE IMPACT OF MODERATING METHANE 

AS MORE countries walk away from their commitments to burn less fossil fuels, enduring climate action champions are focusing on a faster fix for greenhouse gas emissions.

Scientists and politicians now believe the most effective way to slow the pace of climate change quickly may lie in  reducing the amount of methane released into the planet’s atmosphere. [1]

Their claims that cutting atmospheric methane can stave off the immediate consequences of climate breakdown are offering a supplementary strategy for nations which remain steadfast about their cilimate commitments.

Belief in its immediate benefits for imporving air quality, food security, and public health was so strong at COP30 that delegates organised a micro-summit to fast-track policies and programs for cutting methane discharges.

Methane alone is thought to have driven at least a third of global warming in recent years. Once in the atmosphere, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, it is approximately 80 times more powerful in trapping heat than carbon dioxide. [2]

However, because it doesn’t last nearly as long once in the atmosphere, fast actions to cut current methane releases are being mooted for the the sizeable immediate effect they may have on controlling global warming.

The UN’s head of its Climate and Clean Air Commission, Martina Otto, previously described “reducing methane emissions this decade is our emergency brake in the climate emergency.”

It has been proven that a 40 percent cut in methane could pair back temperature rises by 0.3°C within the next decade. Without any action, methane emissions are expected to rise 13 percent by 2030. [2] [3]

If the world wants to mitigate its anticipated overrun of a 1.5°C threshold set out in the Paris Agreement, action on methane appears practical and wise.

With this in mind, Brazil’s environment and climate minister Marina Silva was joined by the Climate and Clean Air Coalition in Belém to launch a “Super Pollutant Country Action Accelerator”.

Rotting food in landfills alone causes about 20 percent of human-related methane emissions. [2] 

However, the program intends to reduce methane emissions across 30 developing countries by 2030 by addressing other natural and human-made processes including leaky oil and gas infrastructure, livestock and rotting organic material - and spending an initial $150m to do so. [4]

The UK backed the program by also announcing a plan to significantly reduce methane emissions as a new pillar of its climate ambition. [4]

UK Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said: “Cutting methane and other non-CO₂ greenhouse gases is one of the fastest and most effective ways to slow global warming and clean our air. The UK is leading the way through our Methane Action Plan which will drive real progress towards a safer, fairer, and cleaner future for our children and grandchildren.”

Power Wood operates a business model that will incorporate its own approach to reducing methane emissions. 

It uses only fire-damaged deadwood, diseased timber and forest floor debris to manufacture black pellets. 

And, among multiple reasons why it does this is so decomposition methane, which escapes from decaying woody materials, is prevented from entering our atmosphere and warming the planet. Timber that is left to rot and decay in a forest environment releases methane persistently and consistently over years. 

Our company has 20-year renewable Crown forest rights to remove all dead and dying wood from five million hectares of forest, to make low-carbon-footprint black biofuel pellets - to be burned instead of coal in power plant furnaces.

Power Wood Energy's Executive Chairman David Peters said: “Methane entering our atmosphere, trapping in heat and exacerbating human-made global warming comes from many sources.

“By far the worst culprit of methane gas discharge is the fossil fuel industry which often leaves coal mines and shale gas wells uncapped. Oil and gas platforms also leak methane while only sources identified by operators are vented and flared. 

However, a significant source of methane released into the atmosphere also comes from rotting organic matter, some of which remains to decay in forest habitats over years. [5]

“Hundreds of square kilometres of wildfire-damaged deadwood are capable of contributing significant amounts of methane to overall volumes of atmoshperic greenhouse gasses. 

"Power Wood Energy will remove quantities of that decaying matter and use it as raw feedstock material for manufacturing biofuel burned in place of coal at power stations.

“This elimination of decomposition methane is part of our company’s full-circle green thinking, which also incorporates forest side production facilities,near-net-zero production processes and bulk-dense pellet offtakes.

“Power Wood’s contribution to addressing the causes of global warming is holistic and includes reducing methane gas emissions. 

"This is why the company particularly welcomes the UN’s vision and initiative in doing specifically the same.”

[1] United Nations Regional Information Centre for Western Europe. Secretary General Calls for Action on Methane. https://unric.org/en/global-action-cut-methane-emissions/

[2] UN Environment Programme. Facts about Methane. https://www.unep.org/en/explore-topics/energy/facts-about-methane

[3] United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) & Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC). (2021). Global Methane Assessment: Benefits and Costs of Mitigating Methane Emissions. UNEP, Nairobi. https://www.unep.org/resources/report/global-methane-assessment-benefits-and-costs-mitigating-methane-emissions

[4] Carbon Brief. (23 November 2025) COP30: Key outcomes agreed at the UN climate talks in Belém. https://www.carbonbrief.org/cop30-key-outcomes-agreed-at-the-un-climate-talks-in-belem

[5] New Phytologist, 222(1), 35–51. Covey, K. R., & Megonigal, J. P. (2019). Methane production and emissions in trees and forests. https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/nph.15624

ADDITIONAL READING

Environmental Research Letters, 16(5), 054042. (2021, May) Ocko, I. B., Sun, T., Shindell, D., Oppenheimer, M., Hristov, A. N., Pacala, S. W., Hamburg, S. P., Fuglestvedt, J. S., McFadden, J. P., & Hamburg, S. P. Acting rapidly to deploy readily available methane mitigation measures by sector can immediately slow global warming. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/351030976_Acting_rapidly_to_deploy_readily_available_methane_mitigation_measures_by_sector_can_immediately_slow_global_warming

IPCC. (2021). Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (Chapter 6: Short-lived climate forcers). Cambridge University Press. https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/