Chapter 1:
Global Assessment
In this chapter
World leaders flying blind on methane emissions from coal
Globally, emissions from coal are a major contributor to climate change. Countries that have reported methane emissions from coal mines to the UNFCCC indicate that global annual emissions sum up to around 30.5 million tonnes, equivalent to more than India’s total CO2 emissions, but independent studies suggest they could be twice as large.
2.1
If CMM were a country, it would be the world’s 3rd largest emitter
Ember found that 64 countries have reported methane emissions from coal mining to the UNFCCC, albeit with varying reporting years.
In total, countries report 30.5 million tonnes of methane emissions to the UNFCCC.
Across 100 years, the climate impact of those methane emissions is equivalent to 0.9 billion tonnes of CO2.
Acknowledging methane’s fast-acting impact, the climate impact in the next two decades is equivalent to 2.5 billion tonnes of CO2 emissions, similar to the CO2 emissions emitted by India in 2021.
In total, methane adds on average 17% to the climate impact of burning coal in the first 20 years, and 6% when averaged over 100 years.
For more information on methane’s short-term and long-term global warming potential see the Methodology.
2.2
Global coal mine methane emissions may be twice as high as reported
Ember compared total government-reported emissions to three independent estimates from the International Energy Agency (IEA), Global Energy Monitor (GEM), Shen et al. (2023). All three studies use diverse methodologies to estimate global emissions, but do not include emissions from abandoned and closed mines (AMM). Ember accounted for AMM emissions using estimates from Kholod et al. (2020), further information can be found in the Methodology Section.
Ember’s assessment of these studies found that methane emissions from coal mines may range between 38 to 67 million tonnes a year, which is around twice as high as the emissions reported by governments.
Averaged over 100 years, this is equivalent to 1 to 1.7 million tonnes of CO2. Using methane’s short-term (20 year) global warming impact, this is equivalent to 3.2 to 5.5 billion tonnes of CO2 per year. At the top end, this has a similar warming impact as the total annual CO2 emissions of the US, putting global CMM emissions effectively on par with the world’s second biggest CO2 emitter.
Such studies demonstrate the real risk that we are grossly underestimating methane emissions from the coal mining industry and are therefore missing an opportunity to limit global warming in the near term.
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