Methane emissions from the energy sector are still far too high to meet climate targets. But implementing existing pledges on methane could soon put these emissions in decline, says the International Energy Agency (IEA).

Leaks of methane cause plumes of potent greenhouse gas to escape into our atmosphere, and as the IEA highlighted in a report published last year, slashing it is imperative to limit global warming.

In the latest update of its Global Methane Tracker, a comprehensive assessment of global methane emissions since last December’s COP28 climate summit, the IEA found that methane emissions from the energy sector remained at a near record high in 2023.

The production and use of fossil fuels resulted in close to 120m tonnes of methane emissions in 2023, a small rise compared with 2022. Two thirds of this amount - 80m tonnes - comes from fossil fuels.

The US – the largest global producer of oil and gas – is also the biggest emitter from oil and gas operations, closely followed by...