Earth Today | AI for a cooler planet

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) is emerging as a useful tool to help to reduce methane emissions, which is recognised as “the fastest, most cost-effective” way to slow the near-term warming of the planet.

“Thanks to a new generation of methane-tracking satellites and other technologies, the world is experiencing a methane data revolution, with an unprecedented amount of information now available on how much, and precisely where, methane is emitted,” notes the 2026 United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) publication, Spotlighting Opportunity: How artificial intelligence is accelerating methane action.

“Targeted methane action requires context and transforming this information into meaningful emission insights, which involves substantial data processing and analysis,” it added.

This is where AI technologies come in and are being used by UNEP’s International Methane Emissions Observatory (IMEO) to process and analyse data that can inform actions to reduce methane emissions by governments and industry players.

With its use of AI to improve both the speed and accuracy to detect, monitor and share methane emissions data, UNEP is strengthening environmental monitoring while expanding IMEO’s ability to provide not only timely but actionable information to help countries meet the goals of the Global Methane Pledge.

IMEO is a core implementing partner for the Global Methane Pledge, through which more than 150 country signatories aim to reduce global methane emissions by at least 30 per cent from 2020 levels by 2030.

“IMEO’s use of AI has profound implications for methane mitigation, accelerating analysis to support methane reductions at a global scale. Leveraging UNEP’s global reach across governments, companies and civil society, IMEO is uniquely positioned to ensure that AI-enhanced insights reach the decision-makers with the authority and responsibility to act upon them,” the report noted.

The global tool is reportedly the first of its kind, providing the IMEO team of remote-sensing specialists with the ability to process between 12 and 15 times more data than without AI models, “dramatically scaling up its potential to identify methane mitigation opportunities”.

Since becoming fully operational two years ago, the system has enabled the handling of more than 1.3 million satellite measurements, “triggering over 40 on-the-ground emission reductions to date”.

“Together, these emission sources are estimated to have released 1,200,000 tonnes of methane before they were mitigated, a volume comparable to the annual emissions of nearly 24 million gasoline-powered passenger cars,” the report noted.

Methane has more than 80 times the warming power of carbon dioxide in the 20 years after reaching the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide is another greenhouse gas that is contributing to global warming, courtesy of the ongoing human consumption of fossil fuels, including oil and gas.

Together with the emission of other greenhouse gases, they are causing the planet to heat up while triggering a range of other climate change impacts, including extreme hurricane and other weather events; sea level rise and related comprised freshwater resources and food security; as well as impaired public health.

With less than four years left to meet the targets of the Global Methane Pledge, the report has reminded that the window to act is “narrowing”.

“At the same time, as more satellite missions come online in the coming years, the availability of methane data grows ever richer. Whether that data translates into climate action will depend on whether the AI tools to efficiently interpret it are built and utilised,” it said.

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