Methane emissions from US oil and gas operations have soared since 2020

Emissions of the powerful greenhouse gas methane from US oil and gas operations have increased sharply, despite a pledge to reduce them, the Guardian can reveal ahead of the start of crunch UN climate talks today.

- Fiona Harvey

Methane emissions from the three largest shale oil and gas basins in the US have risen by 18% since 2020, when the country was one of the 159 signatories of the global methane pledge to cut them by 30% by 2030.

Methane is about 80 times more powerful than carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas, and is responsible for about a third of the global heating of recent years. Aside from gas and oil, livestock farming - in particular cattle - is another major emitter.

The finding - that emissions of the gas from several signatories to the pledge have increased, according to data from the satellite analysis company Kayrros - will overshadow today’s start of Cop30 in Belém.

Ministers and high-ranking officials from 194 countries will seek to forge plans at Cop30 to stay within, or as close as possible to, the limit of 1.5C of heating set out in the Paris agreement; to set a roadmap to phase out fossil fuels; and to ensure that poor countries receive the help they need.