Methane emissions from fossil fuels remained at record high levels in 2025, with no sign of decline globally, even as oil, gas, and coal production output reached record highs last year, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in its Global Methane Tracker 2026 released on Monday.
The tracker, based on the recent data from satellites and measurement campaigns, said that the fossil fuel sector accounts for around 35% of methane emissions from human activity. Yet, there is still no sign that methane emissions, a potent greenhouse gas, from fossil fuel operations are falling.
Methane emissions from oil, gas, and coal production totaled 124 million tonnes (Mt) a year. Oil was the largest source at 45 Mt, followed by coal at 43 Mt, and natural gas at 36 Mt. A 20 Mt came from bioenergy production and consumption, largely from the incomplete combustion of traditional biomass used for cooking and heating in developing economies, the IEA said.
Methane has a much shorter atmospheric lifetime than CO2 (around 12 years compared with centuries for CO2). But it is a much more potent greenhouse gas, absorbing much more energy while it exists in the atmosphere.
In recent years, many countries and companies have announced efforts to reduce methane emissions as part of efforts to limit near-term global warming and improve air quality. Commitments to reduce methane now cover over half of global oil and gas production, the IEA said. In 2021, over 100 countries joined the European Union and the United States (US) to launch the Global Methane Pledge (GMP), a collective commitment to reduce global methane emissions by 30% by 2030.
IEA said methane emissions from the energy sector were near record highs in 2025, revealing a large implementation gap. It said tackling methane could help countries improve gas market security, a priority following the near-closure of the Strait of Hormuz following the US-Iran war, which has removed close to 20% of global liquefied natural gas supply from the market.
