Enviro News Asia, Nairobi – The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is using artificial intelligence (AI) to strengthen global methane monitoring and accelerate emissions reduction, helping deliver climate benefits equivalent to removing the annual emissions of nearly 24 million gasoline-powered passenger vehicles, according to a new UNEP report released on July 15.
The report, Spotlighting Opportunity: How Artificial Intelligence is Accelerating Methane Action, outlines how UNEP’s International Methane Emissions Observatory (IMEO) employs AI through its Methane Alert and Response System (MARS) to detect major methane emissions from satellite data and rapidly notify governments and companies to take corrective action.
Since becoming fully operational in 2024, MARS has supported more than 40 methane mitigation actions worldwide. The AI-assisted system processes satellite observations from more than 30 satellites, enabling analysts to review 12 to 15 times more data while maintaining scientific accuracy.
According to UNEP, AI-assisted workflows identified between 80 and 85 percent of confirmed methane emissions before expert review, contributing to the mitigation of sources estimated to have released approximately 1.2 million tonnes of methane.
Martin Krause, Director of UNEP’s Climate Change Division, said the initiative demonstrates that AI can transform vast volumes of environmental data into practical climate action while remaining energy efficient.
UNEP emphasized that its methane-monitoring AI models were specifically designed to require modest computing resources, reducing the environmental footprint associated with AI technologies while significantly improving monitoring capacity.
The findings come as governments and businesses face increasing pressure to meet commitments under the Global Methane Pledge and the United Nations Secretary-General’s Call to Action on Methane, which encourages countries to respond to 80 percent of methane alerts generated through MARS.
Methane is approximately 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide over a 20-year period, although it remains in the atmosphere for only about a decade. UNEP noted that reducing methane emissions from the fossil fuel, agriculture, and waste sectors offers one of the fastest and most effective ways to slow global warming while improving air quality and agricultural productivity.
Since 2023, MARS has analyzed more than 1.3 million satellite observations by integrating data from over 30 satellite instruments. The system uses AI to distinguish methane emissions, including leaks from oil and gas infrastructure, from background environmental signals and is now expanding its monitoring capabilities to the coal and waste sectors.
UNEP stressed that human expertise remains central to the monitoring process. Every methane detection identified by AI is independently reviewed and verified by IMEO analysts before notifications are issued, ensuring that all mitigation recommendations are based on scientific judgment.
To encourage wider adoption of methane-monitoring technologies, UNEP is also making key datasets and source code publicly available, enabling governments, researchers, and organizations to develop additional tools for emissions monitoring and climate action. (*)
