Gas industry urged to pull ’emergency brake’ on warming

Jennifer Dudley-Nicholson | October 15, 2026

More oil and gas producers are tracking a dangerous pollutant that contributes to global warming, a report has found, but much of the industry remains in the dark. 

The United Nations Environment Programme released the findings on Thursday, revealing companies from 90 countries were measuring methane emissions but more than half of global gas and oil production remained outside its reporting program. 

Australian energy producers were among the most widely represented in the program, although many had yet to adopt its most rigorous standard. 

The findings come weeks before COP31 climate talks are due to begin in Antalya, Turkey, where the presidency has named reducing methane emissions as a key priority. 

Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas responsible for about one third of global warming, and is released during oil and gas production as well as from agriculture and waste. 

The United Nations’ annual report assessed the global oil and gas industry’s efforts to measure, report and reduce methane emissions across the sector. 

It found 163 companies had joined its methane-reporting program by 2026, representing 43 per cent of global oil and gas production. 

The firms reported about 2.5 million tonnes of methane emissions, more than two thirds of which were calculated using detailed measurements rather than estimates. 

The program’s growth showed it was possible to accurately track methane emissions and identify opportunities to reduce them, United Nations Environment Programme climate change division director Martin Krause said.

“Methane is the fastest lever we have to slow warming, and the oil and gas sector holds the largest and most cost-effective opportunity to act now,” he said. 

“The United Nations Secretary-General (Antonio Guterres) has called methane mitigation the emergency brake: rapid action to cut methane emissions from fossil fuels, waste and agriculture can avoid up to 0.2C of warming over the coming decades.”

Companies responsible for 90 per cent of Australia’s oil and gas production participated in the UN’s methane-reporting scheme in 2025, compared with 56 per cent in the US and 16 per cent in Canada. 

Only 21 per cent of Australia’s industry met the highest standard of reporting – a figure that was expected to rise to 61 per cent by 2027. 

Australian gas producer Woodside featured in the report after identifying three turbines responsible for 70 per cent of methane emissions at one of its facilities. 

Changing the minimum load guidance for the turbines, the report said, had the potential to cut 700 metric tonnes of methane a year.

More than half the world’s oil and gas production lacked credible methane measurement, Mr Krause said, which needed to be addressed.

“Without full participation, the world cannot meet the Global Methane Pledge or avoid the worst impacts of warming,” he said.