Scant progress has been recorded on global methane goals that Australia has signed up to, as the global energy agency warns inaction is leaving precious gas out of the market during a supply shock.
Capturing methane from fossil fuel projects and plugging leaks could add twice as much gas to markets than has been lost due to the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the International Energy Agency said.
Large amounts of gas were going unused despite supply shocks caused by ongoing conflict in the Middle East disrupting LNG trade, the IEA said in its 2026 methane update.
“This is not only a climate issue,” IEA chief energy economist Tim Gould said.
“There are also major energy security benefits that can come from tackling methane and flaring.”
As oil and coal is extracted from the ground, surrounding methane gas can escape unintentionally or is vented or flared when companies are not set up to capture it.
As well as amounting to lost product for energy producers, escaped methane is a major climate problem, with 80 times the warming power of carbon dioxide over 20 years.
More than 150 countries, including Australia, have signed up to the Global Methane Pledge to cut the source of emissions by 30 per cent by 2030.
Yet little progress has been made towards this goal, according to the IEA, with global energy methane emissions reaching record highs in 2025.
While not all methane can be economically captured or avoided, roughly 70 per cent could be cut with existing technology.
As much as 30 per cent could be slashed at no cost as the value of the captured gas product would eclipse spending on infrastructure and equipment.
Australia is a major coal miner and although the IEA says its methane intensities rank below the global average, emissions from its projects are likely under-reported.
The coal sector, mostly underground and open-cut mines in Queensland and NSW, emitted 1.7 million tonnes of methane in 2025, the report said.
Ember methane analyst Sabina Assan said the analysis again confirmed methane emissions from Australia’s coal sector remain “drastically under-reported”.
“The size of potential emissions should serve as a wake-up call for Australia to align its policies with climate science and commit to rapid cuts in coal mine methane — one of the cheapest and fastest ways to reduce warming today,” she said.
Australia is presently reviewing its methods for estimating methane in open-cut mines and has committed to cutting emissions from its resources sector in an action plan released in 2025.
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