France's Environment Minister Monique Barbut delivers a speech during a meeting focused on reducing methane emissions as part of France's G7 presidency, at the Maison de la Chimie in Paris, on May 4, 2026. STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN / AFP

G7 chair France pushed for faster global action to reduce methane emissions at a conference in Paris, on Monday, May 4, as the International Energy Agency said discharges from the fossil fuel sector remained near record levels.

Methane, the second biggest contributor to climate change, stays in the atmosphere far less longer than CO2, but its warming effect is roughly 80 times more potent over a 20-year period.

Using its role as rotating president of the Group of Seven industrialised powers, France convened government officials, industry leaders and experts to build momentum ahead of the UN's COP31 climate summit in November.

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"I sincerely hope that the discussions we will have today will enable us to join our forces to accelerate the implementation of effective solutions to reduce methane emissions," French Environmental Transition Minister Monique Barbut said in a speech. "Of course, action on methane is not a fight of any single actor and nobody can win it alone," Barbut said.

Under the Global Methane Pledge, launched at COP26 in Glasgow in 2021, nearly 160 countries have committed to cutting global methane emissions by 30% by 2030 compared with 2020 levels. But Barbut said the world remains "very far" from meeting that goal.

'Near record highs'

The fossil fuel sector – oil, gas and coal – accounts for 35% of methane emissions from human activity, the IEA said in a report on Monday. "Yet there is still no sign that methane emissions from fossil fuel operations are falling, despite well-known and proven mitigation pathways," according to the IEA's Global Methane Tracker 2026.

Methane emissions from the energy sector come from leaks from gas pipelines and other infrastructure, or is deliberately released during maintenance procedures. Such emissions from the energy sector remained "near record highs," the report said.

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"If select countries with spare existing gas export capacity and importing countries were to implement readily accessible methane abatement measures across their gas systems, nearly 15 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas could very quickly be made available to markets," it said. Over the longer term such measures "could deliver nearly 100 bcm of gas to markets each year, while eliminating non-emergency gas flaring could unlock a further 100 bcm," it said.

Agriculture is also a major emitter through livestock – cows and sheep release methane during digestion and in their manure – and rice cultivation, where flooded fields create ideal conditions for methane-emitting bacteria.

Discarded household waste also creates large amounts of methane when it decomposes if left to rot in landfills.

"We must, however, be clear the energy sector offers today the fastest and often the most cost-effective reductions," Barbut said. "In oil, gas and coal, a significant share of emissions comes from leaks, venting or flaring. Addressing these issues is within reach," she added.

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