Methane is not always the easiest climate issue to turn into a headline. It lacks the political theatre of coal phase-outs, the scale of huge wind and solar installations and the economic drama of an oil shock.
That said, methane has become one of the most problematic pieces of the climate crisis, so much so that it was top of the agenda as London Climate Action Week began today.
In a speech framed around what he called a “Tale of Two Crises” – climate breakdown and energy insecurity – UN Secretary-General António Guterres used his special address in London to discuss methane and the challenge it poses to the energy transition.
"Methane is responsible for around one-third of global warming," he explained.
"It is some eighty times more powerful than carbon dioxide," he added, "but unlike CO₂, methane breaks down in the atmosphere within a decade or two. That means that aggressive cuts could produce visible temperature relief within a generation."
