Methane Abatement in Sustainable Taxonomies

The report analyzes the integration of methane abatement in sustainable finance taxonomies across five jurisdictions. It finds significant gaps in sectoral coverage, a tendency to prioritize usability over technical rigor, and a lack of specific, measurable criteria. To address these, the report provides a framework of best-practice measures for the energy, agriculture, waste, and wastewater sectors.

• Sustainable finance taxonomies exhibit three core structural weaknesses regarding methane: incomplete sectoral and activity coverage, a preference for usability over technical accuracy, and a lack of specificity in criteria and safeguards.
• Sectoral coverage of methane-relevant activities is inconsistent across the reviewed frameworks. While the energy sector is present in all five, the EU taxonomy omits agriculture entirely, and Indonesia's taxonomy lacks coverage for solid waste and wastewater.
• There is a risk that technical accuracy is sacrificed for user-friendliness, leading to the replacement of science-based thresholds with generic requirements. For example, Thailand's taxonomy mirrors the EU's approach to landfills but omits specific restrictions based on opening dates, relying instead on high-level monitoring plans.
• Methane-related technical screening criteria (TSC) are often qualitative or implicit, particularly in agriculture and waste. This lack of quantified performance benchmarks or emission thresholds reduces accountability and risks labeling activities as 'green' that yield minimal net methane outcomes.
• In the energy sector, the EU taxonomy provides the most specific and enforceable criteria, including real-time reporting and leak elimination. Other taxonomies, such as Colombia's, rely on general GHG thresholds that may not effectively capture methane leakage risks.
• Agricultural methane abatement is poorly addressed; key measures such as enteric fermentation control and slurry acidification are often absent or vaguely referenced in the Colombian and Thai taxonomies, while South Africa has not yet developed TSC for these activities.
• The wastewater and solid waste sectors show better alignment in anaerobic digestion criteria, but still lack quantitative performance metrics like methane capture efficiency or leakage rates. Colombia is noted for requiring transition plans for flaring-only systems.
• Comparative analysis of other regional taxonomies shows higher ambition in some areas: New Zealand's draft taxonomy requires a minimum 10% methane reduction in treated animals, and Singapore's taxonomy mandates a methane recovery system collection efficiency target of at least 75%.

APA

Wetmańska, Z., Fernandes, P. D. A., Miao, G., Shankar, V., & Alanah, I. (2025). Methane Abatement in Sustainable Taxonomies. Climate Bonds Initiative. https://www.climatebonds.net/files/documents/publications/Methane-Abatement-in-Sustainable-Taxonomies.pdf

Chicago

Wetmańska, Zofia, Pedro de Aragão Fernandes, Gaoyi Miao, Varun Shankar, and Ines Alanah. Methane Abatement in Sustainable Taxonomies. Climate Bonds Initiative, 2025. https://www.climatebonds.net/files/documents/publications/Methane-Abatement-in-Sustainable-Taxonomies.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Wetmańska |first1=Zofia |last2=Fernandes |first2=Pedro de Aragão |last3=Miao |first3=Gaoyi |last4=Shankar |first4=Varun |last5=Alanah |first5=Ines |title=Methane Abatement in Sustainable Taxonomies |publisher=Climate Bonds Initiative |date=December 2025 |url=https://www.climatebonds.net/files/documents/publications/Methane-Abatement-in-Sustainable-Taxonomies.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{wetmaska2025methane, author = {Wetmańska, Zofia and Fernandes, Pedro de Aragão and Miao, Gaoyi and Shankar, Varun and Alanah, Ines}, title = {{Methane Abatement in Sustainable Taxonomies}}, institution = {Climate Bonds Initiative}, year = {2025}, month = dec, url = {https://www.climatebonds.net/files/documents/publications/Methane-Abatement-in-Sustainable-Taxonomies.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }