How to Start Scaling Methane Abatement Finance

The document argues that methane abatement is a cost-effective way to reduce near-term warming but remains severely underfinanced. It identifies a financing gap of USD 34 billion per year to reach a needed USD 48 billion per year by 2030. The brief proposes five priority areas: implementing stringent regulations and fiscal tools, embedding methane abatement in institutional strategies, deepening investment opportunities through concessional finance, funding R&D for scalable technologies, and improving monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV) capacity. It provides specific action paths for domestic policy makers (e.g., banning non-emergency flaring), international financial institutions (e.g., using blended finance and technical assistance), and private actors (e.g., incorporating methane targets into net zero pledges).

• There is a significant global financing gap for methane abatement, with tracked finance averaging USD 13.7 billion per year in 2021/2022, while an estimated USD 48 billion per year is required by 2030.
• Methane abatement is highly efficient for climate mitigation, as many solutions can be implemented at no net cost and offer high warming reduction benefits per dollar invested.
• The most impactful and cost-effective measure for countries to reduce methane emissions in the oil and gas industry is the banning of all non-emergency flaring and venting of methane during production.
• International financial institutions (IFIs) often lack methane-specific focus in their climate agendas; of ten MDB signatories of the Joint MDB Methodology for Climate Finance, five do not mention methane in their climate strategies.
• Private sector finance represents the largest share of methane abatement flows at 70% in 2021/22, yet few private actors have integrated methane into their net zero pledges or strategies.

APA

Alberti, C., & Naran, B. (2023). How to Start Scaling Methane Abatement Finance. Climate Policy Initiative. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/How-to-Start-Scaling-Methane-Abatement-Finance.pdf

Chicago

Alberti, Caroline, and Baysa Naran. How to Start Scaling Methane Abatement Finance. Climate Policy Initiative, 2023. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/How-to-Start-Scaling-Methane-Abatement-Finance.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Alberti |first1=Caroline |last2=Naran |first2=Baysa |title=How to Start Scaling Methane Abatement Finance |publisher=Climate Policy Initiative |date=November 2023 |url=https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/How-to-Start-Scaling-Methane-Abatement-Finance.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{alberti2023how, author = {Alberti, Caroline and Naran, Baysa}, title = {{How to Start Scaling Methane Abatement Finance}}, institution = {Climate Policy Initiative}, year = {2023}, month = nov, url = {https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/How-to-Start-Scaling-Methane-Abatement-Finance.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }