Twenty years ago, 14 countries and several key industry groups joined to form the Methane to Markets Partnership —an international public-private partnership committed to reducing methane emissions and capturing methane as a valuable energy source. In 2010, it was rechartered and renamed the Global Methane Initiative (GMI).
Over the years, GMI has developed more than 1,500 valuable technical resources, economic analysis, and best practices and provided trainings for more than 55,000 people across 70 countries on quantifying, capturing, and reducing methane emissions.
GMI has fostered conversations and knowledge sharing about methane around the globe, raising the visibility of methane as a powerful greenhouse gas and harmful air pollutant, and leveraging our collective technical expertise to provide practical guidance and foster the replication of methane mitigation successes.
Collectively since 2004, GMI Partner Countries have reduced methane by more than 670 million metric tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent. This is equivalent to planting more than 11 billion trees!
As of 2024, GMI is comprised of nearly 50 countries, numerous key strategic partners, and hundreds of private sector and multilateral organizations collaborating to take action on methane around the world. GMI advances information sharing, promotes ambitious activities, trains stakeholders, and builds capacity to abate methane. Through GMI, experts and decisionmakers share best practices, research, technology innovations, policy models, and real-world solutions that enable the successful implementation of methane mitigation policies and projects.
Learn more about our Partners, Accomplishments, Case Studies, Resources, Project Network, and Key Strategic Partners over the last 20 years on this page.
“Congratulations to the Global Methane Initiative on its 20th Anniversary. It has been an honor to serve as Chair of the GMI Steering Committee during a time of unprecedented global attention to methane emission reduction pledges, progress towards transparency, and mitigation actions. GMI has made its mark on global methane mitigation by fostering open dialogue, building technical capacity, and collaborating to develop and share best practices and proven solutions. The GMI community will continue this critical work to scale methane mitigation efforts to meet the urgency of this methane moment.”
– Tomás Carbonell, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
“As a proud member of the Global Methane Initiative, Saudi Arabia is committed to leading efforts in reducing methane emissions. Our commitment to innovative strategies and international partnerships is crucial to addressing climate change effectively. Together, we can pave the way for a sustainable future for generations to come.”
– Faisal Almusa, Ministry of Energy, Saudi Arabia
Cumulative Methane Emission Reductions Through 2023
Source: GMI’s database of project activities, representing the best available yet conservative estimates of emission reductions from projects supported by GMI. Carbon dioxide equivalents are based on a global warming potential of 28 for methane.
Overview of GMI Accomplishments
As of 2024, GMI has 48 Partner Countries dedicated to mitigating methane across the globe. These countries account for approximately 70 percent of global methane emissions from human activities.
Learn more about each Partner Country’s methane emissions, methane commitments, plans and mitigation actions on their recently updated Partner Country pages.
GMI offers a wealth of methane mitigation successes in the Case Study Library. GMI continues to expand the library in response to unprecedented attention to methane and a need for real-world examples. The library provides quick access to case studies developed through multiple efforts, such as the recently published step-by-step Policymaker Framework for Addressing Methane Emissions.
GMI has developed valuable technical resources, economic analyses, and best practices to support technical decisions related to quantifying, capturing, and reducing methane emissions. Examples include SWEET for municipal solid waste, the International Coal Mine Methane Project List, and the Best Practices Guidance for Effective Methane Management in the Oil and Gas Sectors (developed jointly with UNECE).
The GMI Project Network includes more than 1,000 organizations. The network facilitates communication, project development and implementation, and private sector involvement in methane abatement projects across all GMI technical sectors and around the globe. Use the Find an Expert feature to identify and connect with the relevant technical experts from the GMI community.
GMI has fostered globally inspired conversations through many formal Forums and Expos, with the most recent 2024 Global Methane Forum bringing together more than 800 people from nearly 60 countries at the UN in Geneva and many other premier gatherings held over the years in places such as China, India, Canada, and the United States.
GMI collaborates with key strategic partners to support meaningful action on methane, including the Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC), United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Global Methane Hub, and the World Bank Group.
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