IEA's latest Global Methane Tracker offers warning and opportunity to Queensland Government

The Queensland Conservation Council says the Crisafulli Government must heed the warnings - and opportunities - presented by a new report from the International Energy Agency's (IEA) which shows that methane emissions from fossil fuels remain dangerously high, and largely avoidable.

The IEA's Global Methane Tracker 2025 finds that methane pollution from fossil fuels are still underestimated, and rising. Methane is a super-pollutant that traps up to 86 times more heat in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide over 20 years.

The IEA also found that around 70% of methane emissions from fossil fuels globally could be avoided with existing technologies at low or no cost. That means a fast and cost-effective way for the Queensland Government to lower climate pollution and protect our communities from climate disasters is to work with the resources sector to improve measurement and abatement of methane pollution.

However, the report also identifies that methane pollution is still underreporting. The Queensland Government has delayed the development of its resources sector decarbonisation plan by nearly another year, from December 2025 to September 2026, despite the resources industry being responsible for a third of Queensland's total climate pollution.

Queensland Conservation Council Energy Strategist Clare Silcock says

The Queensland Government quietly announced they'd delayed their deadline to develop a plan to reduce emissions from the resources sector by nearly a year from December 2025 to September 2026.

Today's global methane update from IEA shows the urgency and opportunity for the Queensland Government to accurately measure and tackle the true scale of methane pollution from coal mines, without any further delay.

Methane is a fast-acting climate pollutant. Every year we stall on action, the climate damage worsens and Queensland communities pay the price through more extreme weather, rising costs, and lost economic opportunities.

We know that Queensland’s resources industry - primarily coal mining and coal seam gas extraction - is responsible for a staggering one third of the state's total greenhouse gas emissions.

The Queensland Government should today hear the IEA’s message - now is the time to take up the low or no cost opportunities of accurately measuring and accounting for methane pollution.

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