Ahead of the 30th Conference of the Parties (COP30) which starts on Nov. 11 in Belém, Brazil, GHGSat held a media briefing Nov. 5 to discuss its new report released today discussing the economic impact of methane emissions.
In the year since COP29, global methane emissions have continued their upward trend with GHGSat saying it had detected nearly 650 million tons of CO₂-equivalent methane emissions over the past year—a 37% increase compared to the same period following COP28.
Stephane Germain, CEO of GHGSat said that the “headline remains,” methane levels are still increasing. He said some of this is better detection, but much of it reflects the reality that global emissions are not yet trending downward.
The Cost of Methane: Economic Impact of Global Methane Emissions. Credit: GHGSat
The findings reveal a persistent rise in methane releases from key industrial regions. Central Asia accounted for roughly a quarter of detected emissions, followed by Asia (20%) and North America (20%). The oil and gas sector was responsible for about half of the total, with the waste and mining sectors comprising most of the remainder.
GHGSat said its data highlight a substantial economic opportunity cost associated with methane emissions. The company’s analysis estimates that emissions from Canada and U.S. oil and gas operations alone represent $142 million in lost annual revenue—methane that could have been captured, processed, and sold as natural gas.
When factoring in transmission, distribution, and infrastructure losses, the total economic impact rises to approximately $717 million, with regional losses exceeding $800 million across North America. In Europe, the figure surpasses €35 million in unrealized energy value.
On the economic Germain said, “Keeping methane in the pipe, as some have coined the phrase, rather than the atmosphere, increases yields for oil and gas producers, making mitigation profitable.”
Germain also spoke about its next two satellites tentatively scheduled for launch Nov. 11 on the SpaceX Transporter-15 mission. The satellites, GHGSat-C14 (Teodor) and GHGSat-C15 (Laila) and built by Spire Global on the LEMUR platform and are named after the children of GHGSat employees. This tradition of naming satellites after the children is “to remind ourselves of why we do what we do every day.”
On how these satellites will help in the detection of methane emissions, Germain characterized them as “a force multiplier for these industrial operators on the ground.”
After the media briefing, the timing of the launch has come into question. With the U.S. government shutdown, now the longest ever, the FAA yesterday issued an Emergency Order that included a section states that “commercial space launches and reentries will only be permitted between 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. local time.”
The SpaceX Transporter-15 mission launch window opens at 10:09 a.m. PST. This is outside the permitted FAA launch window. Rescheduling is not a simple of matter of placing the launch within the FAA launch window. The mission also has a backup window on Wednesday, November 13 at the same time. There’s been no comment from SpaceX on rescheduling yet.