Methane is the primary component of natural gas and the second most prevalent greenhouse gas after carbon dioxide. It is also more than 25 times more potent at trapping heat than carbon dioxide.

Because of its short atmospheric lifetime, reducing emissions of methane is an effective and necessary approach to stemming the effects of climate change in the near-term. However, many countries urgently need to have a better understanding of how much methane they produce.

On behalf of the Global Methane Initiative, Abt helped the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to develop a handbook for government decision-makers to account for global methane emissions and emissions reductions from biogas projects—including those in the agriculture, municipal solid waste, and wastewater sectors.

The Policy Maker’s Handbook for Measurement, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) in the Biogas Sector provides guiding principles for conducting MRV for emissions and emissions reductions for biogas sector projects. It helps national governments to:

• Develop robust greenhouse gas emissions inventories,
• Enhance targets, policies, and actions in nationally determined contributions under the Paris Agreement,
• Show progress toward sustainable development goals, and
• Boost access to external funding sources to promote economic growth.