IEA Report: Australian Coalmine Methane Emissions Estimated at Twice Government Figures

Emissions of methane from Australian coalmines are more than double the official government estimates reported to the United Nations, according to a new report from the International Energy Agency. 7 million tonnes of methane in 2025. These coalmines are located particularly in Queensland and New South Wales, with the IEA’s data incorporating methane releases measured by satellites.

This figure is equivalent to 25 million tonnes of carbon dioxide, The Guardian reported. The government does not use satellite measurements for methane emissions.

Previous IEA reports have found that methane emissions from Australia’s coal and gas sector could be 60% higher than official reports. Dr Sabina Assan, a methane analyst at energy thinktank Ember, said the IEA estimate showed once again that methane emissions from Australia’s coal sector remain drastically underreported.

” Methane has caused about 30% of the heating of the planet since the Industrial Revolution, according to the IEA.

The gas is about 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide at heating the planet over a 20-year timeframe. Methane breaks down in the atmosphere in about 12 years, while CO2 lasts more than a century in the atmosphere. The IEA report stated that 35% of methane emissions from human activity come from the fossil fuel sector.

There is no sign that methane emissions from fossil fuel operations are falling, despite well-known and proven mitigation pathways, the IEA report noted. Tim Baxter, an Australian climate and energy analyst, said urgent, permanent and drastic emissions cuts of methane could do an outsized amount of good while working on reducing the use of fossil fuels everywhere possible.

Australia has a major responsibility to cut methane emissions from coal because it is one of the world’s largest exporters of coal, Baxter said.

” Baxter added: “all independent assessments of Australia’s methods reveal enormous gaps. 17 million tonnes from the energy industry. 8 million tonnes in 2024, according to official data.

Ember has argued one reason for this fall is that more methane emissions are being estimated, rather than directly measured. One UN-backed study of one Queensland coalmine that flew monitoring equipment over the site found methane emissions there were likely between three and eight times higher than official reports.

In 2024, the government formed an expert panel to review the way methane was being measured.

The Guardian has approached the office of the climate and energy minister, Chris Bowen, for comment.