Methane is more powerful than carbon dioxide but has a shorter lifespan. Methane is 80x more effective at trapping heat than carbon dioxide over a 20 year period. But it breaks down in ~12 years Vs carbon dioxide which stays in our atmosphere for centuries.

Methane poses an outsized threat to global warming pathways near-term. Methane accounts for ⅕ of global GHG emissions, but has led to around 30% of warming since the pre-industrial era

…But Methane is also a big opportunity. If we reduce methane emissions we could reduce the rate of global warming in the near-term. A report from the United Nations says that a 40%–45% reduction in methane emissions by 2030 is one of the least costly pathways to keep warming below 1.5 ℃.

Oil and Gas: Around 80% of the sector’s methane emissions come from venting, flaring and unintentional leakages. Venting is the direct release of methane gas to the atmosphere. Flaring is the burning of the natural gas associated with oil extraction.

Meat and Dairy: Primarily produced from cows stomachs. Research suggests methane emissions from the top 15 meat and dairy companies exceed those of the oil giants.  

Regulation to-date is heavily focussed on Oil and Gas. The New EU regulation released demands improved monitoring, reporting, and reduction measures for methane. However, it focuses entirely on the oil and gas sector not on meat and dairy. The same is true for US regulation.

This is mirrored by corporate action: A recent study highlighted that only 23% of 40 financial institutions (FIs) it analysed had policies addressing methane emissions from their portfolios. None of these policies looked at agriculture emissions.

Oil and Gas is an easier win. There are fewer actors to influence to make a dent in emissions. Think convincing one project owner to make changes rather than 1000 farmers. Those project owners may also have more resources to tackle their methane challenges vs agricultural stakeholders.

Emissions are more dispersed in Agriculture. Knowing where to direct sensors can be a challenge, in most parts of the world public datasets of livestock facilities are hard to come by

CH4 Global Inc (USA). Manufactures a seaweed supplement fed to cattle to reduce methane emission. 

Mootral (UK): Has a similar supplement-based approach but has also launched a 'CowCredit'. Proceeds from sales of these credits are paid to farmers to support adoption.

Karryos (UK) - Focussed on using satellite data to better monitor agricultural methane.

We also spoke about multiple startups last week tackling Methane in Rice Emissions

Finance: A stress test of five of Africa's banking systems has found some lenders in the region could face collapse if nature loss slashes the profits of agriculture and forestry firms they have lent to.

Finance: Central banks and regulators' attempts to understand nature risks are being hindered by "major data and modelling challenges", the Financial Stability Board has warned.

Finance / Big business : More than 100 companies and investors, with combined revenues of $1.1 trillion, demanded stronger action.have called on governments to enact tougher policies to reach a U.N. goal on halting nature loss by the end of the decade.

Big business: A major cocoa producing region in Ghana, the world's second largest cocoa grower, is 81% infected with swollen shoot disease, according to the International Cocoa Organisation (ICCO). Prices for the chocolate ingredient have roughly doubled this year because of adverse weather and disease in top cocoa producers.

Big business: Ribena harnesses AI to detect blackcurrant farms' biodiversity hotspots

Policy: Australian NSW government says state’s biodiversity ‘in crisis’ as it pledges first steps to reverse decline and that it will also overhaul state laws after uncovering serious problems with biodiversity offsets scheme

Policy: Colombian authorities have insisted it will be safe to attend a UN biodiversity summit in Cali later this year, after a dissident rebel group threatened to disrupt the event.

Policy: Suriname has released its updated National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP) under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), setting out a broad range of actions to ramp up funding for nature conservation and restoration.

Photography: Winning images of the 2024 Big Picture natural world photography competition

diveo, a German frontrunner in agrivoltaics, raised a $217K seed round for its practice that merges solar energy production with sustainable agriculture

Bio-Logical, a Nairobi, Kenya-based climate tech company, raised $1.3M in funding for its process turning agricultural waste into biochar to support carbon dioxide removal

Mitti Labs, based in NY, raised $3 million in Seed for its technology to help tackle methane emissions from rice farming

Earthshot Labs announced it has completed a $5.5 million Series A financing round to expand its platform for nature-based carbon project development and financing

Two start-ups in our network are currently raising - get in touch for more info

25 July- Oliver and Simas talk Biodiversity Credits

26 July - International Day for the Conservation of the Mangrove Ecosystem

30 July - NAbSA Dialogues : Sustainable Livelihoods and alternative enhancements through NbS

04 August -  17th International Peatland Congress - China

09 August - International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples

26 August - 14th European Conference on Ecological Restoration - Estonia

1 September - The African Bioacoustics Conference - Cape Town

30 September - Nature for Life Hub 2024 - Virtual

8 October - The Global Nature Positive Summit 2024 - Sydney

24 October - Bloom - Colombia

Sustainability Specialist, Nature/Biodiversity @ Aldi (Aurora, US)

Analyst, Climate and Nature Data Analytics @ VF Corporation,(Denver, US)

NBS Expert: Carbon, Forestry, Agriculture @ Total Energies, (Paris, France)

Climate, Nature, and Social Risk Intelligence Lead, Vice President @ JP Morgan (New York, US)

Investment Associate @ Schmidt Family Foundation,  (San Francisco, US)

Investment Director / Manager @ Natural Heritage, (remote, East or Southern Africa)

Senior Project Finance Lead @ Earthshot  (remote/ New York / San Francisco, US)

Senior Software Engineer @ NalaEarth

Check out Theresa Lieb’s post for even more