TY  - JOUR
A1  - Mar, Kathleen A.
A1  - Unger, Charlotte
A1  - Walderdorff, Ludmila
A1  - Butler, Tim
T1  - Beyond CO2 equivalence
BT  - The impacts of methane on climate, ecosystems, and health
JF  - Environmental science & policy
N2  - In this article we review the physical and chemical properties of methane (CH4) relevant to impacts on climate, ecosystems, and air pollution, and examine the extent to which this is reflected in climate and air pollution governance. Although CH4 is governed under the UNFCCC climate regime, its treatment there is limited to the ways in which it acts as a "CO2 equivalent" climate forcer on a 100-year time frame. The UNFCCC framework neglects the impacts that CH4 has on near-term climate, as well its impacts on human health and ecosystems, which are primarily mediated by methane's role as a precursor to tropospheric ozone. Frameworks for air quality governance generally address tropospheric ozone as a pollutant, but do not regulate CH4 itself. Methane's climate and air quality impacts, together with its alarming rise in atmospheric concentrations in recent years, make it clear that mitigation of CH4 emissions needs to be accelerated globally. We examine challenges and opportunities for further progress on CH4 mitigation within the international governance landscapes for climate change and air pollution.
KW  - Methane
KW  - Climate governance
KW  - Air pollution
KW  - International policy
KW  - Short-lived climate pollutants
KW  - Global warming potential
Y1  - 2022
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2022.03.027
SN  - 1462-9011
SN  - 1873-6416
VL  - 134
SP  - 127
EP  - 136
PB  - Elsevier
CY  - Oxford
ER  -