• Sustainable finance

How is BNP Paribas working toward limiting methane greenhouse gases?

Published On 12.02.2025

As the second most-emitted anthropogenic greenhouse gas, methane (CH4) is characterised by its high short-term warming potential. To better understand methane’s footprint, which is less well-known than that of carbon dioxide (CO2), BNP Paribas supports scientific research and calls on cutting-edge technologies to measure and define emission reduction paths. The goal? To support our clients in their transformation, in order to help bring about a carbon-neutral economy by 2050.

A powerful greenhouse gas, whose emissions continue to rise

Methane emissions have risen 2.6-fold since the preindustrial era and are now the second most-emitted anthropogenic greenhouse gas (i.e., emitted by human activities), after carbon dioxide (CO2), and now account for 0.5°C of global warming. Chemically speaking, methane (CH4) is a hydrocarbon composed of one carbon atom and four hydrogen atoms. Methane is emitted from both natural and anthropogenic sources. It has a high global warming potential (GWP). According to the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, its 100-year GWP is about 30 times that of CO2. Its lifespan, however, is about 10 years, much shorter than that of CO2, which can remain in the atmosphere for hundreds of years. Reducing methane emissions therefore remains an effective lever for slowing climate change.

Methane comes from several sources:

  • Thermogenic methane is produced over long period of times by organic matter preserved from bacterial decomposition by a combination of pressure and temperature in landfills. Methane pockets are found in coal mines and oil spills. The energy sector thus makes a significant contribution to methane leakage, which also occurs during the extraction, production and transportation of oil and natural gas.
  • Microbial methane is produced from the decomposition of organic matter under oxygen-free conditions. This occurs in certain natural environments, such as wetlands, in agriculture such as rice farming and ruminant farming, or from the decomposition of organic waste in open-air landfills.
  • Pyrogenic methane is produced by the incomplete combustion of biomass (farm stubble, forest fires, etc).

Supporting research on methane

The BNP Paribas Foundation supports scientific research through its Climate & Biodiversity Initiative, a programme dedicated to environmental research on the climate and biodiversity. It also plays a role in raising awareness of environmental challenges with its stakeholders through the dissemination and popularisation of scientific knowledge by holding conferences, exhibitions and other public events.

Among others, the BNP Paribas Foundation has supported the Global Carbon Project (GCP) in creating the Global Carbon Atlas, an online platform that can be used to obtain, visualise and interpret the most recent data on the global carbon cycle, country-by-country. The GCP was established in 2001 as a global research project to mobilise the scientific community, with the goal of establishing a common base of knowledge on the climate and greenhouse gas emissions. Each year since 2006, the GCP has published the Global Carbon Budget, whose goal is to track emissions and carbon sink trends worldwide; it is a key measure of progress accomplished in meeting the objectives of the Paris Agreement. The GCP also publishes the Global Methane Budget, a report on global methane emissions. The latest report, in June 2024, was alarming. It suggested that human activities are responsible for two thirds of global methane emissions and that such emissions are increasing.

"Methane concentrations in the atmosphere have risen 2.6-fold since the preindustrial era. Emissions have risen by 20% in 20 years. Human activities are responsible for two thirds of the emissions. The largest of these is agriculture (livestock breeding and rice farming), followed closely by the fossil fuels sector. But in recent years, emissions from the waste sector have risen drastically."

Marielle Saunois, Professor at the Versailles Saint-Quentin University, Researcher at the Climate and Environmental Sciences Laboratory and Contributor to the Global Methane Budget


And yet, solutions exist for reversing this trend, particularly in waste management, increased energy efficiency, and changes in farming practices. For livestock farms, where emissions are linked to the natural process of ruminant digestion, a change in feed can be decisive: additives based on flax, tannins or compounds (such as the additive Bovaer®10, approved by the European Union after assessment by EFSA, the European Food Safety Authority) added to their ration can reduce emissions per cow by up to 30%. At COP26, in 2021, the European Union and the United States launched the Global Methane Pledge, a worldwide pact signed by 158 countries, a figure that doesn’t include Russia, China or India (which account together for about 50% of global emissions). The Global Methane Pledge aims to reduce methane emissions from human activities by 30% by 2030 (vs. 2020 emissions). 

For BNP Paribas the major challenge is in successfully supporting its clients in transforming their business model and meeting Paris Agreement targets. Well beyond the issue of reducing methane emissions, the Group has decided to accelerate its support for low-carbon energies. As of 30 September 2024, these accounted for 76% of the stock of Group financing of the energy production sector, with a goal of 90% by 2030. To do so, since the early 2010s, the Group, which assesses its clients on their environmental and social performances, has developed sector policies in the highest-impact sectors.

Using satellite data and AI to measure methane emissions 

Tracking methane emissions is a key priority. As stated in the IPCC recommendations, companies need reliable ESG data to better steer their impacts. However, emissions of methane (an odourless and colourless gas) are hard to identify, measure and attribute. Satellite technologies are a recent and promising development that are revolutionising research and will make a substantial contribution to the impact steering toolbox.

In March 2023, BNP Paribas thus launched a partnership with Kayrros, a firm specialising in environmental intelligence and analysis of climate and energy data, to support its research & development projects. The Group had already supported this fintech in 2022 through Opera Tech Ventures, its venture-capital fund that took part in a fundraising round of more than 40 million euros. Kayrros uses AI to analyse satellite images from the European Space Agency and NASA to track methane emissions in real time. 

This is a valuable partnership for BNP Paribas in better understanding the methane footprint, thanks to cutting-edge technologies, in developing precise measures to support its corporate clients in their emissions-reduction strategies, and in contributing to the body of knowledge and research on quantifying methane emissions. A methane feasibility study is being conducted within the Group’s Company Engagement department. To this end, the data scientists in the Climate Analytics & Alignment team, supported by data from Kayrros, use modelling techniques, including geospatial analysis, to test the most accurate climate performance metrics at the portfolio level. These efforts are part of BNP Paribas' commitment to contribute to the development of open source tools and methodologies for measuring the climate impact of financial portfolios. 

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