Methane's MRV Gap: Needs and Priorities for Credibly Scaling Climate Impact

​Methane solutions span a wide spectrum of maturity, from reducing emissions at end-of-life oil and gas wells to the earlier stage frontier of atmospheric methane removal. What they share is a dependence on robust measurement, reporting, and verification (MRV) to demonstrate that they deliver real, measurable climate benefits.

​MRV needs differ along the methane solutions spectrum, and the fields and actors advancing them stand to benefit from engaging with and learning from one another. Measurement capabilities, methods, rules, and standards developed for one solution family often transfer to others, and demands from any point on the spectrum can sharpen tools already in use elsewhere while opening new markets for them.

​But better measurement is only half the task. Turning data into large-scale results means giving policymakers and practitioners accessible information they can act on, whether toward reducing climate risk, better targeted public funding, more credible carbon markets, or improved public health.

​The Carbon Containment Lab and Spark Climate Solutions will convene methane researchers, NGOs, policymakers, and the climate tech and startup community during New York Climate Week to take on both halves of this challenge: strengthening the instrumentation and data collection that make robust measurement possible, and translating that information into action for the people making methane policy and deploying methane solutions. Through a moderated panel discussion, participants will surface the MRV needs shared across the methane solutions spectrum and help chart a path for these solutions to move from promising concepts to credible, real-world climate impact.