https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-026-02555-7
"National greenhouse gas inventories systematically undercount methane and
nitrous oxide emissions from wastewater due to outdated methods and incomplete
coverage. Addressing these discrepancies is essential to strengthen
transparency in global climate efforts and improving the effectiveness of
national mitigation strategies.
The policy problem
Wastewater systems are important sources of methane (CH₄) and nitrous oxide
(N₂O), both are potent greenhouse gases. Accurate accounting of these emissions
is essential to support effective mitigation and policy action. Yet, the
emissions from wastewater systems are often under-represented in national
inventory reports (NIRs) primarily due to outdated accounting methodologies and
a failure to capture the full scope of emission sources, ranging from
decentralized systems to centralized treatment facilities and discharge of
treated and untreated wastewater. Furthermore, the use of different accounting
methods and inconsistent omission of key emission sources among countries make
it difficult to compare data across nations and lead to widespread
under-reporting. These discrepancies are especially problematic under the Paris
Agreement, where national inventories form the basis of countries’ climate
pledges, as well as the Global Stocktake that monitors the mitigation efforts.
Strengthening the completeness and consistency of these inventories is
therefore crucial for credible climate targets and informed policy decisions."
Via Muse.
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
