Methane, a potent greenhouse gas, is responsible for about 30% of the global temperature increase observed since the industrial revolution.

China accounts for more than 10% of annual global human methane emissions, in large part due to unintended releases – known as “fugitive” emissions – from its energy sector.

In a recently published study, we take a closer look at China’s coal-mine methane (CMM) emissions, which account for roughly 40% of the nation’s total methane emissions.

Leveraging newly collected, mine-specific data, we develop granular estimates of CMM emissions in China since 2000.

These estimates reveal that China’s coal production is shifting towards provinces with lower-emission mines.

In addition, there has been a significant increase in the capturing of methane from coal mines for energy use.

Together, these developments have helped to limit the rise of CMM emissions, despite an overall increase in coal production since 2016.

Mine data

To estimate CMM emissions at a granular level, we needed to understand how emissions vary from one mine to the next across China.

To do this, we made use of existing safety regulations in China. As methane is a highly flammable gas, the Chinese government enforces mandatory methane gas level identification in coal mines and implements safety regulations accordingly.

Coal mines are categorised based on their “methane emission factors”, the volume of methane emitted per tonne of coal produced.

At one end are low-gas mines, with an emissions factor of less than 10 cubic metres (m3) of methane emitted per tonne of coal. At the other are high-gas mines, at more than 10m3 of methane emitted per tonne. Beyond this are “outburst” mines, which are those that have experienced coal seam or gas outburst incidents.

To get a clearer sense of how much low-gas, high-gas and outburst mines emit in practice, we built a model of the relationship between gas levels and emission factors, using a 2011 database of all Chinese coal mines.

This database includes information on methane gas levels, mine-specific emission factors, coalbed depth, mine ownership and production capacity. We further validated this relationship with newly collected coal mine data from 2023, published by Chinese local governments.

The results show that the distribution of emission factors, as shown in the figure below, varies significantly with gas level.

The top row in the figure below shows the emissions factors for a range of mines in 2011 classed as low-gas (top left, green), high-gas (top centre, pink) or outburst (top right, red). The dashed vertical lines show the central estimate for each type, ranging from 4.1m3 per tonne for low-gas mines through to 19.9m3/tonne for high-gas and 28.4m3/tonne for outburst mines.

The bottom row shows the same metrics based on the more recent 2023 data.

The strong correlation shown in the data above suggests that gas level is a crucial indicator of how much methane a coal mine emits.

In contrast, our analysis reveals no significant correlation between how much a coal mine emits and either coal mine depth or ownership.

Comparing the distributions for the same gas levels between 2011 and 2023 also shows that the link between gas levels and methane emissions remains fairly constant over time.

Therefore, the gas level of a mine can reliably serve as a proxy for its methane emissions per tonne of production, when direct measurements are unavailable.

Provincial shift

To estimate CMM emissions for each province in China, we assumed that the percentage of coal produced by mines of each gas level remains roughly constant as in 2011.

For instance, if 20% of Guizhou’s coal production in 2011 came from low-gas mines, we maintained this percentage for subsequent years.

We then calculated CMM emissions by multiplying provincial-level production-weighted emission factors by total coal production.

The line chart below illustrates our estimated CMM emissions since 2000.

The raw estimates, depicted by the lower grey dashed line, show a rapid increase in CMM emissions from approximately 5m tonnes in 2000 to nearly 21m tonnes in 2013.

This was followed by a decrease to 15m tonnes in 2016 and a subsequent rebound to 24m tonnes in 2023.

The decline between 2013 and 2016 aligns with a period of reduced coal production in China.

On the chart, the upper grey line represents CMM emissions when abandoned coal mines are included.

These mines, which continue to release methane long after operations cease, were responsible for 4.8m tonnes of methane emissions in 2020, contributing approximately 25% to the total CMM emissions.

Meanwhile, the blue line shows CMM emissions when the capture and use of methane in energy supply is taken into consideration.

National methane utilisation increased from 1.2m tonnes in 2008 to 3.7m tonnes in 2020, resulting in a reduction of total emissions by 5% and 17%, respectively.

It is noteworthy that CMM emissions did not immediately rebound after 2016, despite a reported increase in coal production by China’s National Bureau of Statistics.

This delay can likely be attributed to shifts in production locations to lower-emissions provinces, the closure of high-emissions mines and the adoption of technologies for capturing and using methane that effectively mitigate emissions.

The figure below compares CMM emissions across provinces in 2012 and 2021, two years with nearly identical total coal production levels.

Overall, changes in methane emissions closely mirrored shifts in where the coal was being mined. There is a clear geographic trend: production and emissions surged in northern and north-western regions such as Xinjiang, Shaanxi and especially Shanxi.

In fact, Shanxi alone emitted nearly 8m tonnes of coal-mine methane in 2021, making up roughly half of China’s total CMM emissions.

Meanwhile, both production and emissions dropped in south-western provinces, including Guizhou, Sichuan and Yunnan.

The figure shows that China’s coal production has switched from regions in the south-west where emissions per unit of coal production are relatively high, to lower-emission areas in the north and north-west. At the same time, total production levels have stayed similar, at just over 4bn tonnes in both 2012 and 2021.

Tackling methane

China has signalled its intention to address methane emissions, with key tasks for the next five years outlined in a national methane action plan published in 2023.

The broad trends of CMM emissions observed in this study will likely continue in China.

Small-scale coal mines – those producing less than 300,000 tonnes of coal per year – are at risk of closing or being consolidated, while increased production from large-scale, lower-emission mines in Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia will likely lead to an overall reduction in national production-weighted emission factors.

(This reduction in the rate of emissions per unit of coal production does not guarantee a reduction in methane emissions overall, as several analyses show this also depends on the total coal output. Even following closures, methane may still leak from abandoned mines.)

However, this regional shift in coal production – and, thus, methane emissions – could also help to address public health concerns from pollution associated with the gas.

The Chinese government has also introduced significant changes in policy on the capturing and use of methane gas. The Ministry of Ecology and Environment recently revised coal-mine methane standardsto mandate the capture and use of methane with concentrations above 8%, down from a previous 30%.

In addition, the government has a programme providing financial incentives for capturing methane and reducing CMM emissions.

Together, these measures could help China achieve its short- and medium-run methane capture and use goals set by the methane action plan.

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The post Guest post: How changes to coal mining have affected China’s methane emissions appeared first on Carbon Brief.

Guest post: How changes to coal mining have affected China’s methane emissions

There was a time, not long ago, when the buffalo roamed freely across the Great Plains in numbers so vast they seemed to stretch beyond the horizon. Historical estimates place the pre-colonial buffalo population between 30 and 100 million, a living force that sustained prairie ecosystems, supported biodiversity, and held together entire economies, spiritual practices, and ways of life for Métis and First Nations Peoples.

This was more than environmental abundance; it was a relational system. For the Métis, the buffalo were at the centre of trade, food security, culture, and kinship. Buffalo were not “resources,” they were relatives. The buffalo economy was communal and guided by principles of care, respect, and reciprocity. It brought together families, communities, and Nations in mutual reliance with the land.

Then came the destruction.

In the late 1800s, colonial governments initiated a calculated and systematic extermination of the buffalo. The goal was not just to clear the land for settlement, but to remove the source of life and autonomy for Indigenous Peoples. By destroying the buffalo, colonial powers aimed to starve First Nations and Métis Peoples into submission, forcing them into treaties, reserves, and colonial dependency. From tens of millions of buffalo, the population was reduced to fewer than 300. This genocide of the buffalo created intergenerational trauma that still reverberates today, not just ecological devastation, but cultural, spiritual, and social loss.

For Métis families like Colin Arlt’s, this history is personal. As a child, Colin visited Regina, where he first encountered the buffalo not on the land, but through a sculpture in the city’s downtown. He remembers standing before that statue, inexplicably drawn to it, not knowing why. That moment planted a seed.

As Colin grew older and learned about his Métis heritage, he discovered that he descends directly from Métis buffalo hunters who lived in close relationship with the herds, following migrations, harvesting sustainably, and providing for their family and communities within a framework of care, ceremony, and respect. That knowledge transformed Colin’s life. The buffalo became more than a symbol of the past; they became his relatives, his teachers, and his responsibility.

Colin also learned a history not often taught in classrooms. “During the era of buffalo genocide, it was Indigenous stewards and leaders, not colonial governments, who made the bold decision to protect and preserve the last remaining buffalo.” With foresight, care, and deep spiritual commitment, Indigenous families and communities took in the buffalo, nurturing them in secrecy and hardship, keeping alive not only the animals themselves but the spirit and culture tied to them.

Many of the buffalo that roam today are descendants of those early protected herds. The DNA of the buffalo cared for by Indigenous Peoples flows through the bloodlines of countless buffalo across North America. Colin often shares this with pride, reminding young and old alike that it was Indigenous Peoples who ensured the buffalo would survive, grow, and one day return in abundance to their ancestral lands. In a time of near extinction, when the environment and social conditions were hostile, Indigenous communities chose to nurture life, ensuring that future generations, both buffalo and human, would not only survive but thrive. For Colin, this is not just a historical fact, it is a teaching. It is a legacy of stewardship, resilience, and relational responsibility that continues today.

What Is Buffalo Culture?

Today, Colin is one of many Indigenous leaders calling for the restoration of what he and others refer to as buffalo culture. Buffalo culture is not just about the physical animal; it encompasses a comprehensive worldview. It is a relational system that includes:

• The ecological role of buffalo as land stewards and climate indicators
• The cultural practices tied to buffalo, including ceremonies, stories, and material culture such as hide preparation.
• The spiritual bonds between people, buffalo, and land are based on reciprocity and respect.
• Economic systems rooted in balance, trade, and sustainable use
• Inter-Nation collaboration and kinship building through buffalo care and shared responsibility.

Buffalo culture teaches us that humans are part of a larger web of life, not at its pinnacle. When the buffalo were nearly eradicated, this entire worldview was threatened. Reviving buffalo culture is about healing the land, the people, and the relationships between them.

Buffalo as Ecological Regulators: The Environmental Rewards of Restoration

Buffalo are not passive inhabitants of the land; they actively shape and regulate ecosystems. When properly stewarded, they restore life in profound and measurable ways. Here are just a few of the environmental rewards buffalo bring:

Grassland Regeneration

Buffalo grazing stimulates grass growth and prevents over-dominance of any one plant species. Their unique grazing habits maintain open grasslands, which are among the world’s most endangered and carbon-sequestering ecosystems.

Soil Health and Aeration

The weight of buffalo hooves breaks up soil crusts, allowing air and water to penetrate the earth. This supports plant diversity, water retention, and overall land resilience.

Biodiversity and Habitat Creation

Buffalo wallows, the depressions they create by rolling in the earth, collect rainwater, creating micro-habitats for insects, birds, amphibians, and other wildlife. Their dung fertilizes the land, contributing to a richer web of life.

Climate Indicators

Buffalo migrations, calving patterns, and movement behaviours are direct reflections of environmental shifts. Buffalo are living climate witnesses, teaching us how the land is changing.

The Buffalo Culture Collective: Restoring Kinship and Ecology

Based in Saskatchewan, the Buffalo Culture Collective is a growing community of stewards, Elders, knowledge holders, and educators dedicated to revitalizing buffalo culture in the modern world. For the Collective, buffalo restoration is not just about repopulating herds; it’s about reviving the cultural, ecological, and spiritual relationships that have always existed between the buffalo and Indigenous Peoples.

The Collective’s mission is to reconnect people with the buffalo in ways that heal the land, rebuild kinship, and foster cross-cultural education. Through workshops, hide rematriation, storytelling, and buffalo-centred teachings, the Collective works to bring the buffalo back into the heart of community life, not just as animals, but as relatives, teachers, and guardians of ecological balance.

Colin, alongside his mentors and peers, envisions the Buffalo Culture Collective as a space where people from all backgrounds, both Indigenous and non-Indigenous, can come together to learn, collaborate, and build a future rooted in shared care for the land and its more-than-human relatives.

The Collective focuses on:

• Education: Reintroducing buffalo knowledge to Métis, First Nations, and settler communities about the ecological, cultural, and spiritual significance of the buffalo
• Rematriation of Buffalo: bringing home buffalo by-products such as hides, skulls, bones, horns, hooves, and hearts, these items reconnect First Nations and Métis communities to the sacred responsibility of utilizing all parts of the buffalo, both edible and non-edible, for preparation, cultural practices, and land stewardship.
• Cultural Unity: envisioning a future relationship between First Nations and Métis Peoples rooted not in politics but in the shared care of the buffalo. Buffalo Culture Collective believes buffalo stewardship is a unifier, bringing people together in celebration, love, and kinship, beyond hardship and division.
• Environmental Stewardship: The Collective promotes the buffalo’s role in land health, teaching how herds support ecosystem regeneration, climate resilience, and community wellness
• Healing and Ceremony: Buffalo work is about restoring not just the land, but the spiritual and emotional balance of communities. It’s about bringing back the songs, ceremonies, and teachings that were nearly lost.

A Call to Action: Funding, Research, and Restoration

If we are serious about reconciliation, ecological restoration, and cultural resurgence, Canada must invest in buffalo restoration at all levels of government. This means:

• Funding buffalo-focused research that centers Indigenous knowledge systems and lived experiences, not just biology, but the full spectrum of buffalo culture.
• Investing in repopulation programs to expand buffalo herds and return them to their Indigenous lands and stewardship.
• Supporting the rematriation initiatives to reconnect communities with cultural practices and sacred responsibilities.
• Creating buffalo-based economies that respect the balance of nature while fostering local jobs, community well-being, and food security.
• Promoting cultural continuity by supporting Métis and First Nations teachings about the buffalo, ensuring these teachings thrive for future generations.

Buffalo restoration is not just an environmental issue; it is an act of nation-building, cultural healing, and ecological resilience.

Walking Forward Together

Across the prairies and beyond, Indigenous-led efforts to restore the buffalo are gaining momentum. From herd repopulation initiatives to the work of the Buffalo Culture Collective, a new era of buffalo-centred stewardship is emerging. For thousands of years, the buffalo cared for the people, providing food, shelter, tools, and teachings about how to live in balance with the land. Now, humanity has a responsibility to return that care. As one of Colin’s mentors reflected, it’s our turn to step forward. We must care for the buffalo, just as they once cared for us.

Colin believes that it’s time for all Canadians to step into this circle “the buffalo are calling us back into a relationship, the invitation is open.” He goes on to say, “Even if you’ve never seen a buffalo in its natural habitat, you are still part of this story. I encourage you to learn about the buffalo, to travel if you can, to stand in their presence, and to listen to the teachings they offer.” Leave with a sense of shared care and responsibility.

His final words are to “expand your understanding of what it truly means to be a steward of the land, not just to take from nature, but to give back, to protect, and to sustain life for the generations yet to come. This is not only about the buffalo’s future. It’s about yours, too.”

Get Involved

• Donate or advocate for Indigenous-led buffalo restoration projects.
• Support buffalo hide rematriation and cultural teaching programs through the Buffalo Culture Collective.
• Learn about the Buffalo Treaty and support its signatory Nations.
• Fund research that centers Indigenous science, culture, and ecological knowledge.
• Join the movement to restore buffalo culture, ecology, and economy for the land, the people, and future generations.

Want to learn more about the Buffalo Culture Collective or collaborate on buffalo preservation and education initiatives? Reach out to Colin at colin@buffaloculturecollective.ca.

You can also listen to Colin Arlt’s interview on the Indigenous Climate Hub Podcast on Spotify – Returning Buffalo, Restoring Kinship: A Conversation with Colin Arlt.

Blog by Colin Arlt and Rye Karonhiowanen Barberstock

Image Credits: Colin Arlt

The post Buffalo Are Not Just History: Restoring Kinship, Ecology, and Culture Through the Buffalo appeared first on Indigenous Climate Hub.

Buffalo Are Not Just History: Restoring Kinship, Ecology, and Culture Through the Buffalo

Janek Vahk is a circular economy and sustainability expert working to accelerate Europe’s transition to a zero-waste society. He is the zero-pollution policy manager at Zero Waste Europe.

By the end of July, the European Commission must decide whether to include municipal waste incineration in the EU Emissions Trading System. It may sound technical, but the decision will test the credibility of Europe’s climate leadership.

At a time when carbon markets are expanding worldwide and governments are under pressure to close loopholes, refuse incineration has become a growing blind spot in European climate policy.

Since 1990, emissions from the sector have roughly doubled. Today, garbage incinerators release tens of millions of metric tons of carbon dioxide each year, much of it from fossil fuel-based plastics. Yet unlike power plants, cement kilns or steel mills, incinerators do not pay for those emissions under the EU’s flagship carbon-pricing system.

If Europe is serious about reaching climate neutrality by 2050, this anomaly must be tackled.

Across several member states, waste-to-energy capacity is still expanding. These plants are built to operate for 30 to 40 years. At the same time, Europe has committed to reducing waste, increasing recycling and building a circular economy. The contradiction is obvious.

Incinerators require a steady stream of residual waste to remain financially viable. That creates structural tension with prevention and recycling targets. When infrastructure depends on waste, waste becomes something to secure rather than to reduce.

Excluding incineration from carbon pricing deepens that distortion. It makes burning comparatively cheaper than recycling, despite the climate cost of combusting fossil-based materials.

Including the sector in the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) would restore a basic principle: the polluter pays.

Policy patchwork

Europe would not be starting from scratch. The Netherlands and Norway already apply national carbon levies to waste incineration. Denmark and Sweden price most waste-to-energy emissions under the EU system, while Germany covers the sector through its national emissions trading scheme.

Britain has announced it will bring municipal waste incineration into its ETS from 2028.

These examples demonstrate that pricing emissions from waste is both feasible and politically workable. But fragmented national approaches risk distorting the single market and encouraging cross-border waste shipments driven by regulatory differences rather than environmental logic.

An EU-wide approach would create consistency and provide long-term certainty for investors.

Regulatory blind spot

Carbon pricing has already reshaped Europe’s power sector. As allowance prices rose, coal declined rapidly and investment shifted toward renewables. Industry is now responding to stronger carbon signals with electrification and efficiency measures.

Applying that logic to waste would change behaviour across the value chain. It would incentivise better sorting, more plastic recycling and upstream waste prevention. It would strengthen the economics of reuse and circular business models that cut emissions before waste even exists.

Without a carbon price, incineration remains a regulatory blind spot. With one, climate and resource policy finally align.

The timing matters beyond Europe. Carbon markets are spreading, from China’s national ETS to emerging schemes in other major economies. If the EU leaves a fast-growing emissions source outside its own system, it weakens its position as a standard setter in global carbon governance.

Roadmap launched to restart deadlocked UN plastics treaty talks

At the same time, landfills are facing stricter methane controls under updated EU rules. Tightening methane standards while leaving incineration outside the carbon price risks shifting emissions rather than reducing them.

This is not simply about waste management. It is about consistency in climate policy.

Europe has expanded its carbon market to maritime transport and introduced a carbon border adjustment mechanism. Leaving municipal waste incineration untouched would sit uneasily with that ambition.

By July, the Commission has a clear choice to make. Close the loophole and confirm that every significant source of fossil carbon must contribute to decarbonisation. Or explain why burning fossil-based waste should remain the exception in Europe’s climate rulebook.

If carbon markets are meant to drive systemic change, they cannot stop at the incinerator gate.

The post Will the EU finally make waste pay for its growing carbon footprint? appeared first on Climate Home News.

Will the EU finally make waste pay for its growing carbon footprint?