Satellites from GHGSat detected 25 million metric tons of methane emissions from 127 countries in 2025, a new company report says, which GHGSat says is important since methane has “warming potency” more than 80 times that of carbon dioxide over two decades.
GHGSat said it detected 28,224 plumes last year, with 17,873 of those found by satellite; the remainder were found using aircraft designed for more precise targeting of plumes (10,096) and global survey (255). A plume from a “super-emitter” is considered to be above 100 kg/hr, and GHGSat said its satellite and aircraft measurements monitored nearly three million facilities last year.
“Accelerating energy transition, rising energy demand, persistent fossil fuel dependence, geopolitical realignment, and inconsistent policy converged into a year of genuine uncertainty,” GHGSat officials stated of the report, which was released this week. “Against that backdrop, the data tells a consistent story: Methane emissions remain widespread—often under-reported—and eminently addressable with the right tools.”
The report came a few days after GHGSat joined the European Union-led project called POSEIDON (Pollution Observation from Space: Environmental Imagery for Detections in the Oceans & Nearshore). The three-year, €5 million ($8.1 million) initiative is led by Kongsberg Satellite Services and includes 10 partners, such as Canada, Norway, the Maldives, the Netherlands, Germany, South Korea, and Greece. The initiative uses optical and radar satellite technology for maritime monitoring, for matters such as oil spills, chemicals, waste or emissions from ships.
“Joining POSEIDON reflects our conviction that the world’s most urgent environmental challenges require the world’s most advanced monitoring capabilities,” GHGSat CEO Stephane Germain said in a June 12 statement. “We are proud to bring GHGSat’s precise emissions intelligence to this multinational effort and to demonstrate how Canadian innovation can help protect Europe’s oceans and secure its energy future.”
GHGSat’s operational satellite fleet stands at 15, including the launches of four more satellites in 2025 (two in June and two in November). The company used the new report to highlight its work in both methane and carbon dioxide observations, as well as to discuss global trends in detection and mitigation.
A gap between methane measurement and reporting
In terms of methane, satellite observations by GHGSat stood at 88,795 last year, representing a more than 14% growth over the 77,613 obtained in 2024. “Methane remains the fastest near-term lever available to slow planetary warming,” the company stated in the report.
Satellite measurements of methane exceed emissions reported to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change by 15%, added GHGSat, which cited a Nature study in 2025 led by the Space Research Organisation Netherlands’ Matthieu Dogniaux and including GHGSat participation.
“Landfill emissions are substantial and persistent, significant uncertainty remains in current inventory estimates,” GHGSat stated of the research. “This uncertainty has direct consequences for climate policy: If inventories undercount landfill methane, abatement efforts may be systematically underscoped. The Nature study reinforces what GHGSat has observed in its own data year, after year: Landfills are among the most persistent emitters we measure.”
Detections across the world
The top regional emitters of methane, detected by GHGSat, were Asia (24%), Eurasia (24%) and North America (20%). On a worldwide basis, oil and gas was the top sector by emissions at 49%, with waste representing 29% and mining 16%. By site emission rates, however, waste has an average rate of more than 1,000 kg/hr, with mining at more than 900 kg/hr and oil and gas nearly 400 kg/hr. The company says other methane sources are found in agriculture, chemicals and power generation.
GHGSat does not only monitor methane. Its carbon-dioxide-monitoring satellite, called GHGSat-C10 or Vanguard, launched in 2023 and is designed to find individual targets on the ground. Vanguard continued scientific validation in 2025 and has found carbon dioxide sources in power plants in Algeria, India, South Africa and the U.S., the company stated.
“As carbon markets mature and corporate reporting obligations deepen, independent facility-level CO₂ measurement will become a key tool for validating decarbonization claims,” GHGSat stated in the report.
Detections by sector
The company also provided status reports on methane reviews in different sectors.
Oil and gas: This was 49% of detected emissions in 2025, and GHGSat said generally it is seeing stricter regulatory frameworks and more operator willingness to fix leaks and flares. By region:
- Canada is implementing federal methane regulations, and the EU Methane Regulation (from 2024) is moving into implementation.
- The United States is reviewing its Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program and has delayed its Waste Emissions Charge, although Colorado and California have implemented independent requirements.
- GHGSat also praised the South Korean- and Japanese-led CLEAN (Coalition for LNG Emission Abatement toward Net-zero), for highlighting emissions visibility in liquid natural gas (LNG) since the program launched in 2023.
Waste: Landfills represented 29% of emissions found by GHGSat in 2025, with the majority found in North America. But the company emphasized these emissions are found worldwide, and that the issue is “universal.” Several countries last year, GHGSat added, implemented or advanced the “reducing methane from organic waste” initiative to which 65 nations signed on in 2024 at the UN Climate Change Conference.
Mining: This represented 16% of emissions found by GHGSat, with the majority in Africa. Globally, coal mines are “one of the most undermonitored” sources, according to GHGSat. The company also measured coal, steel and other sectors working alongside the UK Space Agency and the UN Environment Programme’s International Methane Emissions Observatory. GHGSat highlighted progress in areas such as Poland and China, in terms of regulatory work and tracking.