TED Talks Daily - The best way to lower Earth’s temperature — fast | Daniel Zavala-Araiza

Episode Date: April 4, 2025

There's an invisible super-pollutant heating up the planet — but it's surprisingly easy to reduce, if we try. Revealing how methane contributes (way) more in the short term to global warming than carbon dioxide, chemical engineer Daniel Zavala-Araiza highlights the emerging technologies and bold new policies that are part of a worldwide effort to hold oil and gas companies accountable for polluting our skies with this harmful gas. It's an optimistic glimpse into a future where global cooperation and cutting-edge monitoring could rapidly slow climate change. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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This episode is sponsored by Edward Jones. You know, as I talk about these big ideas that shape our world, I sometimes think about the decisions that have impact on our daily lives, like financial decisions. That's where Edward Jones comes in. Earning money is great,

but true fulfillment in life isn't just about growing your wealth. It's about using your resources to achieve your personal goals. And Edward Jones gets this. Their advisors take time to understand you as an individual. They build trusted relationships to help you develop strategies that align with your unique goals. What's special about Edward Jones is their holistic approach. They see financial health as a key part of overall wellness,

just as important as physical or mental wellbeing. It's not about chasing dollars, it's about finding balance and perspective in your financial life. That's something anyone should be able to achieve. Ready to approach your finances with a fresh perspective? Learn more at edwardjones.ca. Money's a thing, but it's not everything. You're listening to TED Talks Daily where we bring you new ideas to spark your

curiosity every day. I'm your host, Elise Hugh. When methane mitigator Daniel Zavala-Arraiza was growing up in Mexico City, the smog was so thick, you could literally see the air you were breathing. Through a series of policy changes, smart data usage, and new environmental programs, the city started to drastically improve its air quality. Today, Mexico City is seen as a leader

in the urban fight against climate change. So in his 2024 talk, Daniel shares some more examples of data-driven climate policy that make him hopeful for the future. That's coming up. Esta es una historia de esperanza. This is a story about hope. I grew up in Mexico City, and as a little kid,

I had no clue about global climate change, the problem I'm working on in Europe today. But I did know air pollution. The smog was so thick back then that you could literally see the air you were breathing. Today, Mexico City's air is dramatically cleaner. What changed? A combination of policy and data.

Mexico City started inspecting vehicles every six months, using cleaner fuels and improving energy efficiency. Mexico City's air pollution problem dropped from number one in the world to 999. I realized firsthand how this combination of smart policy and data significantly improved the air in my city. And it was clear to me. I wanted to make a career out of finding solutions to pollution.

I studied chemical engineering in Mexico and went to Austin, Texas for my PhD. And that's where I found about the huge climate problem caused by methane, which also happens to be the main component of natural gas. In the short term, methane is more than 80 times more potent than CO2, trapping heat in the atmosphere.

Let's compare this year's CO2 emissions from burning fossil fuels to this year's methane emissions. There's way, way more CO2. But this methane will cause as much warming over the next 10 years as all of that CO2. This methane will cause as much warming over the next 10 years as all of that CO2. My research team in Texas uses newer handheld devices to detect and quantify methane emissions from oil and gas facilities.

This is something very important. Once you're able to know where the leaks are coming from, the solutions are extremely simple, and in most cases, they're not expensive at all. I realized that methane pollution from the oil and gas industry is so important that five years ago, I packed my things and moved my entire family from Texas to Europe

to do something about it. But does that make any sense? I moved from Texas, which is one of the world's major oil and gas-producing regions, to Europe, who is already pushing to phase out fossil fuels. What was I thinking, and why was I needed in Europe? Well, let me explain.

The EU has set a very ambitious goal to become climate neutral by 2050, and this is part of a European Green Deal. Climate neutral means more than reducing greenhouse gas emissions within Europe's borders. It also means not importing products that are costing emissions elsewhere. For example, what if oil and gas companies were releasing huge amounts of methane as they drill for the oil and gas that they want to send to Europe?

The good news is that the EU recently passed a landmark law to avoid that from happening. And this is how it works. To gain access to the European oil and gas market, which today remains one of the largest in the world, companies all around the world are going to have to cut their methane emissions, just as European producers are also required to do.

The details are still being sorted out, but this access to market is likely to be based on methane intensity, that is, the total amount of methane emissions as a percentage of production. For example, companies could be held to a standard of as little as two-tenths of one percent of their production. As with all policies, success depends on implementation.

And the EU methane policy still needs to be implemented across the 27 member states. Now, here's something really important. How are we going to know that oil and gas companies 27 member states. Now, here's something really important. How are we going to know that oil and gas companies all around the world are actually complying with this? How are we going to be able to check that emissions are really going down, which, of course, at the end of the day, is what we need to see?

It sounds unrealistic that we could walk around the world with those handheld devices like the ones my team was using in Texas. But the good news is that methane monitoring tools have significantly evolved, and scientists have developed newer sensors that work from larger distances, first from airplanes,

and most recently, from space. MethaneSat and other satellites are already scanning the globe, looking at all those different places where oil and gas production is taking place. They're already delivering accurate methane data in near real time, which is at the heart of making the new EU methane strategy work. It also explains why the EU helped establish the International Methane Emissions Observatory,

where I do some of my work. This observatory is not a telescope. It's a global data hub, hosted by the UN Environment Program, and it's already bringing together data from different satellites and monitoring tools. It will soon allow us to measure, monitor, report and verify methane emissions from different oil and gas producers

in a consistent way. The world is watching as this unprecedented public access to data promises to hold oil and gas producers accountable for their emissions. Data will make a difference, just as it did in Mexico City. And we got momentum. More than 50 companies representing 40 percent of global oil and gas production

have already committed to reduce their own methane emissions by almost 90 percent by the end of this decade. And more than 150 countries have already signed the global methane pledge, committing to serious methane action. Of course, all of this commitment and pledges need to become real. And Europe is just the beginning. Already, Japan and South Korea have formed a coalition and are also looking at methane emissions as a condition

to access their own oil and gas import market. In a sense, the EU methane policy can serve as a blueprint as other countries and regions implement data-driven climate action, even beyond methane. For example, we could look at the emission footprint from other products, such as cement, steel or wood. Or we could look at other sources of methane beyond oil and gas,

such as agriculture and landfills. My day-to-day work as a scientist revolves around data, technology and policy. But I'm also a father of two little kids, which makes my hope for the future deeply, deeply personal. Picking out the pace at which we face out fossil fuels will dramatically shape and change the world our kids will inherit, and we need to do this fast.

But in the meantime, cutting methane emissions is by far the fastest way to slow warming today, having an immediate impact for the people, just as Mexico City did with air pollution by using data and policy when I was a little kid. Y es por eso que tengo esperanza. This is why I'm hopeful, because we're using data not only to understand the methane problem,

but to actually fix it. Thank you. Applause That was Daniel Zavala, Ariza at TED Countdown's Dilemma Event in Brussels in 2024. If you're curious about Ted's curation, find out more at ted.com slash curation guidelines. And that's it for today's show. Ted Talks Daily is part of the TED Audio Collective. This episode was produced and edited by our team, Martha Estefanos, Oliver Friedman, Brian

Green, Lucy Little, Alejandra Salazar, and Tonsika Sarmarnivon. It was mixed by Christopher Fazy-Bogan. Additional support from Emma Tobner and Daniela Ballarezzo. I'm Elise Hu. I'll be back tomorrow with a fresh idea for your feed. Thanks for listening. This episode is sponsored by Edward Jones. You know, as I talk about these big ideas that shape our world, I sometimes think about the decisions that have impact on our daily lives, like financial decisions. That's where Edward Jones comes in. Earning money is great, but true fulfillment in life isn't just about growing your wealth. It's about using your resources to achieve your personal goals. And Edward Jones gets this. Their advisors take time to understand you as an

individual. They build trusted relationships to help you develop strategies that align with your unique goals. What's special about Edward Jones is their holistic approach. They see financial health as a key part of overall wellness, just as important as physical or mental well-being. It's not about chasing dollars, it's about finding balance and perspective in your financial life. That's something anyone should be able to achieve. Ready to approach your finances with a fresh perspective? Learn more at edwardjones.ca. Money's a thing, but it's not everything. This episode is sponsored by Audible Canada. If you loved The Hunger Games or the Ballad

of Songbirds and Snakes, get ready, because the games are about to get even bigger. Sunrise on the Reaping takes us back to the 50th Hunger Games, the infamous Quarter Quell where, for the first time ever, double the tributes means double the danger. And the center of it all? A young Haymitch, long before he became Katniss's sharp-tongued mentor. His story is packed with fierce challenges, unexpected alliances, and shocking twists that will keep you hooked from start to finish. And the best part?

You can listen to it right now on Audible. So lose yourself in Sunrise on the Reaping available now at audible.ca slash sunrise. I used to say I just feel stuck, stuck where I don't want to be, stuck trying to get to where I really need to be. But then I discovered lifelong learning, learning that gave me the skills to move up, move beyond, gain that edge, drive my curiosity, prepare me for what is inevitably next. The University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies. Lifelong learning to stay forever unstuck.