Beyond carbon alone: How action on superpollutants complements corporate decarbonization
Luke Pritchard, Director, Beyond Alliance and Anastasia O'Rourke, Managing Director at the Carbon Containment Lab
How action on methane and other superpollutants complements corporate decarbonization, strengthens companies’ climate transition plans and helps reduce near-term climate and health risks.
Deep decarbonization is central to keeping warming within safe limits and protecting lives and livelihoods. According to the IPCC, limiting long-term temperature rise to around 1.5 °C requires rapid and sustained reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, with global CO₂ emissions reaching net zero around mid-century alongside substantial cuts in other greenhouse gases. For businesses, cutting greenhouse gases across Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions remains the foundation of credible climate leadership.
But carbon dioxide is not the whole story.
Certain pollutants, particularly methane, nitrous oxide, black carbon and fluorinated gases, have much higher warming potential in the near term. Many are also shorter-lived in the atmosphere than CO2 which lingers for hundreds of years. Due to this combination of potency and lifespan, mitigating superpollutants is a powerful near-term climate lever. Crucially, addressing them does not replace deep decarbonization. It strengthens it.
Why near-term action matters
Climate change is already making many weather extremes more severe. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change finds that increases in heatwaves, heavy rainfall and other climate extremes are linked to rising global temperatures. Recent analysis of Hurricane Melissa, one of the most powerful storms to hit the Caribbean in 2025, found that climate change increased its wind speeds by about 7% and made rainfall near the storm’s centre roughly 16% heavier, as the warm atmospheric and ocean conditions that fuelled the storm have become far more likely due to global heating.
These extreme heat events may have profound effects – a recent study estimated that over half the world’s population will be living with extreme heat by 2050 if the world reaches 2.0°C of global warming.
Superpollutants are responsible for approximately half of the warming observed today, with methane alone accounting for roughly 30% of current warming.
This means that while CO₂ reductions determine the long-term temperature trajectory, superpollutant reductions influence how fast we get there. Research from the Environmental Defense Fund suggests that rapidly cutting methane emissions could slow the rate of warming by approximately 30% this decade. If we extend mitigation to the other superpollutants we can slow down the rate of warmer even faster.
The business case for action
Proactively and aggressively reducing superpollutant emissions, beyond those reduced by decarbonization, can avoid more than 0.5°C of warming by 2050. Research has shown that by mid-century, reducing superpollutants could prevent millions of premature deaths annually and save tens of millions of tonnes of crops annually. It will also improve air quality through reductions in particulate matter, soot, and tropospheric ozone.
Source: Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC), Global Methane Assessment: Benefits and Costs of Mitigating Methane Emissions, 2021.
Consequences of inaction
Failing to address superpollutants carries significant economic, climate and public health costs. According to analysis by the International Chamber of Commerce, extreme weather has cost the global economy an estimated $2 trillion over the past decade.
At the same time, short-lived climate pollutants are major drivers of air pollution. Black carbon, a component of fine particulate matter from incomplete combustion, contributes to the PM2.5 pollution linked to millions of premature deaths each year. Tropospheric ozone, a key component of smog, damages lung tissue, worsens asthma and reduces crop yields. Meanwhile, Methane is a powerful climate pollutant and an important precursor of ozone formation, amplifying both warming and air quality impacts.
Together, these superpollutants are responsible for a significant share of near-term warming and air pollution, meaning that rapid reductions can deliver immediate climate, health and economic benefits.
Corporate leadership in action
Faced with rising climate risks, leading companies are integrating superpollutant mitigation into broader climate strategies.
Workday, for example, is supporting the capping of orphaned oil and gas wells, a major source of methane emissions. By targeting methane, the company is helping to drive reductions equivalent to 200,000 metric tons of emissions through its agreement with Tradewater. To learn more about Tradewater’s work, view Beyond Alliance’s short film, From the Ground Up.
Google has also publicly committed to reducing high-global-warming-potential refrigerants and methane emissions within its climate strategy. Hydrofluorocarbons used in cooling systems can be hundreds or thousands of times more potent than CO₂. Through partnerships with Recoolit and Cool Effect focused on eliminating superpollutants, Google aims to prevent more than 25,000 tons of CO2e by 2030.
Value chain interventions are equally important. For example, Starbucks has launched a Dairy Methane Action Plan aimed at reducing methane emissions within its supply chain. For companies with large agricultural supply chains, methane mitigation is central to meeting Scope 3 targets.
Aligning with corporate net zero standards
Scope 3 inventories, as defined by the Greenhouse Gas Protocol, require companies to account for all greenhouse gases, including methane, nitrous oxide and fluorinated gases, across a wide range of value-chain activities. Tools such as the USEEIO supply-chain emission factor models show that non-CO₂ greenhouse gases occur throughout the economy in sectors ranging from agriculture and food production to industrial manufacturing and professional services. Identifying the specific sources of these emissions in any given company’s supply chain can be challenging for companies.
Companies with significant exposure to these activities in their operations or value chains may therefore need to address superpollutants to fully meet their existing climate targets.
Cutting CO₂ emissions remains the primary route to limiting long-term warming. Superpollutant mitigation does not change this goal: it complements it. By slowing the pace of warming in the near term, concurrent action on superpollutants buys time, reduces physical risk, protects human health, and strengthens the impact of long-term decarbonization strategies.
Strengthening impact through collaboration
The Beyond Alliance supports companies seeking to enhance the credibility and impact of their climate strategies, including through action on high-impact non-CO₂ emissions.
By convening businesses, sharing best practice and engaging policymakers, Beyond helps accelerate practical solutions across value chains, ensuring that near-term climate opportunities are not overlooked.
In 2026, the non-profit Carbon Containment Lab is developing a Roadmap for Corporate Action with Beyond Alliance and scientific experts. The Roadmap will highlight how companies can support progress on superpollutant action and outline how and where private capital can be deployed to achieve the greatest impact. Many superpollutant solutions are already tested and available today – with an influx of new capital, they can be scaled up to meaningfully address the near term challenge of warming.
Conclusion
Superpollutants sit at the intersection of climate integrity, operational resilience and public health. Acting on them strengthens corporate transition plans and accelerates progress toward existing science-based targets.
Companies that address all material greenhouse gases, not just carbon dioxide, will be better positioned to manage risk, meet stakeholder expectations and demonstrate credible climate leadership.
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