Australia has a massive coal mine methane problem. Methane leaking from Australian coal mines has almost doubled the climate impact every year of all of Australia's cars. Coal mine methane is a term which refers to the methane released from coal seams as a result of mining. Global estimates of coal mine methane indicate that it's a large contributor to climate change. Now Australia is a major producer, exporter and user of coal which means that coal mine methane forms a significant proportion of its greenhouse gas emissions and poses a huge challenge to achieving the country's emission reduction targets. The methane leaking from coal mines has been overlooked for years but the scale of emissions means they can no longer be ignored. At the current level methane leaking from coal mines will put Australia's modest 2030 climate targets well out of reach. When you consider the short-term impact of methane this means it actually has a bigger climate impact than all of Australia's car emissions annually. Tackling coal mine methane emissions really is the low hanging fruit in the fight against climate change. Quick winds such as plugging the leaks from existing coal mines using existing technology or banning venting will all help towards reducing significantly reducing coal mine methane emissions. The methane leaking from coal mines is already a big problem but it's likely to be far worse than we think. According to the International Energy Agency there is twice as much methane leaking from Australia's coal mines and official estimates suggest this is after a number of independent satellite measurements which have been uncovering the under-reporting of methane emissions from Australian coal mines. In order to understand how big this problem is emission factor based reporting must be replaced with direct source and site level methane measurements. The most effective way to address coal mine methane emissions is to reduce the use of coal particularly in energy generation. Reducing coal use putting a stop to new coal projects and pursuing socially just pathways to early retirement for the country's gaseous mines really is crucial to this. There are also some quick and easy steps like improved monitoring and capturing which are the low-hanging fruit in Australia's effort to combat climate change. Abatement techniques for CMM are already widely available and requirements such as capturing methane prior to production, capturing utilizing ventilation and methane and vaning venting really should be standard industry practice. Australia has a moral responsibility to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions but increasingly it also needs to reduce emissions to remain globally competitive as the trading nation. Failing to address direct methane emissions poses a risk to trade relationships with countries like Japan and South Korea which unlike Australia have signed the global methane pledge. China has also announced a methane action plan aimed at cutting methane emissions in major industries including coal mining. Australia is falling behind in a race it could be winning. The technology exists but companies are not incentivised to deploy it. It's up to the Australian government to legislate a robust and well thought out plan to rapidly reduce its easy to tackle leaks in the short term and meanwhile jump starting a just transition to phase out coal.