International trade substantially reshapes methane emissions from rice cultivation

Abstract Rice cultivation is a major source of methane, a potent greenhouse gas with significant climate implications. Official inventories report emissions based on domestic production, often overlooking the role of international trade in redistributing methane. Major exporters shift a substantial portion of emissions to consumers via trade. We provide a methane-focused global assessment of trade-adjusted emissions from rice cultivation, showing that international trade has increasingly reshaped the geographic distribution of rice-related methane emissions over the long term, with nearly 9% redistributed internationally in 2023, almost tripling since 1990. Regions previously considered low-emitting, including Europe, the Middle East, and parts of Africa, now carry a larger consumption-based methane footprint, with the EU27 nearly doubling its production-based emissions, Africa showing the largest divergence among continents, and the Middle East’s footprint driven almost entirely by imports. To ensure effective mitigation, policy frameworks should integrate trade- adjusted methane estimates so that commitments such as the Global Methane Pledge reflect the full lifecycle of rice production and consumption.