您看不见、闻不到甲烷，但它在使地球变暖方面发挥着重要作用。这就是为什么亚马逊创始人杰夫·贝索斯的前妻麦肯齐·斯科特的捐赠值得再次审视。据《财富》杂志引用美联社的报道，斯科特向全球甲烷中心捐赠了6000万美元，该中心资助减少甲烷排放的项目。这笔捐款是她在2025年12月9日宣布的71亿美元新增捐款的一部分。
You cannot see or smell methane, yet it plays a big role in warming the planet. That’s why the gift from MacKenzie Scott, the former wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, is worth a second look. The Associated Press, in a report published by Fortune, said that Scott donated $60 million to the Global Methane Hub, which funds projects to reduce the gas. The gift was part of $7.1 billion in new donations she announced on December 9, 2025.
为什么这种看不见的气体如此重要甲烷来源于石油和天然气泄漏、农场和垃圾填埋场。由于甲烷无色无味，石油和天然气泄漏难以检测。根据政府间气候变化专门委员会第六次评估报告，在20年内，一吨甲烷捕获的热量大约是一吨二氧化碳的80倍。然而，甲烷在大气中的停留时间不如二氧化碳长。这一点对千禧一代和年轻人尤为重要，因为他们将经历未来几十年，这使得甲烷减排成为全球主要的气候目标。
Why an invisible gas is so importantMethane comes from sources like oil and gas leaks, farms, and landfills. It is hard to detect oil and gas leaks because the gas is invisible. Over 20 years, one tonne of methane traps about 80 times more heat than one tonne of carbon dioxide, according to the IPCC’s Sixth Assessment Report. Methane, however, does not stay in the atmosphere as long as carbon dioxide. This is important for millennials and young adults because they will live through the coming decades, which has made methane reduction a major climate target worldwide.
减少甲烷可能带来的影响联合国环境规划署和清洁空气与气候联盟共同发布的《全球甲烷评估》报告发现，到2030年，人为造成的甲烷排放有可能减少多达45%。报告作者解释说，甲烷分解得很快，因此减排可以在短期内减缓变暖。如此幅度的减排可防止到2045年变暖幅度比原本高出近0.3摄氏度。甲烷还参与形成地面臭氧，而地面臭氧是雾霾的主要成分之一，因此减少甲烷也能净化空气。
What cutting methane might doThe Global Methane Assessment, a report by the United Nations Environment Programme and the Climate and Clean Air Coalition, found that human-caused methane emissions could be reduced by as much as 45% by 2030. The assessment’s authors explained methane breaks down fast, so cuts can slow warming in the short term. Such a cut would prevent warming from being nearly 0.3°C higher by 2045. Methane also helps form ground-level ozone, a major component of smog, so reducing it would clean the air, too.
报告作者估计，45%的减排每年可避免26万人过早死亡、77.5万次哮喘相关的医院就诊以及2500万吨的农作物损失。这些是模型估算，而非实际承诺。
The authors estimated a 45% cut would prevent 260,000 premature deaths, 775,000 asthma-related hospital visits and 25 million tonnes of crop losses each year. These are model estimates, not real promises.
在发布会上，联合国环境署执行主任英格尔·安德森表示，削减甲烷是“我们在未来25年减缓气候变化的最有力杠杆”，并补充说这有助于减少二氧化碳的努力。斯科特的捐赠如何契合其中据美联社报道，这笔71亿美元使斯科特自2019年以来的累计捐赠达到263亿美元。她在其网站“Yield Giving”上公布了完整的受赠者名单。
At its release, UNEP Executive Director Inger Andersen said cutting methane is “the strongest lever we have to slow climate change over the next 25 years,” and that it complements efforts to cut carbon dioxide. How Scott's gift fits inThat $7.1 billion brought Scott’s giving since 2019 to $26.3 billion, according to AP. She posted the full list of recipients on her website, Yield Giving.
全球甲烷中心每年向甲烷项目拨款约1亿美元，此前曾收到斯科特的捐赠，美联社称此次6000万美元是她的第二笔捐赠。2025年，气候成为一个重要主题，而最大的一笔气候捐赠——9000万美元——授予了致力于阻止热带森林砍伐的组织“森林、人民、气候”。美联社还指出，斯科特早在2019年离婚后就曾表示，她计划将大部分财富用于捐赠。
The Global Methane Hub, which hands out about $100 million a year to methane projects, had received a gift from Scott before, AP said, making this $60 million her second. Climate was a big theme in 2025, and the biggest climate gift, $90 million, was awarded to Forests, People, Climate, a group working to stop tropical deforestation. AP also noted Scott had first said she would give away most of her wealth in 2019, after her divorce from Bezos.
她的捐赠是无限制的，因此受赠机构可以自行决定如何使用这些资金，无需申请或提交进展报告。仅靠资金还不够资金只是拼图中的一部分。根据评估，针对甲烷的大多数具体措施集中在化石燃料行业，因为在这一行业中甲烷泄漏更易被发现和处理。大约60%的这些措施成本较低，而改善废弃物管理也可能起到帮助作用。
Her gifts are unrestricted, so groups get to decide how to spend the money without having to apply for the funds or file progress reports. Money alone is not enoughFunding is only one piece of the puzzle. According to the assessment, most of the measures specific to methane are in the fossil fuel industry, in which methane leaks are easier to detect and address. About 60% of these measures are low-cost, and better waste management could help too.
成本与收益的分析是按国家逐项进行的，以帮助政策制定者确定最佳起点。该中心表示，它将资金用于能源、农业和废弃物项目，并致力于到2030年将全球甲烷排放量较2010年水平降低35%。这是该中心自身的目标，而联合国环境署的45%则表明在现有措施下技术上可实现的水平，因此这两个数字并不构成相互竞争的预测。
The analysis of costs and benefits was conducted country by country to help policymakers identify the best starting point. The Hub says that it allocates funds to energy, agriculture, and waste programs and works toward cutting global methane emissions 35% by 2030, measured against 2010 levels. That is the Hub’s own target, while UNEP’s 45% shows what is technically possible with available measures, so the two figures are not competing forecasts.
实现这一目标需要政府、企业和社区的共同努力，而不仅仅是捐赠。斯科特的6000万美元捐赠 alone 不能弥合这一差距。
Such a goal would require joint efforts of governments, businesses, and communities, not only donations. Scott’s $60 million will not close that gap alone.
但正如该中心首席执行官向美联社所言，这种灵活的资金可以在政府和企业决定行动速度时起到桥梁作用。
But, as the Hub’s CEO told AP, flexible funding like this can act as a bridge while governments and businesses decide how fast to move.