Up till now, research on greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) has mainly focussed on those from the terrestrial landscape. But new evidence has revealed that rivers are emitting a lot more GHGs than previously assumed. However, there is a lack of sufficient, accurate data to properly quantify these emissions in developing countries.

While efforts have been made to improve this, different measurement techniques have resulted in inconsistent reporting. Comparison of these techniques has shown an absence of consensus between them. This lack of standardisation most likely explains the discrepancies.