Recent developments toward the control of methane and carbon dioxide emissions will be discussed. First, a significant step forward toward understanding biological methane oxidation in a methanotroph has been made with the 2.5 Å cryo-EM structure of the particulate methane monooxygenase (pMMO) from Methylococcus capsulatus (Bath). This advance has led to the development of a biomimetic catalyst together with a promising technology for efficient and selective methane oxidation in aqueous solution under ambient conditions. Second, new insights into the chemistry of photocatalytic reduction of carbon dioxide have emerged. With a deeper understanding of the chemistry, this strategy of CO₂ reduction has the potential to become significantly more efficient for the mitigation of this greenhouse gas.