Global Methane Alliance regional meeting: Cote d'Ivoire

A high-level meeting promoting reduction of methane emissions from oil and gas operations was held in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire on November 6, 2019. Convened by UN Environment Programme and hosted by the Ivorian Ministry of Environment, the event brought together key country leaders from regional governments, representatives from national and international oil companies, and local and international experts. The meeting aimed to discuss targets to reduce methane emissions from the oil and gas sector, develop plans to reflect these targets in the next round of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), and identify concrete support mechanisms to achieve these targets.

With representatives from Cote d’Ivoire, Nigeria, Senegal, Norway, BP, Total, Eni (representing the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative), Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), the Environmental Defense Fund, and the Clean Air Task Force, the event informed participants on the state of play of international best practices, technologies and opportunities, while also highlighting current efforts in the sector.

Key takeaways from the meeting include:

• Cote d’Ivoire and Nigeria formally announced their membership to the Global Methane Alliance, therefore adopting its targets and committing to include them in their new NDC.
• Senegal indicated its interest in receiving support to further study the mitigation potential of the sector as well as the environmental and social impacts of different measures.
• OGCI confirmed their commitment and support of their companies, and stated their availability to support countries in defining policies and technical solutions.
• The participating NGOs also offered support to countries that want to explore regulatory pathways to reducing emissions, as well as technical solutions and modelling tools to estimate emissions and assess mitigation potential
• There’s an overall support for methane mitigation in the sector, as countries and companies understand that much can be done in the short term with available technologies and best practices