Catalyzing Methane Action – Regulatory Approaches for Methane Reduction

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(Baku)
Iraqi Pavilion
Baku

Methane is responsible for a third of net warming since the Industrial Revolution and is over 80 times more powerful than CO2 at warming the atmosphere over a 20-year timeline. According to a recent IEA, UNEP/CCAC report, decarbonizing our economies and transitioning out of fossil fuels to achieve net zero by 2050 must go hand in hand with full implementation of targeted methane abatement by 2030 to keep our 1.5 °C target within reach. Neither focus alone will help us bend the curve of global warming fast enough. All least cost pathways consistent with 1.5 °C require full implementation of methane targeted measures by 2030 to cut emissions by 30-60% below 2020 levels by 2030.  

The good news is that this is achievable. Proven technologies and practices could reduce emissions from the major sectors, i.e. fossil fuel, waste and agriculture, by approximately 180 million tonnes a year, or as much as 45% by 2030.

The highest potential of no net cost measures is in the fossil fuel sector, in part due to the market value of the gas collected instead of being released into the atmosphere. According to the IEA, based on the average natural gas prices from 2017-2021, around half of the options to reduce methane emissions from oil and gas operations worldwide could be implemented at no net cost; based on 2022 prices this rose to around 80%. While the methane emissions intensity of oil and gas operations varies greatly across countries and assets, best performing countries have an emissions intensity over 100 lower than the worst performers. Measurement of emissions helps detect emissions all the way to the asset level.

Many countries have made a political commitment by joining the Global Methane Pledge. The Pledge sets a global target, which aims to reduce global human-caused methane emissions by 30% by 2030, from 2020 levels by 2030.  

The oil and gas sector is the second largest source of methane emissions globally and presents the best low-cost mitigation potential for methane emissions with technically feasible solutions. The report “The Imperative of Cutting Methane from Fossil Fuels” by the International Energy Agency (IEA) in partnership with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the UNEP-convened Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC) finds the fossil fuel sector has a critical role to play in cutting methane emissions to a level consistent with 1.5°C scenario. Reductions in methane emissions from fossil fuel operations will likely need to provide half of the reduction in total methane emissions from human activities needed to 2030 to limit warming to 1.5 °C.  

This side event is organised jointly between the Republic of Iraq, and the UNEP-convened Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC),  to promote a policy dialogue and provide awareness raising on pathways to harness and scale up the solutions, with a particular focus on  regulatory approaches for accelerating action on methane in the fossil fuel sector. 

Event resources