Implementing win-win exporter-importer methane abatement partnerships for a just transition

While the managed decline of oil and gas within the global energy mix is necessary to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement, global methane emissions are not reducing at the scale and pace needed to limit warming to a level consistent with Paris-aligned 1.5°C pathways. At the same time, many developing countries have outlined plans to utilise their reserves of natural gas as a transition fuel and data from the 2023 Production Gap Report shows that current government plans and would lead to an increase in global oil and gas production until at least 2050. Methane emissions are negative externalities of oil and gas production and therefore the responsibility of reducing these emissions should be shared across importing and producing countries as well as the companies active in the value chain. This is where the development of methane abatement partnerships between importing and producing countries could support developing countries to take the necessary steps to reduce methane emissions from oil and gas production to meet energy security concerns, while pursuing systemic change and green transformation. This event will discuss emerging cooperative frameworks between exporters and importers for enhanced international coordination and impact, such as the Coalition for LNG Emission Abatement toward Net-zero (“CLEAN”) spearheaded by Japan and the European Union’s Methane Abatement Partnerships Roadmap (“MAP”). It will also look into the enabling conditions for effective methane abatement in oil & gas developing countries, drawing on the OECD Development Centre’s report on Methane Abatement in Developing Countries: Regulations, Incentives and Finance.