Oil and Gas Methane Partnership (OGMP) 2.0 Virtual Launch Ceremony

The United Nations Environment Programme, the European Commission, the Environmental Defense Fund and the Climate and Clean Air Coalition are hosting a high-level event in the run up to the Climate Ambition Summit, to highlight the mitigation opportunities that stem from comprehensive action on tackling methane in the oil and gas industry.

This virtual event will launch the Oil and Gas Methane Partnership (OGMP) 2.0, a voluntary initiative that helps companies transparently report and reduce methane emissions in the oil and gas sector. The high-level event will officially launch the new OGMP 2.0 framework, providing an overview of the changes to the reporting framework, new company membership, and steps for the future. It will also kick-off a dialogue with key actors at the national and international level and will be an opportunity to call on new partners to join the partnership.

Session objectives

• Highlight how international coordinated efforts are needed to credibly address methane emissions from the oil and gas sector with the urgency and the scale required by science
• Discuss actions needed to ensure that as long as fossil fuels are part of the energy mix, their methane emissions are minimized globally
• Inspire  other  companies  and  countries  to  take  action  to  curb  methane  emission  through  specific  policies  and  regulations, including by incentivizing the use of natural gas with the lowest possible methane emissions intensity

 
Speakers

• Inger Andersen, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations, Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme
• Kadri Simson, Commissioner for Energy, European Union
• Fred Krupp, President, Environmental Defense Fund
• H.E. Minister Dr. Mohammad Mahmood Abubakar, Minister of Environment, Federal Republic of Nigeria
• Marcelino Oreja Arburúa, Chief Executive Officer, Enágas
• Paolo Gallo, Chief Executive Officer, Italgas
• Gordon Birrell, EVP of Production and Operations, BP
• Mr. Nigel Topping, UK High Level Climate Action Champion, COP26

Context

Methane, escaping across oil and gas production, processing, transmission, and distribution totals over 6.7 billion tons of CO2 equivalent each year, equal to 16 percent of all human made CO2 emissions. While the oil and gas industry is responsible for one-third of anthropogenic methane emissions, it is the sector with the highest potential for reductions. Our ability to meet the Paris Agreement and avoid exceeding 1.5 °C of warming depends on the global oil and gas industry’s willingness to reduce methane emissions. Methane emission reductions from the oil and gas sector could reduce global temperature rise by 0.2 degrees by 2030 and a third of a degree by the end of the century.

About the OGMP

The OGMP, launched at the UN Climate Summit in 2014, was created by the Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC) as a voluntary initiative to help companies reduce methane emissions in the oil and gas sector. Managed by UNEP, OGMP is the only multi-stakeholder partnership working on methane emissions reporting. It provides a protocol to help companies systematically manage their methane emissions from oil and gas operations and offers a credible platform to help member companies demonstrate actual reductions to industry stakeholders.