2021 marked a united global front against the methane emissions. Emerging, in the fight against climate change, as a success story at the United Nations Cop26, where more than 100 countries signed a pledge to reduce its emissions by 30% by 2030. In addition, methane has also been the subject of the current campaign of EU regulation, culminating in the long-awaited legislative proposal from the European Commission. Unfortunately, the new EU plan fails to seize the moment. To pronounce on it Dagmar Droogsma, assistant vice president european strategy & engagement at Environmental Defense Fund Europe.
Methane is a potent greenhouse gas, second only to carbon dioxide in its contribution to climate change. It is more powerful than carbon dioxide in warming the atmosphere (80 times as much) even though it is a short-lived climate pollutant. Emissions from oil and gas energy activities, agriculture and other industrial uses are responsible for more than 25% of current warming. Therefore, mitigating methane pollution is the most effective and fastest opportunity to reduce the rate of warming immediately, while continuing to pursue cleaner forms of energy to decarbonise the economy.
According to Droogsma, the legislation establishes a relevant technical approach aimed at the block companies, including rules governing the measurement and reporting of emissions, the detection and repair of leaks and the end of venting and flaring practices burning the excess methane rather than capturing it and selling it as natural gas).
However, the legislative proposal does not address the issue of emissions associated with cheap imports, which make up 85% of European gas consumption. Most of the methane from these sources is released before the gas enters the EU. And yet – according to the proposal – these “upstream” methane emissions will continue to be unregulated.
“This – coupled with some shortcomings around EU domestic coverage – is reflected in the fact that the proposed legislation is applied to only one tenth of total methane emissions from the EU gas supply chain,” continued the avp.
“This must not happen. After all, the EU is no stranger to banning goods that don't comply with its social and environmental rules: cars that don't meet emission standards, appliances that don't meet eco-design requirements, and even foods like chocolate are all subject goods. to certain production standards”.
Thesis supported by a research at the beginning of the year byEnvironmental Defense Fund showed that by fully applying known solutions in energy sectors such as oil and gas, global methane emissions could be halved, thereby avoiding 0,25 degrees Celsius of additional warming by 2050 and more than 0,5 degrees Celsius by the end of the century.
Thus, "excluding methane emissions from imported gas means missing out on an enormous opportunity (as well as putting EU-based producers at a competitive disadvantage)", according to Droogsma. Perhaps sensing a shift in public and political debate, MEPs have shown a clear understanding of the opportunity at hand.
As for the EU member states, they should “exploit the international momentum. In October, an overwhelming majority in the European Parliament called on the Commission to raise the level of ambition of EU methane policy, including binding methane emission reduction targets.
Even a working group of major energy companies (including Shell, BP and TotalEnergies) agreed that it is "crucial to address methane emissions from both natural gas imports and domestically produced natural gas".
Edf's avp concluded bluntly: “The science is clear: actions to mitigate methane emissions are currently the fastest way to slow global warming. What is not clear is whether Europe as a whole really has the ambition to take serious action and show its leadership in the fight against climate change”.
