Global methane pledge launched at COP26

The European Union (EU) and the US formally launched a Global Methane Pledge to deliver a 30% reduction in methane emissions by 2030 (based on 2020 levels) at the UN COP26 climate summit in Glasgow.

In addition to the EU and US, some 103 countries have signed up, representing nearly 50% of oil and gas methane emissions worldwide. Signatories included the UK, the United Arab Emirates, Nigeria and Pakistan. However, some of the world's top emitters of methane, such as China, Russia and India, have yet to join.

‘We have to act now. We cannot wait for 2050; we have to cut emissions fast,’ said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at the launch. ‘Cutting back on methane emissions is one of the most effective things we can do to reduce near-term global warming, it is the lowest-hanging fruit.’

‘What we do in this decade... is going to impact whether or not we can meet our longer-term commitment,’ said US President Joe Biden, speaking alongside von der Leyen. ‘One of the most important things we can do... to keep 1.5°C within reach is to reduce our methane emissions as quickly as possible.’

At the conference, President Biden announced that the US would be taking regulatory steps to rein in methane emissions. According to GlobalData, methane emissions from the US’ oil and gas sector currently account for 35% of total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions on a CO₂-equivalent basis, with significant amounts from equipment leaks, natural gas-powered pneumatic devices and other gas venting.

The market analyst forecasts that proposed US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rules could eliminate 41mn tonnes of methane by 2035 by introducing performance standards that require states to reduce emissions, the first regulation of its kind. The regulation would also include restrictions on the use of pneumatic devices and venting emissions, as well as encouraging the use of advanced leak detection technologies. The Department of Transportation will also tackle the issue, by reducing potentially dangerous leaks in natural gas pipelines, it says.

‘The newly proposed EPA regulations should prove significantly more effective at reducing methane emissions than those introduced in 2016, as these new regulations would introduce a performance-based component to the emissions reduction strategy, which are generally more effective than the current prescriptive approach,’ it says. ‘The required changes will incur upfront costs at a time when oil and gas producers are focused on optimising expenditures. Some measures, though, could bring new profit due to the gas saved, particularly if natural gas prices continue their upward trajectory.’

Methane has a shorter atmospheric lifetime than CO₂ (around 12 years) but is a much more potent GHG. According to the latest report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), methane accounts for about half of the 1^oC net rise in global average temperature since the pre-industrial era. Rapidly reducing methane emissions is complementary to action on CO₂ and other GHGs, and is regarded as the single most effective strategy to reducing global warming in the near term and to keep the Paris Agreement goal of limiting warming to 1.5^oC within reach. It is hoped that delivering on the Pledge would reduce warming by at least 0.2^oC by 2050.

Under the European Green Deal, the EU adopted a strategy to reduce methane emissions in all key sectors covering energy, agriculture and waste in October 2020. Last month, the European Commission supported the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) launch of the International Methane Emissions Observatory (IMEO), which aims to bring global reporting on methane emissions to an entirely different level, ensuring public transparency on anthropogenic methane emissions. The IMEO will initially focus on methane emissions from the fossil fuel sector, and then expand to other major emitting sectors like agriculture and waste.