Methane Emissions from Oil and Gas: Status Quo and Perspectives on Regulation
Channel: Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung European Union
Date: 2021-05-05

Deutsche Umwelthilfe (DUH, Environmental Action Germany), in cooperation with MEP Jutta Paulus (Greens/EFA) and the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung European Union, organised the online event “Methane Emissions from Oil and Gas: Status Quo and Perspectives on Regulation” to discuss demands and options for EU regulation to reduce methane emissions from the oil and gas sector. DUH also presented findings from a market survey on upstream methane emissions from gas industry (http://www.duh.de/fileadmin/user_upload/download/Projektinformation/Energiewende/Positionspapier_Markabfrage_Gas_2021_ENG_20210316_FINAL.pdf).
Methane emissions from the oil and gas sector are a major contributing factor to climate change as the key component of fossil gas has a global warming potential 86 times higher than CO2. Regulating methane emissions in the oil and gas upstream supply chain as well as coal sector is therefore a powerful tool and urgent for mitigating GHG emissions and meeting climate targets.

It is important that upcoming EU legislation be binding and apply to the entire supply chain of the oil, gas and coal industries, including domestic sources and gas imports from third countries. Only if all measures apply to EU imports, wholesale and retail, the impact of methane emissions on the global climate can truly be addressed.

While an existing methane emissions reporting framework (OGMP 2.0) provides targets and definitions, additional legislation such as a mandatory performance standard or other requirements for gas volumes purchased by EU buyers and shippers can help harvest the low hanging fruits of methane emission reductions quickly.

What are next steps in implementing the EU Methane Strategy? What is the role of industry and what kind of actions does it take already? How can the entire supply chain of the oil, gas, and coal industry be included in the implementation of the EU Methane Strategy, including upstream emissions from third countries? What kind of legislation can help best to achieve methane emission reductions quickly? We discussed these questions with     Jutta Paulus MEP (Greens/EFA Group in the European Parliament), Kitti Nyitrai (Directorate-General for Energy, European Commission), Mark Brownstein (Environmental Defense Fund), Julia Schmitt (Wintershall Dea GmbH), Constantin Zerger (Deutsche Umwelthilfe), Sascha Müller-Kraenner (Deutsche Umwelthilfe) and Lisa Tostado (Heinrich–Böll-Stiftung European Union).
More info: https://calendar.boell.de/en/event/methane-emissions-oil-and-gas-status-quo-and-perspectives-regulation