The United Nations Methane Observatory is Now Fully Operational, Opening the Door to Dramatic Cuts in Methane Emissions

Over eighty oil and gas companies from around the world have committed to measuring and reducing their methane emissions, according to An Eye on Methane: International Methane Emissions Observatory 2022, which was launched by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) at the Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference (ADIPEC). Of them, sixty are working for the Gold Standard, the highest possible level of transparency.

“As UNEP’s recent Emissions Gap Report showed, the world is far off track to keep climate change to 1.5°C,” said Inger Andersen, Executive Director of UNEP. “Cutting methane emissions is the fastest way to tackle climate change in the short-term, as it remains in the atmosphere for far fewer years than carbon dioxide. Companies are making progress, but they must move faster and harder. We need more companies to act, and they must be bolder. Looking at the bigger picture, the best way for the oil and gas industry to end methane emissions, and all emissions, is to rethink entirely their roles as energy companies. If the industry is serious about a net-zero future – as it must be to provide a shot at health, wealth, and prosperity for all – this must be the long-term goal.”

At least a quarter of the current warming of the planet can be attributed to methane, a potent greenhouse gas. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change found that in order to attain cost-effective routes that limit global warming to 1.5°C, a 40–45 percent reduction in worldwide methane emissions must be achieved by 2030. The International Methane Emissions Observatory (IMEO), a UNEP effort, is highlighted as playing a crucial role in the reduction of methane emissions. Starting with the fossil fuel industry, IMEO is compiling an unprecedented degree of detail and precision into the first global public database of empirically validated methane emissions.

The inability of countries to take the kind of concerted, rapid action required to meet the goals of the Global Methane Pledge is hampered by a lack of accurate data on emissions (GMP). Over 120 countries have joined this international initiative, which was announced in November 2017 by the United States and the European Commission, to cut global methane emissions by 30% by 2030. IMEO will provide data to help businesses and governments around the world take strategic mitigation action, making it a key implementing partner of the GMP.

“To reduce methane emissions, we need to know more. Who is emitting, where, and how much. The lack of verified emissions data has made it hard for governments to carry out targeted action at the scale and speed needed to achieve our climate goals or even to raise political awareness of the problem. What you do not measure, does not get addressed,” Kadri Simson, European Commissioner for Energy.

One of the greatest sources of human-caused methane emissions, the oil and gas industry is the focus of the United Nations Environment Programme's (UNEP) Oil and Gas Methane Partnership 2.0 (OGMP 2.0), which provides a framework for emission reporting. This is also the most promising area for saving money through efficiency. The Climate and Clean Air Coalition, an initiative launched by UNEP, has developed into a novel forum for coordinated company action. Still, more work is required to reliably estimate emissions from the oil and gas industry. Estimates of worldwide industry emissions still don't match up with the share of emissions reported by OGMP 2.0 members. By broadening its scope to include these additional significant groups of emitters, IMEO has paved the stage for further reductions in methane emissions; in 2017, these emitters accounted for 75% of all methane emissions. 33 percent of all methane emissions come from cattle; another 20 percent come from oil and gas; 12 percent come from coal mining; and 7 percent come from growing rice (nearly 10 per cent).