Baku (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – The European Union undertakes a roadmap with allies at COP29 to help achieve the collective goal of decreasing methane emissions by at least 30% by 2030.
At COP29 in Baku, the European Commission embarked on a new Methane Abatement Partnership Roadmap to additionally accelerate the lowering of methane emissions associated with fossil energy production and consumption, in cooperation with partner countries, the International Energy Agency and many non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
How does the methane abatement partnership roadmap work?
According to the European Union, this latest Roadmap provides a blueprint for collaboration between fossil fuel importing and exporting countries, which will assist companies in enhancing their monitoring, reporting and validation systems to lower methane emissions.
While launching the Partnership Roadmap at Cop29, in her remarks Commissioner for Climate Action, Wopke Hoekstra, stated: “Reducing methane emissions from the energy sector is a low-hanging fruit for climate action. It makes economic sense. It indeed helps boost our energy security while reducing emissions. The Roadmap we are launching today shows the way ahead in terms of fostering cooperation between importing and exporting countries. For the EU, it is clear: we will only be able to tackle methane emissions effectively if we work together across global supply chains with everyone involved.”
What are the concrete steps in the EU’s roadmap?
Under the Global Methane Pledge, undertaken by the EU and the US, more than 150 countries are now enforcing a collective goal of facilitating global anthropogenic methane emissions by at least 30% by 2030, from 2020 levels. This new Roadmap forms a series of concrete steps to be undertaken, including a strong Monitoring, Reporting and Verification (MRV) system building on the Oil and Gas Methane Partnership 2.0 (OGMP 2.0) regulations, as well as a project schedule to abate emissions from existing assets, delivering a clear timeline, investment plan and human resource needs.
These collaborations to accelerate the mitigation of methane emissions were reported by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at COP28 in Dubai and build on the ‘Joint Declaration from Energy Importers and Exporters on Lowering Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Fossil Fuels’ inscribed by the European Union, the United States, Japan, Canada, Norway and Singapore at COP27.
