Energy Community prepares to tackle gas sector methane emissions

Today, the European Commission published the EU Methane Strategy to establish a harmonised framework to reduce methane emissions in the gas upstream, midstream, downstream as well as the coal sector and abandoned sites. The strategy envisages the establishment of an international methane emissions mechanism to compile, verify and publish global methane emissions data based on the United Nations Oil & Gas Methane Partnership (OGMP) reporting framework. Following the Secretariat’s initiative, basic reporting is already being applied by the Contracting Parties’ gas industry. Since November 2019, the Secretariat is collecting methane emissions data, in cooperation with EU gas industry organizations GIE and Marcogaz.

Recognizing the importance of methane emissions for the global climate policy endeavours, the Energy Community Secretariat welcomed the EU strategy by joining the “Gas Industry Declaration on the EU Strategy to reduce methane emissions”. Director Kopač said: “Methane emissions have a global dimension and the Contracting Parties to the Energy Community should be included since the very beginning in this process. It is key to ensure consistency of methane emission policies and the dissemination of best practices for cost-effective methane emission reduction along transit and supply gas chains”.