A new Methane Regulation unveiled today by the European Commission is a half-hearted step back from EU climate goals.
Methane emissions resulting from the petrochemical industry's extraction and production of coal, gas and oil are responsible for 25 per cent of overall global warming and tackling them is an essential element of the fight against catastrophic climate change.
EIA Climate campaigners, together with our partners Food & Water Action Europe and Deutsche Umwelthilfe, warned that the Regulation is letting fossil fuel imports off the hook.
Methane emissions are 86 times more potent than carbon dioxide and tackling the energy sector has been identified as the most cost effective way of reducing them.
The Commission's Regulation puts in place a framework with obligations on measurement, reporting and verification (MRV), leak detection and repair (LDAR) and a ban on routine venting and flaring (BRVF) of gases, which are the three main pillars of effective methane emissions mitigation.
