European Commission, Partners Launch Methane Abatement Roadmap

The European Commission launched Tuesday at COP29 a roadmap for the globe to achieve at least a 30 percent reduction in human-caused methane emissions by 2030, with support from development banks, non-governmental organizations and major economies.

At COP26 in 2021, the European Union and the United States launched the Global Methane Pledge, which set the 30 percent reduction figure across all sectors, relative to 2020 levels. That is well below the 75 percent reduction by 2030 that the International Energy Agency (IEA) says needs to be achieved by the fossil fuel industry to help limit the rise in global temperature to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

Yet, the IEA found that the level of methane emissions over the last five years have remained largely unchanged. The IEA’s “2024 Global Methane Tracker” estimates that 120 million tons of methane emissions in 2023 came from fossil fuel production and consumption.

A joint statement Tuesday by the roadmap partnership acknowledged that “in the last years methane emissions have not decreased but, on the contrary, increased”.

Toward the reduction goal, the roadmap unveiled in Baku aims to form cooperation frameworks between fossil fuel exporting and importing countries to cut emissions across the supply chain.

The roadmap also aims to develop a “robust” monitoring, reporting and verification system, including by using satellite, aerial and drone technologies.

Under the roadmap, the signing parties will work with the industry to formulate an abatement plan that has “a clear timeline, investment plan and human resources needed, as well as the amount of emissions to be abated, to the extent possible”, said the joint statement on the Commission’s website.

“At the same time, companies and private investors would work towards creating suitable financial conditions able to mobilize the investments needed”, the statement added.

The roadmap also aims to “secure the investments needed for emissions reduction projects in producing countries, together with relevant operators”.

“The World Bank could be one of the key financial partners for developing countries through the new Global Flaring and Methane Reduction trust fund, and private investors may provide capital through sustainability instruments”, the statement said.

Besides the Commission, the roadmap alliance includes Canada, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States. The banking and organizational partners are Carbon Limits, Clean Air Taskforce, Environmental Action Germany, the Environmental Defense Fund, the Environmental Investigation Agency, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Global Methane Hub, ICA Finance, the International Energy Agency, the Methane Matters Coalition and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

“We call on other countries and stakeholders to support the Methane Abatement Partnership Roadmap and to showcase examples of implementation at COP30”, the partners said.

“While this roadmap is an essential first step, signatories must commit to decisive action”, said a coalition of NGOs formed by the Clean Air Task Force, the Environmental Defense Fund and the Methane Matters Coalition.

The Global Methane Pledge has 158 participating countries as of March, according to information on its website.

At COP28 last year nations launched the Methane Finance Sprint and the World Bank Global Flaring and Methane Reduction Partnership with over $1 billion and $255 million in commitments respectively.

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