Harnessing Data-Driven Accountability: How ‘Following the Money’ Can Track Fossil Fuels Across the Supply Chain

The report examines the implementation of the EU Methane Regulation, specifically focusing on the need for a 'trace-and-claim' system to track the origin and emissions intensity of imported oil, gas, and coal. It argues that traditional 'book-and-claim' systems are insufficient because they decouple environmental attributes from actual fuel volumes, which would undermine the regulation's goal of incentivizing emissions reductions at the source. The proposed trace-and-claim approach uses unique digital IDs and standardized sale and purchase agreements to 'follow the money' rather than the molecules. The document also proposes a future 'Emissions Reduction Trading' component to help producers meet the 0.2% emissions performance standard mandated for 2030.

• The EU Methane Regulation implements a three-stage phase-in for imported fossil fuels: initial data reporting on production and transit (Article 27/Annex IX), improved data quality through Monitoring, Measuring, Reporting, and Verification (MMRV) obligations (Article 28), and a maximum emissions performance standard (Article 29).
• Starting in May 2025, importers must provide geographic data for fossil fuel production and transit at a granularity equivalent to NUTS Level 1 (major socio-economic regions).
• Existing 'book-and-claim' or mass-balance systems are deemed incompatible with the EU Methane Regulation because they allow low-intensity certificates to be decoupled from actual gas volumes, which reduces the incentive for high-intensity producers to abate emissions.
• A 'trace-and-claim' system is proposed as the only appropriate solution for initial compliance; it tracks fuel via unique digital IDs and sale and purchase agreements (SPAs) to ensure environmental attributes are linked to a plausible delivery path.
• To support the 2030 emissions performance standard (0.2% intensity), the report suggests an 'Emissions Reduction Trading' system where producers who over-comply can sell certificates to other producers within the same NUTS Level 1 geographic zone.
• Non-compliance with the Methane Regulation carries significant financial and market risks, including annual penalties of up to 20% of annual turnover.

APA

Locke, B., & McCabe, D. (2025). Harnessing Data-Driven Accountability: How ‘Following the Money’ Can Track Fossil Fuels Across the Supply Chain. Clean Air Task Force. https://www.catf.us/resource/harnessing-data-driven-accountability-following-money-track-fossil-fuels-across-supply-chain/

Chicago

Locke, Brandon, and David McCabe. Harnessing Data-Driven Accountability: How ‘Following the Money’ Can Track Fossil Fuels Across the Supply Chain. Clean Air Task Force, 2025. https://www.catf.us/resource/harnessing-data-driven-accountability-following-money-track-fossil-fuels-across-supply-chain/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Locke |first1=Brandon |last2=McCabe |first2=David |title=Harnessing Data-Driven Accountability: How ‘Following the Money’ Can Track Fossil Fuels Across the Supply Chain |publisher=Clean Air Task Force |date=25 February 2025 |url=https://www.catf.us/resource/harnessing-data-driven-accountability-following-money-track-fossil-fuels-across-supply-chain/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{locke2025harnessing, author = {Locke, Brandon and McCabe, David}, title = {{Harnessing Data-Driven Accountability: How ‘Following the Money’ Can Track Fossil Fuels Across the Supply Chain}}, institution = {Clean Air Task Force}, year = {2025}, month = feb, url = {https://www.catf.us/resource/harnessing-data-driven-accountability-following-money-track-fossil-fuels-across-supply-chain/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }