How the UK can tackle methane emissions

The document outlines the climate, economic, and energy security benefits of reducing methane emissions in the UK, specifically targeting the oil and gas sector. It recommends that the UK advance the ban on venting and flaring, implement a comprehensive measurement, monitoring, reporting and verification (MMRV) framework, and introduce a methane fee and import standard to align with EU regulations and global best practices.

• Methane emissions are a significant driver of warming, with a warming power more than 80 times that of carbon dioxide over 20 years, and accounted for approximately 14% of UK emissions in 2022.
• The UK energy sector is characterized by significant waste; North Sea oil companies waste enough gas annually to supply at least 700,000 average UK homes, and the UK has lost £2.6 billion in gas sales over the last decade due to flaring and venting.
• The UK risks falling behind international partners like Canada, the U.S., and the EU, who have already adopted methane fees or rules for the energy sector; specifically, the UK must align with EU methane import standards by 2027 to maintain unfettered market access.
• Implementing a 'methane intensity performance standard' (import standard) set at 0.2% could reduce global oil and gas methane emissions by more than 36% when combined with the EU standard, and could reduce UK domestic emissions by up to 124 kilotons.
• The introduction of a methane fee, modeled after the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act, could generate up to £200 million in annual revenue for the UK's energy transition by taxing lost gas from oil and gas operations.

APA

Tremain, R. (2024). How the UK can tackle methane emissions. Clean Air Task Force. https://www.catf.us/resource/how-uk-tackle-methane-emissions/

Chicago

Tremain, Rebecca. How the UK can tackle methane emissions. Clean Air Task Force, 2024. https://www.catf.us/resource/how-uk-tackle-methane-emissions/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Tremain |first1=Rebecca |title=How the UK can tackle methane emissions |publisher=Clean Air Task Force |date=5 August 2024 |url=https://www.catf.us/resource/how-uk-tackle-methane-emissions/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{tremain2024how, author = {Tremain, Rebecca}, title = {{How the UK can tackle methane emissions}}, institution = {Clean Air Task Force}, year = {2024}, month = aug, url = {https://www.catf.us/resource/how-uk-tackle-methane-emissions/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }