What is methane, and what is the problem?

Methane is the second largest contributor to climate change, with a global warming potential 28 times higher than carbon dioxide over 100 years. A proposed EU regulation targets methane emissions from oil, gas, and coal installations through monitoring, reporting, and restrictions on venting and flaring. While the proposal includes information requirements for importers of fossil energy, NGOs and lawmakers have raised concerns regarding the discrepancy in obligations between EU-based operators and foreign suppliers, as well as the absence of binding reduction targets.

• Methane is the second most significant greenhouse gas contributing to climate change after carbon dioxide, responsible for approximately 30% of global warming. Its potency is 28 times that of carbon dioxide over a century and 84 times greater over a 20-year period.
• Atmospheric methane concentrations are currently 2.5 times higher than pre-industrial levels, with 60% of annual global emissions originating from anthropogenic sources. Reducing these human-caused emissions by 50% within 30 years could lower global temperature change by 0.2°C by 2050.
• The proposed EU regulation focuses on accountability and prohibitions rather than specific targets. It mandates monitoring, reporting, leak-detection, and repair for oil, gas, and coal sectors, with specific limits on venting and flaring. For underground coal mines, the prohibition on venting and flaring from drainage stations would begin in 2025.
• The proposal requires importers of fossil energy to provide information on whether their non-EU suppliers measure, report, and control methane emissions. This creates a discrepancy in obligations that has been criticized by NGOs like Energy Monitor and the Environmental Defence Fund, as well as some European Parliament lawmakers, who argue it does not sufficiently address emissions from imported gas.
• The EU is a party to the Global Methane Pledge, established in November 2021, which aims to reduce global methane emissions by 30% by 2030 compared to 2020 levels.

APA

Contributor, C. (2022). What is methane, and what is the problem? ClimaTalk. https://climatalk.org/2022/07/18/methane-regulation/

Chicago

Contributor, ClimaTalk. What is methane, and what is the problem? ClimaTalk, 2022. https://climatalk.org/2022/07/18/methane-regulation/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Contributor |first1=ClimaTalk |title=What is methane, and what is the problem? |publisher=ClimaTalk |date=18 July 2022 |url=https://climatalk.org/2022/07/18/methane-regulation/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{contributor2022what, author = {Contributor, ClimaTalk}, title = {{What is methane, and what is the problem?}}, institution = {ClimaTalk}, year = {2022}, month = jul, url = {https://climatalk.org/2022/07/18/methane-regulation/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }