US gas can’t certify away its climate and environmental justice problems

The report examines the rise of "responsibly sourced gas" certification, specifically focusing on the certifier MiQ and its clients ExxonMobil and EQT. It contends that these certifications focus narrowly on methane emissions to create a "responsible" image for companies with poor environmental justice records, while the goal of certifying the entire global gas market by 2030 necessitates an increase in production that is incompatible with limiting global warming to 1.5°C.

• Gas certification, or "gas differentiation," is a voluntary, unregulated market where proprietary standards vary by company, allowing the industry to set low bars for compliance and avoid public scrutiny.
• Certification focuses on reducing methane leakage but does not change the carbon content of the gas; burning certified gas still emits more than 50% of the carbon dioxide produced by burning coal.
• The certifier MiQ aims to certify 100% of the global gas market by 2030, a goal that implies an increase in global gas production and directly conflicts with the 1.5°C threshold of the 2015 Paris Agreement.
• US LNG infrastructure is disproportionately located in environmentally overburdened communities; approximately 38% of people living within three miles of proposed LNG facilities are people of color and Hispanics or Latinos, and 39% are low-income.
• Companies like ExxonMobil and EQT use MiQ's methane-only certifications to claim high ESG standards despite records of environmental racism and legal violations.
• The expansion of the US LNG industry, the world's largest exporter as of the first half of 2022, creates significant climate risks, with 25 construction or expansion projects potentially emitting over 90 million tons of greenhouse gases annually.

APA

Global Witness (n.d.). US gas can’t certify away its climate and environmental justice problems. https://globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/fossil-fuels/us-gas-cant-certify-away-its-climate-and-environmental-justice-problems/

Chicago

Global Witness. US gas can’t certify away its climate and environmental justice problems. n.d. https://globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/fossil-fuels/us-gas-cant-certify-away-its-climate-and-environmental-justice-problems/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Global Witness |title=US gas can’t certify away its climate and environmental justice problems |url=https://globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/fossil-fuels/us-gas-cant-certify-away-its-climate-and-environmental-justice-problems/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{globalwitnessndgas, author = {{Global Witness}}, title = {{US gas can’t certify away its climate and environmental justice problems}}, institution = {Global Witness}, url = {https://globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/fossil-fuels/us-gas-cant-certify-away-its-climate-and-environmental-justice-problems/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }