Dialogues on Methane Emissions Mitigation Between EU and LAC Region

The report analyzes methane emissions in Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Chile, and Costa Rica, comparing their national frameworks with EU regulations. It identifies significant emission sources—primarily oil and gas operations in energy, landfills in waste, and enteric fermentation in agriculture—and highlights a general lack of binding methane-specific targets and granular monitoring (MRV) in the LAC region. The document recommends aligning LAC policies with EU benchmarks and the Oil and Gas Methane Partnership (OGMP 2.0) to enhance transparency, attract climate finance, and improve international market access.

• In the energy sector, Mexico and Argentina are the highest emitters among the studied LAC countries, with emissions exceeding 25 MtCO₂eq, primarily driven by their large oil and gas industries.
• Methane emissions from the energy sector in the EU decreased by 69.46% between 1990 and 2022, supported by a binding legal framework including Regulation (EU) 2024/1787 which mandates measurement-based reporting and strict leak repair timelines.
• The waste sector is a critical methane source in LAC, emitting over 345 MtCO₂eq in 2021, with Brazil (85.26 MtCO₂eq in 2020) and Mexico (56.26 MtCO₂eq in 2021) as the largest contributors.
• Agriculture is the dominant source of methane in the LAC region, accounting for approximately 60% of total emissions, with enteric fermentation from livestock representing between 85% and 96% of sectoral emissions.
• LAC countries generally rely on IPCC Tier 1 or 2 methodologies for their national inventories, leading to limited source-level precision and a lack of publicly traceable, facility-level fugitive emission data.
• While LAC countries show political will through the Global Methane Pledge and Paris Agreement, there is a systemic absence of binding, methane-specific mitigation targets for the energy and waste sectors.
• The EU's waste framework, which includes the Waste Framework Directive and Landfill Directive, contributed to a 47.9% decline in waste-sector methane emissions between 1990 and 2022.
• The report identifies that aligning with the Oil and Gas Methane Partnership (OGMP 2.0) standards can provide LAC exporters with competitive advantages and improved access to international markets.
• Methane mitigation in LAC is identified as a development opportunity, with the potential to create a net total of 4.8 million jobs by 2030 through circular value chains.

APA

Stockholm Environment Institute (2025). Dialogues on Methane Emissions Mitigation Between EU and LAC Region. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/methane-v3.pdf

Chicago

Stockholm Environment Institute. Dialogues on Methane Emissions Mitigation Between EU and LAC Region. 2025. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/methane-v3.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Stockholm Environment Institute |title=Dialogues on Methane Emissions Mitigation Between EU and LAC Region |date=28 November 2025 |url=https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/methane-v3.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{stockholmenvironmentinstitute2025dialogues, author = {{Stockholm Environment Institute}}, title = {{Dialogues on Methane Emissions Mitigation Between EU and LAC Region}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2025}, month = nov, url = {https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/methane-v3.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }