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The International Energy Agency estimates that actual methane emissions from the energy sector are roughly 70% higher than official tallies. This underscores the need for rigorous, point-level assessments that go beyond broad approximations. Technologies in the field today – from satellites to sensors – can quantify emissions with a high degree of accuracy and in real-time. This enables operators to pinpoint and address leaks and other direct sources of emissions.
This group includes Global Methane Pledge supporters and other organizations from the public and civil society sectors that have a long record of providing assistance for policy action on methane. Recognizing that many of these organizations work on multiple fronts, we have grouped them into three main areas of potential assistance: structuring abatement plans and projects; tracking emissions and capacity building; and financing methane mitigation.
Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC) is an international initiative that focuses on fast action to reduce emissions of short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs), including methane and black carbon. Since 2012, the CCAC has worked with governments and the private sector to reduce methane in oil and gas, agriculture and waste. The CCAC is a key implementing agency of the Global Methane Pledge, hosting the Pledge’s website and supporting the development of methane mitigation projects.
The CCAC’s Fossil Fuel Hub focuses on addressing methane and black carbon from the oil and gas sector. Its strategy is built around three goals:
The Fossil Fuel Hub facilitates both peer-to-peer support and technical expert assistance on developing regulations and policies at the national and sub-national level. In addition, it coordinates with donors and international funding institutions, with a focus on policy development, measurement, reporting and verification, and financing methane and black carbon reductions in the sector.
The Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) works on pressing issues for people and the planet in 28 countries, with an integrated agenda across energy, nature and health from four anchor regions: China, India, Europe and the United States. EDF believes the interplay between sound science, technology and policy is critical to accelerate methane reductions, and this informs its work with governments, oil and gas operators and investors worldwide. It led an extensive scientific effort that involved more than 40 research institutions, as well as 50 oil and gas companies, and helped quantify US methane emissions for the first time. In collaboration with oil and gas companies, it supported the development of methane rules in the United States, Canada, Mexico and now Europe. Next year, EDF’s affiliate satellite MethaneSAT will be launched to provide comprehensive high-quality information on methane emissions from at least 80% of global oil and gas production.
The Global Methane Initiative (GMI) is an international public-private partnership focused on reducing barriers to the recovery and use of methane as a valuable energy source. The initiative has 46 partner countries and more than 700 project network members that exchange information and technical resources to advance methane mitigation in three key sectors: oil and gas, biogas and coal mines. GMI’s website serves as an online library with extensive information on methane-to-energy projects, best practices and technical tools and resources. In the last 16 years, GMI has trained more than 16,000 people around the world in methane mitigation and recovery. GMI also hosts the Global Methane Challenge, showcasing methane mitigation efforts around the world. The US Environmental Protection Agency leads the GMI’s secretariat and, together with other US government institutions, provides technical expertise and supports methane recovery and use around the world.
The Energy Community brings together the European Union and its neighbors to create an integrated, pan-European energy market. Its key objective is to extend the EU internal energy market rules and principles to countries in south-east Europe, the Black Sea region and beyond on the basis of a legally binding framework. One of its focus areas is improving monitoring, reporting and management of methane emissions in the oil and gas sector. To that end, it hosted Monthly Methane Mondays. These were jointly organized with MARCOGAZ and Gas Infrastructure Europe (GIE), which works to foster a resilient, secure, affordable and sustainable energy system for EU citizens and industries. GIE members are operators of transmission, underground storage and LNG terminal facilities.
The Florence School of Regulation is a center of excellence for independent discussion and knowledge exchange, with the purpose of improving the quality of European regulation and policy. It delivers academic research, training and policy events in the areas of energy and climate. The School organizes webinars and publishes policy briefs that discuss methane reduction opportunities.
GTI Energy is a research and training organization focused on developing, scaling and deploying energy transition solutions that improve lives, economies and the environment. Through the Veritas Methane Emissions Measurement and Verification Initiative and the Collaboratory to Advance Methane Science, GTI Energy works with industry partners, academics, environmental NGOs and governmental agencies to innovate and operationalize methane measurements and mitigation solutions across the natural gas value chain.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) is an autonomous intergovernmental organization, within the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) framework, made up of 31 member countries and 10 association countries. IEA works on methane abatement as part of a broad organizational mission to shape energy policies for a secure and sustainable future. The IEA has a number of reports on the subject, providing insights for policymakers and companies on the pathways to reduce methane emissions. It also maintains the Methane Tracker, which provides estimates of methane emissions based on the latest evidence from the scientific literature and measurement campaigns, as well as a policy explorer that tracks policies applied across over 50 jurisdictions to manage methane from fossil fuel operations. The IEA promotes dialogue between policymakers working on the topic and supports governments in the development of methane regulations.
The International Methane Emissions Observatory (IMEO) is part of the UN Environment Programme’s ecosystem of initiatives to tackle global methane emissions. IMEO’s core functions are data transparency, robust science and implementation of science-based policy options to manage methane emissions from the fossil fuel sector. IMEO collects and integrates diverse methane emissions data streams – from satellites to company reporting and ground-based scientific studies – to establish a global public record of empirically verified methane emissions at an unprecedented level of accuracy and granularity. By providing near-real time, reliable and granular data on the locations and quantity of methane emissions that targets strategic mitigation action, IMEO will catalyze strategic mitigation actions that are needed to achieve the Global Methane Pledge.
The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) is one of five regional commissions of the United Nations. It helps countries meet sustainable development goals, develops and disseminates best practice guidance and brings together stakeholders and experts in the coal mining and oil and gas sectors. UNECE holds a Group of Experts on Gas which promotes the sustainable and clean production, distribution and consumption of natural gas in the UNECE region. One of the priorities of its 2022-23 work cycle is methane management in the gas sector.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) supports climate finance across different sectors in the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean, Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia. It works on financial investment projects and provides business advisory services. It also promotes trade finance and loan syndications. The EBRD is one of the Global Methane Pledge’s supporting organizations and finances projects in sub-sectors that are responsible for the majority of methane emissions, including energy and natural resources, municipal infrastructure and agribusiness. The bank combines investments with policy engagement and technical assistance, leading, for instance, on multi-year methane emission reduction programs in the gas sectors of economies in which it invests, such as the Methane Emissions Reduction Programme in Gas Supply Chains in Egypt.
The World Bank’s Global Gas Flaring Reduction Partnership (GGFR) is a multi-donor trust fund composed of governments, oil companies and multilateral organizations committed to ending routine gas flaring and venting at oil production sites across the world. GGFR helps identify solutions to the array of technical and regulatory barriers to flaring and venting reduction. To achieve this, GGFR conducts research, shares best practices, raises awareness, secures global commitments from governments and companies to end routine flaring, and advances flare measurements and reporting. GGFR also develops country-specific flaring and venting reduction programs, ranging from regulatory support for introducing new or improving existing flaring and venting regulation, to developing studies for the technical and financial feasibility of new technologies and concepts.
The Global Methane Hub was created to organize the field of philanthropists, experts, non-profits and government bodies committed to methane reductions. Twenty funders, including many of the largest climate philanthropists, pooled their funds together to create this coordinated approach to methane mitigation funding. The Hub focuses on the energy, agricultural and waste sectors, which account for 96% of human-caused methane emissions. It offers support to ambitious catalytic investments, groundwork for long-term transformation of challenging sectors, and to the delivery of quick wins in sectors that are ripe for action on the ground. With a global perspective, it focuses on the highest emitting sectors and regions.
This group includes voluntary industry initiatives that set targets to reduce emissions, develop standards for monitoring and reduction technologies or otherwise disseminate best practices among industry players. We have grouped these efforts into global and regional initiatives, depending on their specific focus and membership.
The International Association of Oil & Gas Producers (IOGP) represents 40% of the global upstream industry. It serves industry regulators as a global partner for improving safety, environmental and social performance. IOGP also acts as a forum for members to identify and share knowledge and good practices to achieve improvements in health, safety, the environment, security and social responsibility. It hosts a library of publications that includes guidance documents and environmental performance indicators.
The International Gas Union promotes the political, technical and economic progress of the gas industry. It has over 150 members, including associations and companies in the gas industry, representing over 90% of the global gas market. It covers the complete value chain of natural gas, from exploration and production, transmission via pipelines and liquefied natural gas (LNG), as well as distribution and combustion of gas at the point of use. It hosts a Group of Experts on Methane Emissions and has a series of publications covering this topic.
The International Group of Liquefied Natural Gas Importers is a non-profit organization whose objective is to promote the development of activities related to LNG. The group constitutes a forum for exchange of information and experience among its 86 members to enhance safety, reliability and efficiency of LNG import activities and the operation of LNG import terminals in particular. The group has a worldwide focus and its membership is composed of nearly all companies active in the import and regasification terminaling of LNG. It hosts a Monitoring, Reporting and Verification and GHG Neutral LNG Framework to provide a common source of best practice principles in this field, including full accounting for methane emissions.
Ipieca is the global oil and gas association dedicated to advancing environmental and social performance across the energy transition. It brings together members and stakeholders to lead in mainstreaming sustainability by advancing climate action, environmental responsibility and social performance across oil, gas and renewables activities. To fulfill that mandate, it develops industry best practices and the promotion of technological and management solutions to reduce GHGs across the production, refining and transportation of oil and gas. Its emissions management page outlines measures and resources for energy conservation and efficiency, reducing gas flaring and other factors.
The Oil and Gas Climate Initiative aims to improve methane data collection and to develop and deploy methane management technologies; it is made up of 12 major international oil and gas companies. In 2022, members launched the Aiming for Zero Methane Emissions Initiative, which calls for an all-in approach to treat methane emissions as seriously as the industry already treats safety: aiming for zero and striving to do what is needed to get there by 2030. It has been active on methane abatement for a number of years, working to: decrease the methane intensity of member companies; support the deployment of existing and emerging technologies for methane detection and quantification; increase scientific knowledge and understanding of methane emissions from the oil and gas industry; and finance innovative projects that demonstrate a significant near-term impact on emissions.
Launched in 2015, the World Bank’s Zero Routine Flaring by 2030 (ZRF) Initiative commits endorsing governments and companies to (a) not routinely flare gas in any new oil field development, and (b) to end routine flaring at existing oil fields as soon as possible, and no later than 2030. To date, it has garnered commitments from 87 governments and companies which together account for over 60% of global flaring.
The American Petroleum Institute (API) represents all segments of the United States’ natural gas and oil industry. Nearly 600 members produce, process and distribute the majority of the nation’s energy, and participate in initiatives to accelerate environmental and safety progress by fostering new technologies and transparent reporting. API was formed in 1919 as a standards-setting organization and has developed more than 800 standards to enhance operational and environmental safety, efficiency and sustainability. Through its Environmental Partnership, which represents more than 70% of total US onshore natural gas and oil production, a number of companies focus on driving innovation, sharing best practices across the industry and reducing methane emissions in every major US basin.
The European Gas Research Group (GERG) works to develop innovative solutions for European and global energy systems as they look to meet the challenges of a low carbon future while maintaining competitiveness and energy security. It has a series of research and development projects on methane emissions, including technologies to quantify emissions and prevent leaks across the gas supply chain.
Eurogas is an association of 62 European companies, covering gas wholesale, retail and distribution, along with companies manufacturing equipment and providing innovative solutions for services, like blending and methane emissions management. The purpose of Eurogas is to accelerate the transition to carbon neutrality through dialogue and advocacy about optimizing the use of gas and gaseous fuels. It supports the Global Methane Pledge and regularly organizes events to discuss pathways to the decarbonization of gas supply.
MARCOGAZ is a non-profit international association that represents the European gas industry on all technical aspects of the gas system’s full value chain. It works towards the identification and implementation of best practices to reduce methane emissions, including the definition of reduction targets at industry level. The organization’s website hosts a knowledge base on methane emissions, including technical standards and recommendations on LDAR, flaring and venting.
The One Future Coalition is a group of more than 50 natural gas companies working together to voluntarily reduce methane emissions across the natural gas value chain to 1% (or less) by 2025. It is comprised of some of the largest natural gas production, gathering and boosting, processing, transmission and storage and distribution companies in the United States. Its webpage hosts a number of case studies and reports on how to promote better management of methane emissions.
A self-paced two-hour e-learning training course on why and how to reduce methane emissions across the natural gas value chain, run in conjunction with the Energy Institute
Our latest technical webinar – “Evaluation of Downwind and Offshore Solutions for Methane Detection and Quantification” – is now available on MGP YouTube channel. Click below to watch and don’t forget to subscribe!
