Leading climate and industry experts have urged governments and industries across the world to adopt methane mitigation plans on a priority basis. The plea was made during a sideline event, of the ongoing  COP27 event in Egypt, organised by the International Finance Forum (IFF), the International Chamber of Commerce and the Task Force on Carbon Pricing in Europe.

Experts said urgent joint global efforts are necessary to bring about concerted action on methane emissions and developed nations should take the lead by providing the necessary capital and technologies for such efforts, they said.

Methane reduction is a more cost effective way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, said experts who spoke at the methane emissions reduction event.

Cutting methane emissions by 50% in the next three decades could reduce global temperature change by 0.2°C by 2050. Methane accounts for 30% of the global rise in temperature according to the International Energy Agency. Methane is short-lived in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide but over 80 times more potent when it comes to global warming, adding the urgency in its mitigation.

The 2022 UN Climate Change Conference COP27 is being held in Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt from November 6 to 18. Side events on various climate issues have also been organised alongside the main conference.  

Edmond Alphandéry, IFF vice president and chairman of the Task Force on Carbon Pricing in Europe hosted the event.

Xuedu Lu, IFF Academic Committee Member and former lead climate change specialist of the Asian Development Bank introduced the efforts China is undertaking to launch an action plan on methane emission reduction.

China is gathering information and data on methane emissions in different sectors and working on setting standards and targets for methane emission reduction, said Lu. And China has already launched pilot projects to cut methane emissions. For instance, rice paddies in eastern China have reduced water usage by 30-50% to cut methane emissions.

Brendan Devlin, Directorate General for Energy of the European Commission, talked about the EU methane strategy published in October 2020, which focuses on reducing methane emissions in the energy, agriculture and waste sectors.

Mark Brownstein, senior vice president of energy at the Environmental Defense Fund, introduced methane emission actions by the US government, particularly the enactment of a fee on methane emissions from the oil and gas industry in the Inflation Reduction Act. 

The event also invited experts from the oil and gas industry as well as international organisations to talk about the current practices and actions on methane emissions reduction.
Xue Ming from China Oil and Gas Methane Alliance, established in May 2021 by China’s biggest oil and gas companies, introduced the efforts the Alliance has been taking in methane mitigation while Julien Perez from the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative which was launched by the world’s 12 largest oil and gas companies discussed actions the OGCI has adopted in reducing methane emissions. In February, Colombia became the first South American country to regulate methane emissions in the oil and gas sector.

While cutting emissions in the oil and gas industry is key for methane mitigation, raising emissions awareness is as important according to Manfredi Caltagirone, head of the International Methane Emissions Observatory (IMEO).

Yvan Champagne from Carbon AI in Canada introduced Canadian province Alberta’s carrot and stick  policy approach in reducing methane emissions which has effectively cut methane by 34% between 2014 and 2020. Methane mitigation policies adopted by Colombia was also discussed during the event.

In the last section of the event, Durwood Zaelke from the International Institute for Governance and Sustainable Development gave a brief introduction on Montreal Protocol, a treaty on ozone protection. Panelists and industry experts also discussed actions and policies governments and industries around the world have adopted to mitigate methane emissions.

The International Finance Forum (IFF) is an independent, non-profit, non-governmental international organisation founded in Beijing in October 2003, and established by financial leaders from more than 20 countries, and regions, including China, the United States, the European Union, emerging countries and leaders of international organisations such as the United Nations, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).  The IFF is a long-standing, high-level platform for dialogue and communication and multilateral cooperation and has been regarded as F20 (Finance 20) in international community.