COP28: BOOSTING THE PHASE-OUT OF METHANE EMISSIONS

BACKGROUND

“Tackling methane emissions of oil and gas operations is one of the most important measures to limit near-term global warming”: this is a message the International Energy Agency hammers home about methane. It has beside calculated that only USD 75 billion of spending by the oil and gas sector is required to achieve these reductions in emissions: one of the cheapest options to reduce GHG.

This meeting co-organised by the Task Force on Carbon Pricing in Europe and the International Finance Forum, is a follow-up of the side event which took place in Sharm El-Sheikh in the premises of the International Chamber of Commerce. We will monitor the progress realised since last year by the oil and gas sector. We will see if some of them, who have already made most of the necessary investments to phase out methane emissions could not lead the way to the other oil and gas companies. We will explore the role of public authorities and raise the question of the creation of a global entity under the heading of a World Climate Organisation (WCO), complementary to the WTO, which in the spirit of the Montreal Protocol, would put in place global rules and regulations to lead the whole sector to comply to net-zero emissions of methane.

14:20 – 14:30
- Revisiting the methane issue: urgency to accelerate oil and gas methane abatement from 2023 onwards

14:30 – 14:36
FOCUS 1: The tools to measure methane leakages
- Do we have now the tools necessary to locate and measure oil and gas methane emissions?

14:36 – 14:42
FOCUS 2: The geopolitics of methane emissions
- Diversity of oil and gas companies, be there private or public, of countries of oil and gas extraction and problems arising from the current geopolitical situation complicate methane leakage abatement.

15:08 – 16:02
SESSION 2 – Phasing out methane emissions: the involvement of oil and gas companies

15:08 – 15:14
A message from Kinza Mishal, COP28 Specialist in Energy & Decarbonization, on the proposals on methane abatement of Dr Sultan Al-Jaber, President of COP28(confirmed)

15:14 – 15:24
“Aiming for zero” from the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative (OGCI): 20 months later, where do we stand?
- The “Aiming for Zero Methane Emissions Initiative” launched in March 2022 gathers major private oil and gas companies in the world. 20 months later, it is useful to see the progress which has been already accomplished on this major problem for climate.

15:24 – 15:49
Is it conceivable to accelerate methane abatement?
- Some oil and gas companies which have already undertaken a significant amount of investments necessary to phase out methane are in advance to the OGCI agenda. By completing them, they could lead the way to the other oil and gas companies, and by doing so, play the role of trailblazers for methane emissions abatement.

16:10 – 16:16
Presentation 2: What can we expect from international organisations to speed up methane abatement in the oil and gas sector?
- A presentation of the World Bank’s “Global Gas Flaring Reduction Partnership”

16:16 – 16:22
Presentation 3: The European Commission and methane
- While the European Union has joined “the Methane Finance Sprint” launched in April 2023 by President Biden to mobilise $200 million to fight methane emissions (far from being enough given the size of the problem), we do not see yet its policy on methane. Would it be feasible to use CBAM technique (a “methane CBAM”) to fight these methane leakages?

16:22 – 16:28
Presentation 4: The Inflation Reduction Act and methane policy in the US
- The Inflation Reduction Act enters into play in 2024. Methane phase-out being an important objective, what can we expect from this tax implementation? Would it be conceivable that this system be exported in other countries through a global agreement?

16:28 – 16:34
Presentation 5: China and oil and gas methane emissions
- If China is emitting methane (mainly through coal and rice farming), it imports most of its oil and gas. In this context, by which way China could contribute to the abatement of methane emissions from oil and gas (a methane “CBAM”?)

16:54 – 17:10
Concluding session: The Montreal Protocol, methane and a World Climate Organisation
- The Montreal Protocol signed in 1987 triggered the phasing out of gases which were depleting the ozone layer. Thanks to this global treaty, we succeeded in saving the ozone layer. More recently the Kigali Amendment (2016), is phasing out globally refrigerants globally. Is it not due time to enlarge this approach to other GHG which are dangerous for the future of mankind? The world needs to put in place a World Climate Organisation (WCO) which would be a complement to the WTO, and start with the most urgent action which is phasing out methane emissions. An ambitious objective. But can the rapid degradation of our planet wait any longer?