European Union approved a new law to impose methane emissions limits on Europe’s oil and gas imports from 2030, pressuring international suppliers to cut the potent greenhouse gas leaks.
In a news announcement, the EU said the new adoption marks another step towards implementing the European Green Deal and REPowerEU. “It shows Europe’s determination to tackle harmful emissions at home and internationally.”
The new regulation makes it mandatory for the fossil gas, oil and coal industries based out of Europe to measure, monitor, report and verify their methane emissions. It also obliges them to take action to reduce the emissions.
In its announcement, the EU said, “With Europe importing a large part of the fossil energy it consumes, the regulation will also help to reduce methane emissions from imported fossil fuels. The regulation will progressively introduce more stringent requirements to ensure that exporters gradually apply the same monitoring, reporting and verification obligations as EU operators.”
Methane is the primary component of natural gas used in power plants and heating homes. It is the second-largest contributor to climate change after carbon dioxide, leading to global warming when it leaks into the atmosphere from oil and gas pipelines and infrastructure.
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The new regulations require the Commission to introduce a monitoring tool on global methane emitters to “provide information, based on satellite data, on the magnitude, occurrence and location of high methane-emitting sources occurring within or outside the EU.”
Acknowledging the final adoption of the regulation, the European Commission for Energy, Kadri Simson, said, “With the final EU adoption of the methane regulation, we now have means to get clearer insight into the main sources of methane emissions in the energy sector. This will increase transparency and provide the tools necessary to reduce these potent emissions, both in the EU and globally.”
