Yesterday, during MENA Climate Week, the International Energy Agency (IEA) and the Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC) released a report highlighting the critical need to reduce methane emissions in order to bring down global temperature to 1.5°C and combat the effects of climate change.
Reducing methane pollution is a critical “emergency brake” on current warming and an important tool to leverage in tandem with carbon emissions reduction in the fight against climate change.
The report makes clear that rapid reductions in methane emissions from fossil fuel operations are paramount for achieving global climate targets. Failure to quickly and meaningfully address methane emissions could result in an alarming increase in the global average surface temperature and undercut goals to reduce global warming to 1.5°C. According to the report, if curbing methane emissions is not made a priority, the global average temperature will rise beyond 1.6°C by 2050.
The oil and gas industry provides some of the most effective and cost-effective opportunities for reducing methane emissions – over 70% of methane emissions from oil and gas operations and 50% of coal-related emissions can be eliminated with existing technologies, often at a minimal cost.
Key Highlights of the Report Include:
“We are at an inflection point in the climate fight, and it is more important than ever to leverage every tool at our disposal to bring the temperature down in order to decrease natural disasters, crop loss, extreme heat, and other realities we are facing and expect to worsen,” said Sarah Ann Smith, Energy Program Director at the Global Methane Hub. “Reducing methane pollution is critical to bringing the global temperature down and averting the most severe consequences of climate change. It is imperative that we implement methane mitigation measures in concert with energy transition efforts if we are to make a meaningful dent in the climate crisis.”
“Reducing methane emissions from the energy sector is one of the best – and most affordable – opportunities to limit global warming in the near term,” IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said. “Early actions by governments and industry to drive down methane emissions need to go hand-in-hand with reductions in fossil fuel demand and CO2 emissions. This report sets out the clear case for strong, swift action.”
“Cutting methane doesn’t let us off the hook to make good on the just energy transition. But cutting methane means slowing warming in the near term, which allows our societies, economies, and nature to adapt and reduces the risk of hitting dangerous tipping points. Investments in maintenance and operational changes that prevent methane from leaking into the atmosphere are a fraction of profits made with fossil fuels. This is in stark contrast to the cost of inaction, from losses in crop productivity impacts on people’s health and to our economies,” highlighted Inger Andersen, Executive Director of UNEP. “We know what to do, we have the means to do it. There is a support-system in place to help countries develop roadmaps, policies, and regulations and to provide countries and companies with credible data to drive emissions reductions. We must do it now.”
“Oil and gas facilities have for too long been allowed to release huge amounts of methane, heating the planet and polluting the air of surrounding communities,” said Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI). “Cracking down on oil and gas companies’ methane leakage is one of the most effective immediate steps we can take to steer global temperatures toward a safe zone. The methane fee we included in the Inflation Reduction Act, if combined with a strong enforcement effort from the Biden administration, will make a big difference for the planet.”
“Climate change is a health emergency, and it is being fueled by climate-warming methane. From increases in extreme weather disasters, wildfires and worsening air quality, the climate crisis is impacting public health now. By drastically reducing methane emissions through regulations and federal programs, we can protect health from the devastating impacts of climate change and from the other harmful air pollution that is released alongside methane. Today’s report underscores the need for bold action. We call on President Biden and the EPA to finalize the strongest possible standards on methane pollution from the oil and gas sector this year.” – Harold Wimmer, President & CEO, American Lung Association
This new IEA report says what Earthworks has long known. Preventing climate catastrophe requires the world to stop fossil fuel expansion and to do everything we can right now to cut methane gas pollution. In order to right historical injustices for those who have disproportionately experienced the harms of extraction — Indigenous and Black and Latino and poorer white communities in the US, specifically — we must aggressively and immediately cut pollution and manage the decline of the fossil fuel industry. This report discredits any attempt to use methane reduction efforts as an excuse to further permit fossil fuel expansion. It also provides President Biden all the information he needs to declare a climate emergency and steer the U.S. toward a sustainable, just energy future. — Lauren Pagel, Policy Director, Earthworks
The full report is HERE.