Page 21 - REM Annual Review 2021

REM OCTOBER REM

and mines.
The new Global Methane Pledge calls for just Growing transparency on the sources and
a 30% reduction in global methane emissions magnitude of methane emissions is also set to
from human activity by 2030. play an important role, supported by promis-
If the world achieves the 75% cut in methane ing developments in monitoring technologies,
from fossil fuel operations as described in the notably from satellites, and the establishment
new IEA report, this would lower total human- of a common framework for measuring and
caused methane emissions by around 25%, and reporting emissions.
so would go a long way to achieving the aim of For example, Russia’s gas giant Gazprom in
the Global Methane Pledge. June admitted to several large methane leaks in
Multiple jurisdictions around the world 2021.
have already employed well-established pol- The leaks were detected by a new inter-
icy tools, including leak detection and repair national satellite capable of detecting emis-
requirements, technology standards and a sions from individual sites. The same satellite
ban on non-emergency flaring and venting. uncovered similarly large methane leaks earlier
Some countries have included methane along- this year from gas pipelines in Turkmenistan,
side other greenhouse gases (GHGs) in their another major gas producer.
national net zero pledges, while others have Gazprom said the leaks included one of
made more targeted announcements. 2.7mn cubic metres on June 4 due to an emer-
These governments could also leverage their gency pipeline shutdown in Tatarstan, the big-
buying power to incentivise other countries to gest methane leak in two years. That had roughly
step up their measures against emissions, given the same short-term planet-warming impact of
that more than 40% of the oil and gas produced 40,000 internal combustion engine cars driv-
in countries without strong methane commit- ing for a year, according to the Environmental
ments is exported for consumption in countries Defence Fund.
that do have such commitments. Gazprom said the gas was released after it
detected a problem with its Urengoy-Centre 1
Corporate actions pipeline in Russia’s Tatarstan region.
Company initiatives play an important role in To achieve rapid reductions in methane emis-
tackling emissions, especially when leading sions, governments, companies and other stake-
companies act to spread best practices across holders must all work to build a larger coalition
the industry. of actors committed to this effort.™

Annual Review 2021 www. NEWSBASE .com P21