Canada raises bar for methane leadership with new regulatory framework
Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt — The Government of Canada just issued a new regulatory framework to reduce methane emissions from its oil and gas sector by at least 75% by 2030, setting a new bar for methane leadership.
Jonathan Banks, Global Director of Methane Pollution Prevention at Clean Air Task Force, said:
“This new framework proposes the most comprehensive and most effective set of methane standards anywhere in the world, raising the bar for leadership to cut methane.”
Highlights of the new framework include:
- Monthly leak detection and repair at all oil and gas sites, including well sites.
- All pneumatic devices required to be non-emitting or captured
- Mandated annual inspection at all non-producing wells
- Important limits on methane in engine exhaust, a large source of methane that to date is not addressed by regulation in any jurisdiction
- Performance based requirements that would require nearly continuous monitoring
For a full list of enhancements in the new framework, click here.
“In 2018, Canada issued regulations that were a huge step forward,” continued Banks, “but Canada has now recognized that much more can and should be done. With this new announcement at COP27, it has leapt ahead of the rest of the world – and we hope to see many more countries get started on the work of catching up.”
Clean Air Task Force has been working with the Canadian government and with its NGO partners since 2016 to push both provincial and national policies to cut methane in Canada. Canada was one of the founding supporters of the Global Methane Pledge which was launched last year at COP26. Canada’s new framework joins a raft of other methane policy announcements made in the 12 months since that global breakthrough moment for methane.
Methane is a harmful super pollutant that warms the planet more than 80 times more than carbon dioxide over its first 20 years in the atmosphere. It’s responsible for about half a degree Celsius of global warming so far, and its levels are rising fast. Due to its short-lived nature, reducing methane emissions is one of the best strategies available to slow global warming in the near term.
Learn more about CATF’s work to reduce methane emissions.
Press Contacts
Troy Shaheen, Communications Director, U.S., [email protected], +1 845-750-1189
Rowan Emslie, Communications Director, Europe, [email protected],
+32 476.97.36.42
About Clean Air Task Force
Clean Air Task Force (CATF) is a global nonprofit organization working to safeguard against the worst impacts of climate change by catalyzing the rapid development and deployment of low-carbon energy and other climate-protecting technologies. With 25 years of internationally recognized expertise on climate policy and a fierce commitment to exploring all potential solutions, CATF is a pragmatic, non-ideological advocacy group with the bold ideas needed to address climate change. CATF has offices in Boston, Washington D.C., and Brussels, with staff working virtually around the world. Visit catf.us and follow @cleanaircatf.
