EU lawmakers push to water down methane emissions rules
Leaking away
Methane is one of the most pernicious greenhouse gases, but regulating its emissions has once again opened up heated debate about the practicalities of new climate laws, write Alice Hancock and Ian Johnston.
Context: Brussels has proposed rules to curb methane emissions in the energy sector. They would force fossil fuel producers to monitor and prevent leaks, such as from mines, in order to align the EU with a global pledge to cut methane pollution by 30 per cent by 2030 and fight global warming.
The European parliament will vote on the law today, but a series of last-minute amendments by the Romanian centre-right MEP Cristian-Silviu Buşoi has raised concerns that the parliament will dilute the provisions to give companies an easier ride.
In an email to fellow lawmakers seen by the Financial Times, Buşoi said that the amendments were “a result of extensive consideration of the circumstances faced by the operators and the member states”.
His proposals would allow exemptions for methane emissions into water and reduce the number of surveys to detect leaks. It would also introduce what Buşoi called “a feasible timeframe” for countries that have a lot of disused wells, which could continue to emit methane for many years after they stop being used.
The move is part of a broadening trend among politicians to show more flexibility towards industry as the implications of the climate transition begin to bite.
According to data by the NGO Clean Air Task Force published yesterday, there were more than 880 sources of methane leakage across 15 countries in the EU “with Romania illustrating a significant problem”.
In an open letter to MEPs, representatives of nine NGOs said that Buşoi’s amendments would “severely undermine” the methane regulation and exempt a “significant number of large companies”. Methane is 80 times more potent as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, the NGOs warned.
The European People’s party, the EU’s biggest parliamentary group, has instructed its MEPs to vote in favour of at least some of the controversial amendments. That includes more relaxed surveillance of methane leaks and looser requirements for fossil fuel imports to the bloc.
This means some provisions to water down the rules could pass. Certainly, the vote will be much tighter than expected, with some last minute scrambling as the EU parliamentary whips tally up their numbers.