The oil and gas sector has improved measurement of and reporting on its methane emissions, with around a third of global methane emissions from the sector soon to be tracked, the UN environment programme (Unep) said today.
Response rates to Unep alerts on large-scale methane emitting increased twelve-fold in the past year, albeit from a very low starting point, the report found. But much more work is needed, Unep said.
The oil and gas methane partnership (OGMP) — a measurement and reporting framework for the oil and gas sector — now has 153 member companies in 90 countries, covering 42pc of global oil and gas production. The OGMP's updated version, OGMP 2.0, "now forms the basis of methane regulations in the world's largest buying market, the EU, while shaping other key markets", Unep said. Of global oil and gas production, 32pc is, or soon will be, reporting methane emissions at "gold standard" level, it found. This positions "close to a third of the global industry to effectively measure — and thus mitigate — emissions", Unep said.
Unep flagged a "substantial gap between emissions reported by OGMP 2.0 companies and those observed in scientific studies", which it said highlights the importance of more companies joining the initiative and reporting emissions. Companies that are part of OGMP typically have a higher proportion of offshore assets, "which have materially lower emissions than the onshore segment", Unep said. More than 80pc of the oil and gas sector methane emissions reported occur in the upstream segment, Unep found.
Unep's methane alert and response system (MARS) uses satellite data to detect large emissions and notify relevant governments or companies. It has sent more than 3,500 alerts in 33 countries since its launch in 2022, Unep said, but has documented just 25 cases of "mitigation action" in 10 countries.
"Atmospheric methane continues to be the second biggest driver of climate change after carbon dioxide, responsible for about one-third of the planet's warming," Unep said. The global methane pledge aims for a 30pc cut in methane worldwide by 2030, from 2020 levels. It was established in 2021 at the UN Cop 26 climate summit, and now has 159 country signatories as well as the European Commission.
Government and company responses to MARS alerts rose from 1pc to 12pc in the past year, Unep said. But both "must increase their response rates", it urged.
Unep will expand MARS to cover methane emissions from coal mines and waste sites — "sectors where measurement is scarce, but targeted mitigation opportunities exist", it said.
Levels of methane in the world's surface atmosphere stood at 1,942 parts per billion (ppb) in 2024, at or 266pc of pre-industrial levels, data from the World Meteorological Organisation show.
