Members of the European Parliament’s Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI) approved by a large majority, on Monday 27 September, all the compromise amendments to the draft report by María Spyráki MEP (EPP, Greece) on methane (CH4), including the one calling for binding targets for measuring and reducing CH4 emissions.
This is a strong signal from the ENVI Committee as the European Commission plans to unveil a legislative initiative to reduce methane emissions from the energy sector on 14 December this year (provisional date) (see EUROPE 12628/12).
Highlighting that fossil fuels are among the three sectors responsible for the bulk of methane emissions (along with agriculture and the waste sector), the compromise amendments adopted - previously detailed in our columns (see EUROPE 12798/12) - furthermore call on the Commission to make all imports of fossil fuels into the EU conditional on compliance with the EU’s methane requirements.
The ENVI Committee will adopt Ms Spyráki’s amended draft report on Tuesday 28 September, with a view to a final vote by the whole Parliament at the second October plenary session.
Methane is the second most important greenhouse gas contributing to climate change after carbon dioxide (CO2) and is also receiving increasing international attention.
Led by the EU and the US, a global commitment to reduce methane emissions by at least 30% by 2030 compared to 2020 levels will be officially launched at the COP26 in Glasgow (see EUROPE 12794/21).
See the compromise amendments adopted: https://bit.ly/3ADP29G (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)