On Thursday 27 February, the European Environment Agency (EEA) published an information note designed to support the European Commission’s future political actions to reduce methane emissions at national, European and international level.
In the note, the EEA stresses the major role methane plays in global warming and air pollution.
Indeed, as the publication states, methane is a “potent greenhouse gas”, responsible for 12% of greenhouse gas emissions in Europe, and contributing 0.5°C to global warming.
What’s more, although it remains in the atmosphere for less time than carbon dioxide - around 12 years compared with several centuries - its effect on global warming is around 84 times greater over a 20-year period. Reducing methane emissions therefore means having a rapid effect on the climate: it will reduce a significant part of the warming in the short term.
But its effects go beyond climate change, because by encouraging the formation of tropospheric ozone, it harms air quality and public health.
The EEA points out that in 2022, 94% of the EU’s urban population was exposed to ozone levels in excess of the World Health Organization’s recommendations.
In 2024, the European Union adopted a regulation on the monitoring and reduction of methane emissions (see EUROPE 13453/26), which imposes strict obligations on fossil fuel industries, prohibiting the venting and flaring of methane unless technically necessary.
It also strengthens the monitoring of emissions and aims to improve their detection.
However, although methane emissions have fallen by 38% in the EU since 1990, their concentration in the atmosphere continues to rise at a global level, which reduces the impact of European efforts.
In fact, European emissions only account for around 5% of global methane emissions, and reducing emissions in Europe would not be enough.
The EEA is therefore calling for greater international action. The EU, which initiated the Global Methane Pledge with the United States at COP26 in 2021, is continuing to promote this initiative to reduce global emissions by 30% by 2030.
However, its effectiveness depends on the commitment of the signatory states, and the Agency stresses the urgent need for more binding measures on a global scale.
To read the note, go to https://aeur.eu/f/fpj (Original version in French by Nithya Paquiry)