Emissions from oil and gas, specifically methane emissions, took to the global stage following the Global Methane Pledge that was made at COP27, hosted in Glasgow in November of 2022. Prior to that, Canada, Europe and the United States were developing localized methane emissions frameworks for the oil and gas industry.

Following COP27, development of frameworks, partnership, initiatives and tools aimed at progressing the industry toward zero methane emissions have accelerated dramatically.

This page contains some of the most relevant resources and will contain critical industry updates as they happen.

Emissions Frameworks

  1. Environment and Climate Change Canada: Environment and Climate Change Canada informs Canadians about protecting and conserving our natural heritage, and ensuring a clean, safe and sustainable environment for present and future generations. The ECCC develops regulations which detail operating and maintenance standards for the upstream oil and gas industry. They ensure that fugitive or venting emissions of methane are reduced when there is a higher potential to emit methane. In addition, several provinces have developed standalone and equivalent regulatory frameworks in order to address emissions.

  2. Alberta Emissions Reduction and Energy Development Plan: The Emissions Reduction and Energy Development Plan is Alberta's approach to enhance our position as a global leader in emissions reductions, clean technology and innovation, and sustainable resource development. Guided by 8 strategic directions and principles, the plan outlines actions, opportunities and new commitments to reduce emissions and maintain energy security. It seeks to accomplish this through collaboration and partnerships, clean technology and innovation, and finance and policy frameworks. This made-in-Alberta approach is the next chapter in Alberta’s environmental story. It will continue to evolve, supported by industry, businesses, Indigenous organizations, municipalities, environmental non-government organizations, labour groups and others.

  3. Alberta Energy Regulator: The AER ensures the safe, efficient, orderly, and environmentally responsible development of oil, oil sands, natural gas, coal resources, geothermal, and brine-hosted mineral resources over their entire life cycle. This includes allocating and conserving water resources, managing public lands, and protecting the environment while providing economic benefits for all Albertans. In response to the methane emissions reduction goals set out by the Government of Alberta, the AER developed the following methane frameworks:

  4. British Columbia Energy Regulator (BC-ER): The BC Energy Regulator works with industry, government, and environmental organizations to further our understanding of methane emissions and how best to manage and reduce its release from oil and gas operations.

  5. Saskatchewan’s Methane Action Plan (MAP): Aims to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from venting and flaring activities in the upstream oil and gas industry. It is the Government of Saskatchewan's roadmap to responsibly guide the upstream oil and gas sector in a multi-year transition away from venting and flaring and towards methane capture and commercialization opportunities.

  6. United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA): The EPA is called a regulatory agency because Congress authorizes the EPA to write regulations that explain the technical, operational, and legal details necessary to implement laws. Regulations are mandatory requirements that can apply to individuals, businesses, state or local governments, non-profit institutions, or others.

  7. White House Methane Task Force: Biden-Harris Administration convened the first ever White House Methane Summit around the urgent need to dramatically reduce methane emissions, especially from leaks in the oil and gas sector, as a way to protect public health, create good-paying jobs, and save consumers money. The Task Force will accelerate execution of the U.S. Methane Reduction Action Plan.

  8. United Nations Environment Programme, Oil and Gas Methane Partnership: The Oil & Gas Methane Partnership 2.0 (OGMP 2.0) is the United Nations Environment Programme’s flagship oil and gas reporting and mitigation programme. OGMP 2.0 is the only comprehensive, measurement-based reporting framework for the oil and gas industry that improves the accuracy and transparency of methane emissions reporting. This is key to prioritising methane mitigation actions in the sector. If you can’t measure it, you can’t fix it.

Global Emissions Initiatives

  1. Global Methane Initiative (GMI): The Global Methane Initiative (GMI) is an international public-private partnership focused on reducing barriers to the recovery and use of methane as a valuable energy source. GMI provides technical support to deploy methane-to-energy projects around the world that enable Partner Countries to launch methane recovery and use projects. GMI focuses on three key sectors: Oil and Gas, Biogas, and Coal Mines.

    GMI also publishes Methane Emissions Data and analysis via https://www.globalmethane.org/methane-emissions-data.aspx which explores methane emissions measurements and projections throughout the world. Visualizations reflect the industry sectors supported by GMI: biogas, coal mines, and oil & gas. This data was extracted from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) report, Global Non-CO2 Greenhouse Gas Emissions Projections & Mitigation Potential: 2015-2050. Additional data is available from the U.S EPA’s Non-CO2 Greenhouse Gas Data Tool.

  2. Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC): CCAC is a voluntary partnership dedicated to reducing short-lived climate pollutants. CCAC Partners work on-the-ground to reduce methane from municipal solid waste in cities all over the world. They cooperate with the private sector to address methane from upstream oil and gas operations and help farmers to address agricultural emissions.

  3. CCAC Oil and Gas Methane Partnership (OGMP): OGMP was formed in 2015 as a voluntary initiative to enhance peer-to-peer cooperation on oil and gas, the largest industrial source of methane globally. In January 2020, OGMP members adopted a new reporting framework focused on reduction approaches, technology advancement, and policy development.

  4. Global Methane Alliance: The Global Methane Alliance was initiated in 2019 by CCAC and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to support ambitious methane reduction targets from the oil and gas industry. Participating organizations support countries pursuing these targets through technical assistance, policy support, and sharing of knowledge, technologies, and best management practices.

  5. Oil and Gas Climate Initiative: OGCI is a CEO-led initiative focused on accelerating action to a net zero future consistent with the Paris Agreement. To achieve its ambitions, OGCI’s 12 members are targeting net zero emissions at their own operations and collaborating with companies and partners across the industry and in other sectors to urgently reduce global greenhouse gas emissions. OGCI’s current focus areas include carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS), methane emissions reduction and transport emissions.

  6. Aiming for Zero Methane Emissions Initiative: The Aiming for Zero initiative establishes an all-in approach that treats methane emissions as seriously as the oil and gas industry already treats safety.

  7. United Nations Environment Programme, International Methane Emissions Observatory: UNEP’s effort to reduce methane emissions is critical, as deep reductions of this powerful greenhouse gas must be achieved by 2030 to limit warming to 1.5°C or even 2°C, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC www.ipcc.ch).

    Successful climate action needs to be based on empirical data. The widespread use of generic emissions factors does not allow for focussed investment and action. UNEP’s initiatives on methane aim to change this.

  8. Zero Routing Flaring By 2030 (ZRF): Launched in 2015, the ZRF Initiative commits governments and oil companies, to end routine flaring no later than 2030. The Initiative aims to support cooperation between all relevant stakeholders so that solutions to gas flaring can be found through appropriate regulation, application of technologies, and financial arrangements.

  9. Global Methane Pledge: Launched at COP 26 in November 2021 in Glasgow, The Pledge aims to catalyze global action and strengthen support for existing international methane emissions reduction initiatives to advance technical and policy work that will serve to underpin Participants’ domestic actions. The Pledge also recognizes the essential roles that private sector, development banks, financial institutions and philanthropy play to support implementation of the Pledge and welcomes their efforts and engagement.

Climate Finance

  1. Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures: The TCFD has developed a framework to help public companies and other organizations more effectively disclose climate-related risks and opportunities through their existing reporting processes. In June 2023, the IFRS announced it’s two standard setting boards adopted the TCFD recommendations to IFRS S1 and IFRS S2.

  2. International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS): The IFRS Foundation is a not-for-profit, public interest organisation established to develop high-quality, understandable, enforceable and globally accepted accounting and sustainability disclosure standards.

    Our Standards are developed by our two standard-setting boards, the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) and International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB).On June 26, 2023 The International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) has today issued its inaugural standards—IFRS S1 and IFRS S2—ushering in a new era of sustainability-related disclosures in capital markets worldwide. The Standards will help to improve trust and confidence in company disclosures about sustainability to inform investment decisions.

    For the first time, the Standards create a common language for disclosing the effect of climate-related risks and opportunities on a company’s prospects. Read more here.

  3. The Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ): Is a global coalition of leading financial institutions committed to accelerating the decarbonization of the economy.

    Achieving the objective of the Paris Agreement to limit global temperature increases to 1.5°C from pre-industrial levels requires a whole economy transition. Companies, banks, insurers, and investors will need to adjust their business models, develop credible plans for the transition to a low-carbon, climate-resilient future, and then implement those plans.

    GFANZ has worked to develop the tools and methodologies needed to turn financial institutions’ net-zero commitments into action.

Emissions & Sustainability Certifications

  1. MiQ: MiQ has pioneered the use of independently certified gas (ICG) to provide the data needed to drive change on global methane emissions. Any accredited, independent auditing firm can use our standard to provide an honest, data-led grade, allowing higher and lower emissions gas to be identified across the supply chain – incentivising improvement across the board.

  2. Equitable Origin: Equitable Origin created the world´s first stakeholder-led, independent, voluntary standards system for energy development. We work with communities, companies and governments to promote social and environmental best practices, transparency and accountability in natural resource development. For more information on EO1000TM Standard for Responsible Energy Development visit https://energystandards.org/eo100-certification-process/

  3. TRUSTWELL 2.0: Project Canary offers holistic environmental assessments. A TrustWell score is based on how Control Measures (internal processes) and Local Factors (the inherent risk profile of an operation) map to various threats or events that could happen on location.

Tools

  1. Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator: Convert emissions or energy data into concrete terms you can understand — such as the annual CO2 emissions of cars, households, and power plants.

  2. Climate Action Tracker (CAT): The Climate Action Tracker (CAT) is an independent scientific analysis produced by two research organisations tracking climate action since 2009. We track progress towards the globally agreed aim of holding warming well below 2°C, and pursuing efforts to limit warming to 1.5°C.

  3. Global Methane Tracker 2023: The IEA’s latest update of its Global Methane Tracker found that the global energy industry was responsible for 135 million tonnes of methane released into the atmosphere in 2022, only slightly below the record highs seen in 2019. Today, the energy sector accounts for around 40% of total methane emissions attributable to human activity, second only to agriculture.