Explanatory Memorandum to COM(2021)805 - Methane emissions reduction in the energy sector - Main contents
Please note
This page contains a limited version of this dossier in the EU Monitor.
| dossier | COM(2021)805 - Methane emissions reduction in the energy sector. |
|---|---|
| source | COM(2021)805  |
| date | 15-12-2021 |
1. CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL
• Reasons for and objectives of the proposal
The European Green Deal puts the Union on a path to climate neutrality by 2050 through the deep decarbonisation of all sectors of the economy. It also aims to protect, conserve and enhance the EU's natural capital, and protect the health and well-being of citizens from environment-related risks and impacts. Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas, second only to carbon dioxide in its overall contribution to climate change and responsible for about a third of current climate warming. Although it remains in the atmosphere for a shorter period than carbon dioxide (10-12 years before oxidizing into carbon dioxide that continues to trap heat), on a molecular level, methane is a far more powerful climate forcer (with a global warming potential of 28 times that of carbon dioxide over 100 years and of 86 over 20 years). In addition, methane contributes to ozone formation, which is a potent air pollutant that causes serious health problems.
Approximately 60% of global methane emissions are anthropogenic, of which the largest sources, based on estimations, are fossil fuel production and use (between a fourth and a third), waste (around a quarter) and agriculture (around half of total methane emissions), in particular linked to intensive production.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) notes that deep reductions in methane emissions must be achieved by 2030 for the world to stay below the 1.5°C (or even the 2°C) 2050 global temperature target 1 . The most recent IPCC report underlines the role of methane as one of the main greenhouse gases responsible for climate change. The report outlines that methane levels are at an all-time high and well above the emission levels compatible with limiting warming to 1.5°C. There is thus a need for a sharp, rapid and sustained reduction in methane emissions to slow down global warming and improve air quality. It is important to note that the report concludes that the increase of methane in the atmosphere is the result of human activity and that fossil fuels have been a large contributor to the growth in methane emissions at least since 2007, alongside agriculture (mainly livestock) and wastewater.
The 2030 Climate Target Plan’s impact assessment indicates that in the EU the most cost-effective methane emission savings can be achieved in the energy sector. These emissions are a transboundary problem and uncoordinated regulatory treatment across Member States and sectors creates gaps and inefficiencies and may impair the functioning of the Union’s single market for energy. As the majority of methane emissions linked to fossil energy consumed within the Union occur outside its borders, only joint action by Member States could present results in this field.
In September 2021 the Union and the United States announced the Global Methane Pledge which represents a political commitment to reduce global methane emissions across all methane-emitting sectors by 30% by 2030 (from 2020 levels), launched at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP 26) in November 2021 in Glasgow. Over one hundred countries have committed to support the Pledge, representing nearly half of global anthropogenic methane emissions. The Global Methane Pledge includes a commitment to move towards using best available inventory methodologies to quantify methane emissions, with a particular focus on high emission sources.
The general objective of the Regulation is, in the context of the functioning of the internal market for energy and while ensuring security of supply in the Union, to preserve and improve the environment by reducing methane emissions from fossil energy produced or consumed in the Union.
(i) Improve the accuracy of information on the main sources of methane emissions associated with energy produced and consumed within the EU. The goal is to ensure the availability of asset-level data and robust quantification of emissions, and thereby increase the accuracy of measurements – including the reporting of greenhouse gas (‘GHG’) inventories data to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (‘UNFCCC’) – as well as the scope for appropriate measures for mitigation.
(ii)Ensure further effective reduction of methane emissions across the energy supply chain in the EU. This specific objective addresses the market failures leading to insufficient mitigation of methane emissions by companies.
(iii)Improve the availability of information to provide incentives for the reduction of methane emissions related to fossil energy imported to the EU. As the majority of methane emissions linked to fossil energy consumed within the EU occur outside the EU, this specific objective seeks to set incentives to reduce methane emissions in partner countries by creating transparency in the market.
• Consistency with existing policy provisions in the policy area
In Regulation (EU) 2021/1119 (‘European Climate Law’), the Union has enshrined into legislation the target of economy-wide climate neutrality by 2050 and also established a binding Union domestic reduction commitment of net greenhouse gas emissions (emissions after deduction of removals) of at least 55% below 1990 levels by 2030.
The proposal builds on the Union’s 2030 Climate Target Plan and its impact assessment. The Climate Target Plan showed, on the basis of modelled scenarios, that achievement of an increased climate target of at least 55% net greenhouse gas emissions reduction in 2030 is feasible and would enable a smooth trajectory to climate neutrality in 2050. It also highlights the need to step-up reductions in methane emissions.
The European Green Deal combines a comprehensive set of mutually reinforcing measures and initiatives aimed at achieving climate neutrality in the Union by 2050. The European Green Deal Communication 2 indicates that the decarbonisation of the gas sector will be facilitated, including by addressing the issue of energy-related methane emissions. The Commission adopted an EU strategy to reduce methane emissions (‘the Methane Strategy’) in October 2020 setting out measures to cut methane emissions in the EU, including in the energy sector, and internationally.
Regulation (EU) 2018/1999 (Governance Regulation) requires Member States to establish national inventory systems to estimate anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases and to report those national projections. This reporting is done using IPCC guidelines, and is often based on default emission factors rather than direct source-level measurements, implying uncertainties regarding the precise origin, frequency and magnitude of emissions.
Methane emissions occurring at the level of oil and fossil gas exploration and production, fossil gas gathering and processing, transmission, distribution, underground storage and liquid fossil gas (LNG) terminals, as well as operating, closed or abandoned coal mines are not specifically regulated at the Union level.
Directive 2010/75/EU (Industrial Emissions Directive, IED), currently under revision, regulates pollutant emissions from industrial installations, notably by setting emission limit values based on best available techniques as permit conditions. The IED covers the refining of mineral oil and gas but not fossil gas upstream, mid and downstream (LNG, underground gas storage, transmission, distribution) or coal mining.
Closely related to the IED, Regulation (EC) 166/2006 3 (European Pollutant Release and Transfer Register, E-PRTR), requires ‘Underground mining and related operations’ to report pollutant releases, including methane when exceeding a reporting threshold of 100,000 kg/year. For measuring methane releases, Appendix 3 of the E-PRTR guidance 4 refers to an ISO standard in preparation (by ISP/TC 146/SC 1/WG 22). The E-PRTR is also currently under revision. The revision of the IED and the E-PRTR will take into account the need to avoid double regulation. This proposal is thus complementary to those two acts as it addresses methane emissions along the entire fossil energy supply chain.
On 14 July 2021 the European Commission adopted a series of legislative proposals setting out how it intends to achieve climate neutrality in the EU by 2050, including the intermediate target of an at least 55% net reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. In this context, the following initiatives have relevant links with methane emission measurement and mitigation:
Regulation (EU) 2018/842 (the Effort Sharing Regulation, ESR) contains binding annual greenhouse gas emission targets at country level for Member States from 2021 to 2030 for sectors including transport (without aviation), buildings, agriculture, waste, industry and the parts of the energy sector not covered by the existing EU Emissions Trading System (ETS). It includes methane in its scope and this is maintained in the proposal for revision adopted on 14 July 2021. This initiative is complimentary to the ESR as it introduces specific measures for the reduction of methane emissions, as the ESR does not prescribe such measures and leaves some margin to Member States on how best to achieve the required greenhouse gas emission reductions. Those measures will contribute to Member States fulfilling their targets and can also contribute to increasing the cost-effectiveness of achieving the ESR’s targets due to the trading potential in the ESR between Member States.
The proposal to amend Regulation (EU) 2018/841 (LULUCF Regulation) as part of the ‘Fit for 55’ package sets an overall EU target for carbon removals by natural sinks, national targets will require Member States to care for and expand their carbon sinks. The proposal also determines the Union target of climate neutrality for 2035 in the land use, forestry and agriculture sectors, including also agricultural non-CO2 emissions, i.e. methane.
Directive (EU) 2018/2001 (Renewable Energy Directive, REDII) is the main EU instrument dealing with the promotion of energy from renewable sources and will facilitate the gradual replacement of fossil energy sources by renewables. It furthermore contains default greenhouse gas savings values including estimations of methane losses in the production of biogas and biomethane, which can be relevant for the sustainability of biogas and biomethane. These default values can be used by producers in their reporting of the greenhouse gas savings of their production to demonstrate that they meet REDII sustainability requirements and indirectly provide incentives for the reduction of methane emissions.
Methane emissions occurring in space heating and cooling appliances are covered in several ecodesign and energy labelling regulations, which provide rules for improving the environmental performance of products, such as household appliances, information and communication technologies or engineering.
Finally, the European Commission is also proposing to revise Directive 2009/73/EC and Regulation (EC) 715/2009 to facilitate the emergence of decarbonised hydrogen and gas markets, by establishing a new market design, facilitating access for renewable and low-carbon gases to pipelines so as to, on the one hand, create the conditions for a hydrogen market and, on the other hand, remove barriers to the decarbonisation of existing natural gas grid. The proposal is complementary as it will improve the climate performance of fossil gas during the period in which it will be gradually replaced by renewable and low-carbon gases.
• Consistency with other Union policies
This proposal is complementary to action taken in the fields of agriculture and waste to reduce methane emissions.
As regards the agriculture sector, several challenges are addressed in the ‘Farm to Fork’ 5 strategy. The Commission has set up an expert group to analyse life-cycle methane emissions metrics. In cooperation with sectoral experts and Member States, the Commission is developing an inventory of best practices and available technologies to explore and promote the wider uptake of innovative mitigating actions. To encourage carbon-balance calculations at farm level, by 2022 the Commission will provide a digital carbon navigator template and guidelines on common pathways for the quantitative calculation of greenhouse gas emissions and removals. The Commission will promote the uptake of mitigation technologies through the wider deployment of ‘carbon farming’ in Member States and their Common Agricultural Policy Strategic Plans, as from 2021. In the Horizon Europe strategic plan 2021-2024, the Commission is proposing targeted research on the different factors that effectively lead to greenhouse gases emission reductions, focusing on technology and nature-based solutions as well as on the factors leading to dietary shift. The Commission is also considering bringing part of the cattle rearing within the scope of the IED, which may contribute to curbing methane emissions of the sector.
Methane emissions in the waste sector are covered by existing and upcoming planned reviews of environmental legislation. Directive (EU) 2018/850 (the Landfill Directive) requires landfill operators to manage landfill gas by either using it to generate energy or flaring it. In the review of the Landfill Directive foreseen for 2024, the Commission will consider further action to improve the management of landfill gas, minimise its harmful climate effects, and harness any of its potential energy gains. Furthermore, the ongoing review of the IED is also considering the adoption of conclusions on BAT for landfilling that would inter alia address methane emissions. Recent changes to EU waste legislation (2018) introduced an obligation to collect biodegradable waste separately by 2024, and set a new target of a maximum 10% landfilling of waste by 2035. As a result of these changes, it is expected that methane emissions from landfills will decrease further. Concerning the treatment and use of wastewater and sewage sludge under the current regulatory framework, namely the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive 6 and the Sewage Sludge Directive 7 , emissions of greenhouse gases are not specifically tackled. The implementation of the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive has, however, helped to prevent significant methane emissions due to the collection and treatment of wastewater inefficient centralised facilities. The Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive is currently being reviewed. The Sewage Sludge Directive regulates the use of sewage sludge to protect the environment, and in particular soil, against the harmful effects of contaminated sludge when used in agriculture.
2. LEGAL BASIS, SUBSIDIARITY AND PROPORTIONALITY
• Legal basis
The legal basis of this initiative is Article 194(2) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), which empowers the Union to establish the measures necessary to achieve the objectives of the Union with regard to policy on energy. The proposal concerns the energy sector only and it contributes to the Union’s energy policy objectives as outlined in Article 194(1), in particular the functioning of the energy market by harmonizing monitoring, reporting and abatement rules on methane, which contributes to preserve and improve the environment.
• Subsidiarity (for non-exclusive competence)
Methane emissions in the energy sector are a transboundary problem and vary across national and regional levels of the Union. They are relevant in all Member States to a varying degree, depending on their energy mix and natural endowments, e.g. how many underground coalmines are operated or sealed, how much fossil gas is produced or transported. The scale of gas infrastructure demonstrates the Union wide aspect, with roughly 190,000 km of transmission pipelines across all Member States.
The level of reporting of emissions and the scope of mitigation measures differs by Member State and sub-sector. There are several private and voluntary initiatives, these are, however, insufficient due to limitations in scope, participation and enforceability. Diverse national approaches may lead to inconsistencies in regulatory treatment across Member States, increasing the administrative burden on companies operating in more than one Member State, potentially impeding the functioning of the internal market through the creation of barriers to operators, as well as complicating the collection of comparable data across the Union.
In addition, as the majority of methane emissions linked to fossil energy consumed within the Union occur outside its borders, joint action by Member States would be more likely to deliver results for those parts of the supply chain and preserve the integrity of the internal energy market.
In light of the above, the reduction of methane emissions across the Union would benefit from a homogeneous policy approach at the Union level. The impacts of measures aimed at methane measurement and mitigation and related effects on innovation, cost-effectiveness, and a level-playing field in maintenance of a well-functioning internal market warrant coordination across Member State borders. Coordinated Union policies have a much higher chance of leading to further reductions in methane emissions in the energy sector than fragmented national efforts. Coordinated action at the Union level furthermore facilitates the full consideration of the different capabilities to act among Member States and private entities. It also affords operators the benefits of a single regulatory regime, facilitating adherence and reducing administrative burden relative to the application of fragmented rules across Member States.
Union-level methane policy adds significant value for international climate action. By developing legislation to minimise methane emissions in the energy sector, the Union is sending a strong political signal to external actors, increasing the awareness of the harmful effects of methane emissions on the climate. This signal will not only encourage Union partners to address the problem of methane emissions in the energy sector, but also lead to the creation of an international partnership and thus give the Union a leadership role in addressing methane emissions.
In conclusion, the challenges in reducing methane emissions hence require a harmonised and coordinated approach and cannot be addressed efficiently by individual Member States. Union action is thus justified on grounds of subsidiarity in line with Article 194 TFEU.
• Proportionality
The proposal strikes a careful balance between, on the one hand, the regulatory autonomy Member States have for national corrective actions, setting incentives for technological innovation or deciding on the level of dedicated resources and, on the other hand, the need to address the problems concerning methane emissions that have to be tackled at Union level.
As described in Chapter 6 of the Impact Assessment, the costs and regulatory burdens associated with this proposal have been kept as limited as possible. The measures foreseen in this proposal do not extend beyond what is necessary to solve the identified problems and to achieve the objectives set. The foreseen costs for the Commission and Member States are considered as acceptable, also bearing in mind the positive net economic impacts linked to an environmentally and socially cost effective abatement level.
• Choice of the instrument
A Regulation is the appropriate legal instrument for this legislative proposal as it imposes clear and detailed rules which do not give room for divergent transposition by Member States. A Regulation ensures that legal requirements are applicable at the same time throughout the Union, therefore it would avoid the inefficiencies and regulatory costs/burdens related to an inconsistent implementation of the methane emission reduction provisions across the Union.
In addition, a Regulation is the adequate instrument to impose direct obligations on economic operators and national authorities. This would be required in order to have clear obligations to quantify report and verify data, as well as to employ measures to mitigate methane emissions, including the phasing out of harmful industry practices such as venting and flaring.
In order to have consistent and comparable data, it is crucial to have harmonised measurement and reporting requirements. This can be best done via a Regulation, as shown by related EU legal acts, such as Regulation (EU) 2015/757 8 , Regulation (EC) 166/2006 or Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/2066 9 . On this subject, the level of discretion left to Member States in a Directive would be incompatible with the need for comparable and therefore harmonised data.
Furthermore, with respect to mitigation measures and restrictions on industrial practices, Regulation is the adequate instrument to ensure that provisions target companies directly and a minimum level-playing field is established in those practices.
Finally, a Regulation allows the urgency of dealing with methane emissions to be addressed in a more direct and conducive manner, in the context of the climate emergency and the Union’s climate neutrality target, as explained in section 1 above.
The choice of a Regulation ensures that the identified problems and objectives are addressed in the most effective, efficient and proportionate way. It ensures a careful balance between, on the one hand, the regulatory autonomy Member States have for national corrective actions, setting incentives for technological innovation, or deciding on the level of dedicated resources and, on the other hand, the need to address the problems concerning methane emissions that have to be tackled at Union level.
3. RESULTS OF EX-POST EVALUATIONS, STAKEHOLDER CONSULTATIONS AND IMPACT ASSESSMENTS
• Stakeholder consultations
In line with the Better Regulation Guidelines for impact assessments, the Commission carried out a comprehensive stakeholder consultation based on a consultation strategy that included a range of methods and tools. The consultation strategy aimed to ensure that all relevant evidence was taken into account, including data about costs, societal impact, and the potential benefits of the initiative. The strategy was designed in line with the intervention logic and combined both backward and forward-looking elements. Several consultation tools were employed: an online public consultation, a targeted consultation on costs of implementing monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) regulation based on the Oil and Gas Methane Partnership 10 , in-depth interviews and (three) online stakeholder webinars.
The open public consultation (OPC) received 131 responses, of those 126 were submitted by at least partial completion of the online questionnaire and five additional contributions were received in the form of email submissions.
In particular, the Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) and the Council of European Energy Regulators (CEER) submitted a survey among their members as informal contribution to the open public consultation, expressing the view that “national regulatory authorities broadly support an EU-level harmonized approach to methane emissions monitoring and detection, based in particular on mandatory monitoring of methane emissions.”
Stakeholders expressed widespread support for developing a robust MRV standard for methane emissions in the energy sector. In the OPC, 78% of responses supported basing the oil and gas part of the MRV proposal on the methodology of the Oil and Gas Methane Partnership, which was also backed by all the EU oil and gas trade associations. There was also wide support, including by the coal industry, for including MRV provisions for coal (96% of responses to the OPC). Those aspects are included in this proposal.
There was broad support for legislative measures to mitigate emissions in the oil, fossil gas and coal sectors. All oil and gas industry associations that provided a response to the OPC expressed support for putting into Union law an obligation on leak detection and repair (LDAR). NGOs were also widely supportive of such an obligation. All NGOs and industry respondents to the OPC believed that it is feasible to phase out routine venting and flaring associated with energy produced and consumed in the EU. As regards the inclusion of mitigation measures for coalmine methane, the public consultation yielded strong support (80% of responses). Those aspects are included in this proposal.
Ninety-two percent of responses to the OPC were supportive of Union legislation on methane emissions in the energy sector covering oil and gas placed in the Union market. Specifically, 96% of responses supported the development of a methane transparency tool at the Union and international levels. This element is included in this proposal.
72% of responses considered that Union legislation on methane emissions in the energy sector should extend obligations to companies importing fossil energy into the Union. 65% of responses considered it feasible to impose the same obligations with respect to MRV, LDAR and venting and flaring on all actors of the oil and gas value chain for oil and gas consumed in the Union. To respond to this, the proposal includes a review clause explicitly referring to the Commission’s prerogative to submit amending legislative proposals to impose more stringent measures on importers once better global methane emission data are available.
• Collection and use of expertise
The proposal and its underpinning impact assessment draw on evidence from the stakeholder input to the extensive consultations carried out in this respect, specific workshops, as well as literature review, analysis and modelling. The literature review included the results of a series of topical studies on key elements of the methane emissions regulations in different countries and EU Member States, limiting methane emissions in the energy sector, as well as evaluations and assessments carried out in the framework of other relevant Commission initiatives.
• Impact assessment
Throughout the impact assessment work, a range of measures was considered across all areas to address the identified problems and problem drivers in order to reach the objectives of the initiative. All policy areas included a business as usual option. Preferred options have been identified for three policy areas. Following an assessment of their effectiveness, efficiency, coherence and proportionality, a package of preferred options was found to be best suited to contribute to the set objectives. The package of preferred options includes the following main provisions:
Policy area 1 considers options to improve the accuracy of measuring and reporting of methane emissions in the energy sector by obliging operators to carry out asset-level measurements and report direct emissions of methane for economic activities in the EU territory. This includes compulsory monitoring, reporting and verification for oil and gas, compulsory monitoring, reporting and verification for oil, gas and coal, and compulsory monitoring, reporting and verification for oil, gas and coal covering also indirect emissions.
The preferred option for policy area 1 is to impose detailed (asset-level) measuring and reporting obligation on methane emissions from oil, gas and coal in the EU energy sector. The key benefit is that this will improve the level of reporting of such emissions and will increase understanding of the sources and magnitude of those emissions which will lead to more effective abatement of associated emissions.
Policy area 2 contains options for the mitigation of methane emissions in the EU, through leak detection and repair measures and limits on venting and flaring. They aim to ensure further effective mitigation of methane emissions across the energy supply chain. The options include Commission guidance or mandatory measures on mitigation of methane emissions in the oil and fossil gas sectors, mandatory measures on mitigation of methane emissions in the oil, fossil gas and coal sectors as well as indirect emissions and legislative measure to achieve a certain reduction in methane emissions via a performance requirement.
The preferred option for policy area 2 is to impose obligations to mitigate methane emissions from oil, gas and coal in the EU energy sector, in terms of leak detection and repair measures and to ban venting and flaring. These will lead to greater abatement of methane emissions compared to a business as usual scenario, with associated environmental and social benefits in terms of slowing climate change and reducing air pollution.
Policy area 3 contains options that aim at reducing methane emissions related to imported fossil energy. It includes options on measuring, reporting and mitigating methane emissions linked to EU fossil fuel consumption but occurring outside the EU, including the use of diplomatic action and transparency tools, mandatory measuring, reporting and mitigation applying to all methane emissions from fossil energy consumed in the EU covering the value chain, the establishment of a transparency database on methane emissions and a global high methane emitting monitoring tool, as well as an obligation to achieve a certain amount of methane emissions reduction applying to all fossil energy consumed in the EU covering the value chain.
The preferred option for policy area 3 is to put forward various instruments to improve information on methane emission sources from companies exporting fossil energy to the EU as well as incentives for countries to reduce their methane emissions. Similarly to policy area 2, reducing global methane emissions will have environmental and social benefits, for the EU in particular in terms of slowing climate change.
• Fundamental rights
The initiative is fully in line with Article 37 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, which requires that a high level of environmental protection and the improvement of the quality of the environment must be integrated into the policies of the Union and ensured in accordance with the principle of sustainable development.
4. BUDGETARY IMPLICATIONS
The proposal includes a number of requirements with budgetary implications. First, the requirement for the European Union Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) to establish and make publicly available a set of indicators and corresponding reference values for the comparison of unit investment costs linked to measurement, reporting and abatement of methane emissions for comparable projects, once every three years. While so far ACER has not dealt with costs of network operators due to measurement, reporting and abatement of methane emissions, the additional tasks and their workload for ACER are estimated to be sufficiently covered by 1 additional FTE.
Second, the requirement for the Union to establish and maintain a methane transparency platform including information on imports of fossil energy into the Union, with updates to be provided every quarter, as well as to establish a global methane monitoring tool that regularly publishes the results of aerial monitoring of large emitters of methane from energy sources, with updates to be provided every month. The additional tasks and their workload for the Commission are estimated to require 2 extra full-time officials.
Section 3 of the Legislative Financial Statement outlines the proposal’s budgetary implications and the human and administrative resources required.
5. OTHER ELEMENTS
• Implementation plans and monitoring, evaluation and reporting arrangements
EU climate and energy legislation provides a comprehensive framework to achieve progress towards EU targets, and to track that progress, to which this proposal will contribute. The overarching framework is provided by the European Climate Law and a detailed integrated monitoring and reporting framework is provided by the Regulation on the Governance of the Energy Union and Climate Action. Data collected in the context of that Regulation is to be made publicly accessible on an e-platform, including indicators for monitoring progress towards the Union’s energy and climate objectives.
Member States national policies and measures to achieve their targets under the Effort Sharing Regulation are checked by the Commission every five years. The implementation and effectiveness of the provisions contained in the proposal will therefore be also tracked under the target achievement under the ESR. The established control mechanisms for the quality of national submissions will also allow an evaluation of the effectiveness of the provisions of this proposal in achieving improvements in data accuracy. In this context, the Regulation on the Governance of the Energy Union and Climate Action sets out the requirements for national and Union inventory systems for GHG emissions, policies, measures and projections, calling for their continuous improvement. The establishment of such systems is required internationally and is meant to support the implementation of national energy and climate plans with regard to the decarbonisation dimension.
Methane emissions are increasingly subject to public attention, including scientific and stakeholder campaigns to detect and quantify emissions. Supported by increasing spatial and temporal resolution of satellite data, such public scrutiny is a valuable resource in monitoring the impact of the proposal and identifying shortcomings in implementation.
As regards monitoring and evaluation of the obligations set out in this proposal, the main responsibility in ensuring application of the provisions will lie with the national competent authorities. With respect to emissions data verification, this proposal provides for the role of independent accredited verifiers. The International Methane Emission Observatory 11 will provide additional scrutiny of submitted methane emissions data, including the possibility to cross-reference them with other sources such as satellite imaging and products.
The Commission will monitor the implementation of the legal act, through checking the correct application of the measures by the obligated parties and if necessary taking enforcement action. This proposal includes a review clause whereby the Commission will submit a report on the evaluation and review of the Regulation.
• Detailed explanation of the specific provisions of the proposal
The proposed regulation consists of six chapters comprising 35 articles.
Chapter 1 – General provisions
This chapter sets out the scope and the main terms used in the proposed regulation. It also includes a provision recognising the costs of network operators in implementing the Regulation.
Chapter 2 – Competent authorities and independent verification
This chapter lays down the compliance provisions of the Regulation, in addition to the penalties provisions in Chapter 6. It sets out the tasks of competent authorities, in particular the rules concerning inspections and complaints, as well as the role and procedures for independent accredited verifiers with respect to verification of methane emissions data reported by operators.
Chapter 3 – Methane emissions in the oil and gas sectors
This chapter lays down the obligations of operators and Member States with respect to measurement and reporting of methane emissions data, as well as obligations for the abatement of methane emissions in the relevant sites.
Chapter 4 – Methane emissions in the coal sector
This chapter is divided in three sections to cover the following: monitoring and reporting of methane emissions in operating mines; mitigation of methane emissions in operating underground mines and methane emissions in closed and abandoned underground mines.
Each section lays down the obligations of operators and Member States with respect to measurement and reporting of methane emissions data, as well as obligations for the abatement of methane emissions in the relevant sites.
Chapter 5 – Methane emissions occurring outside the Union
This chapter introduces transparency tools for methane emissions occurring outside the Union: an information obligation by importers of fossil fuels with regards to methane emissions, a transparency list of Union companies and countries and companies exporting fossil energy to the Union, including information on their international reporting obligations with respect to methane emissions and a global monitoring tool to divulge the magnitude, recurrence and location of methane emitters globally.
In addition, to account for imports of fossil energy into the Union, the chapter sets out importer information requirements, as well as the Commission’s prerogative to submit amending legislative proposals to impose more stringent measures on importers once better global methane emission data are available and ensuring compliance with the applicable international obligations of the Union.
Chapter 6 – Final provisions
This chapter provides in particular for a system of penalties: while recognising that establishing penalties is a national competence, it sets out guiding principles for penalties, in particular criteria for setting penalties, the types of infringements to be penalised, criteria on maximum ceilings, as well as the possibility to impose periodic penalty payments.
It also contains empowerment provisions for the adoption of delegated and implementing acts, as well as a review clause.