August 5, 2024
European Art

EU reaches deal to reduce highly polluting methane gas emissions from the energy sector – Winnipeg Free Press


BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union negotiators reached a deal on Wednesday to reduce highly polluting methane gas emissions from the energy sector across the 27-nation bloc.

According to experts, one of the biggest causes of climate change is methane gas emissions — second only to carbon dioxide. The gas also causes serious health problems.

Most emissions come from the energy, agriculture and waste sectors.


FILE - A cow walks through a field as an oil pumpjack and a flare burning off methane and other hydrocarbons in the background in the Permian Basin in Jal, N.M.,on Oct. 14, 2021. European Union negotiators reached a deal on Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2023, to reduce highly polluting methane gas emissions from the energy sector across the 27-nation bloc.One of the biggest causes of climate change is methane gas emissions, second only to carbon dioxide, and the gas also causes serious health problems. Most emissions come from the energy, agriculture and waste sectors. (AP Photo/David Goldman, File)
FILE – A cow walks through a field as an oil pumpjack and a flare burning off methane and other hydrocarbons in the background in the Permian Basin in Jal, N.M.,on Oct. 14, 2021. European Union negotiators reached a deal on Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2023, to reduce highly polluting methane gas emissions from the energy sector across the 27-nation bloc.One of the biggest causes of climate change is methane gas emissions, second only to carbon dioxide, and the gas also causes serious health problems. Most emissions come from the energy, agriculture and waste sectors. (AP Photo/David Goldman, File)

Under the provisional agreement announced just weeks before the COP28 climate conference, the fossil gas, oil and coal industry will be forced to “properly measure, monitor, report and verify their methane emissions according to the highest monitoring standards, and take action to reduce them,” said the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm.

The deal needs to be formally approved by both the European Parliament and the Council, which represents member states, before the new legislation enters into force.

This came as China and the United States pledged to accelerate their efforts to address climate change ahead of a major United Nations meeting on the issue, making a commitment to take steps to reduce emissions of methane and other greenhouse gases besides carbon dioxide.