Annexes to COM(2020)663 - EU strategy to reduce methane emissions

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dossier COM(2020)663 - EU strategy to reduce methane emissions.
document COM(2020)663 EN
date October 14, 2020
Agreement.


The Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC) agriculture initiative 73 also aims to increase the ambition of NDCs. It focuses on reducing emissions of methane from livestock (from enteric fermentation and manure management) and paddy rice production. As a main partner in this initiative, the Commission will ensure that it continues to help non-EU countries with knowledge exchange, best practices, and the setting up of pilot projects to better manage and mitigate methane emissions from agriculture. Future work will focus on best practices and technologies to reduce enteric fermentation globally.


The EU’s-international partnerships on research and cooperation will continue to support climate action in agriculture-related projects. These projects will cover livestock management, grazing land management and forestry 74 . Forestry-based actions relevant to methane abatement include initiatives to reduce the conversion, draining and burning of peatland forests 75 , managing and restoring forests in a way that reduces the incidence and severity of uncontrolled forest fires 76 , and reducing firewood and charcoal use (switching to non-biomass fuels for cooking) 77 . Other target areas are cropland manure management as well as other land uses and ecosystems (managing prescribed/controlled fires, agricultural development in urban and peri-urban areas, and drying of wetlands).


The Commission will also promote the mitigation potential in the rice-cultivation sector in Asia through cooperation projects. These projects will be set up and monitored according to EU climate-tracking procedures and in line with NDCs and national adaptation plans.


3.Waste


The Commission is actively participating in the revision of guidance on the landfilling of waste (including landfill-gas management) under the Basel Convention 78 . The guidance has been aligned with existing EU waste legislation

International actions

18.The EU will step-up its contribution to the work of international fora, such as through the Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC), the Arctic Council and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

19.As part of the EU’s diplomatic and external relations action, the Commission will address methane emission reductions in all relevant sectors with partner countries and promote global coordination of efforts to address energy-sector methane emissions.

20.The Commission will seek increased transparency in the energy sector by working with international partners to develop a Methane Supply Index in the foreseen international methane emissions observatory.

21.The Commission will consider methane emission reduction targets, standards or other incentives for fossil energy consumed and imported in the EU in the absence of significant commitments from international partners.

22.The Commission will support the establishment of a detection-and-alert process for methane super-emitters using EU satellite capability, and share this information internationally through the foreseen international methane emissions observatory.

23.The Commission will support cooperation with international partners, including the Global Methane Initiative, the World Bank’s Global Gas Flaring Reduction initiative, and the World Bank’s initiative on Zero Routine Flaring by 2030, as well as the International Energy Agency.

24.The Commission will contribute to a series of key international events in the build up to the UN General Assembly in New York in September 2021, with the objective of securing a UN based pathway on coordinated actions at international level to reduce methane emissions.



IV.Conclusions


This strategy identifies a set of actions that will achieve significant reductions in methane emissions across the energy, agriculture and waste management sectors at EU and international level. These measures will help to deliver on the EU’s commitments under the European Green Deal and the Paris Agreement towards climate neutrality, as well as reducing air pollution. Effective emission reductions will require resolute action by EU Member States, non-EU countries and stakeholders.


The Commission will continue to monitor progress in relation to methane emission reductions in the EU greenhouse gas inventories, while reporting under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) frameworks will monitor progress at international level.


The Commission invites the European Parliament, Council, Committee of the Regions, European Economic and Social Committee, Member States, non-EU countries, international organisations and stakeholders at EU and international level to support and cooperate on the further development of this strategy to urgently address methane emissions across the energy, agriculture and waste management sectors.

(1)

IPCC AR5, (2014). IPCC, 2013: Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

(2)

European Environment Agency (EEA), (2016). Premature deaths attributable to air pollution (EU 28). https://www.eea.europa.eu/media/newsreleases/many-europeans-still-exposed-to-air-pollution-2015/premature-deaths-attributable-to-air-pollution. In the EU, premature deaths due to ozone exposure are estimated at between 14,000 and 16,000 per year for the years 2015 to 2017. JRC modelling results estimate that by 2030, depending on levels of methane concentrations, the difference in associated premature deaths would be between 1,800 and 4,000, annually. These results are likely under-estimates as they do not take into account recent re-evaluations of mortality risks associated with long-term ozone exposure, which suggest a factor 2.3 times higher.

(3)

(EU) 2018/1999.

(4)

COM(2019) 640 final.

(5)

EU 2030 climate target plan Impact Assessment, https://eur-lex.europa.eu/resource.html?uri=cellar:749e04bb-f8c5-11ea-991b-01aa75ed71a1.0001.02/DOC_2&format=PDF .

(6)

EU 2030 climate target plan Impact Assessment, https://eur-lex.europa.eu/resource.html?uri=cellar:749e04bb-f8c5-11ea-991b-01aa75ed71a1.0001.02/DOC_2&format=PDF .

(7)

Significant quantities of non-CO2 greenhouse gases are still being emitted in the EU today, representing around 20% of total emissions. In 2015, methane represented around 60% of total non-CO2 greenhouse gas emission, followed by nitrous oxides and F-gas emissions (EU 2030 climate target plan Impact Assessment).

(8)

Climate and Clean Air Coalition Scientific Advisory Panel, (2020).

(9)

Regulation, (EU) 2018/842.

(10)

International Energy Agency (IEA), World Energy Outlook, (2018), https://edgar.jrc.ec.europa.eu/overview.php?v=50_GHG .

(11)

European Environment Agency (EEA), (2018). EEA greenhouse gas - data viewer. https://www.eea.europa.eu/ds_resolveuid/f4269fac-662f-4ba0-a416-c25373823292 .

(12)

Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC) Scientific Advisory Panel, (2020).

(13)

Climate Watch Data, (2016).

(14)

Strategy paper for reducing methane emissions. Communication from the Commission to the Council and to the European Parliament. COM (96) 557 final, 15 November 1996.

(15)

Such as in the waste sector - to address site management, including landfill gas – but which also contributed to mitigating methane emissions. Also, methane emissions are covered by the binding national greenhouse gas targets set under the effort sharing legislation (Decision No. 406/2009/EC).

(16)

In depth analysis in support of the Commission Communication COM(2018) 773

(17)

Flaring and venting occurs at coal, oil and fossil gas production sites. It also occurs (to a much lesser extent) at landfill gas and biogas facilities. Flaring is the controlled burning of gases produced or released in association with: fossil-fuel extraction and transportation; and certain agricultural and waste practices. Venting is the controlled release of unburned gases directly into the atmosphere. Venting is arguably more harmful to the environment as the released gas typically contains high-levels of CH4, whereas flaring converts the CH4 into less harmful CO2. Nevertheless, the process of flaring can release other emissions such as SO2 and NO2 which, when combined with moisture in the atmosphere, can form acid rain.

(18)

Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC) Scientific Advisory Panel, (2020).

(19)

International Energy Agency (IEA), (2020). Methane Tracker 2020,

https://www.iea.org/reports/methane-tracker-2020/methane-abatement-options.

(20)

EU 2030 climate target plan Impact Assessment, https://eur-lex.europa.eu/resource.html?uri=cellar:749e04bb-f8c5-11ea-991b-01aa75ed71a1.0001.02/DOC_2&format=PDF .

(21)

EU 2030 climate target plan Impact Assessment, https://eur-lex.europa.eu/resource.html?uri=cellar:749e04bb-f8c5-11ea-991b-01aa75ed71a1.0001.02/DOC_2&format=PDF .

(22)

Formation of methane by microbes in the gut of animals. Ruminant animals are a subset of mammals that ferment food in their ‘rumen’ (first stomach) using bacteria, before further digestion in subsequent stomachs. This ‘enteric fermentation’ generates methane, which the animal releases. The largest sources of methane emissions in the EU agricultural sector are from cows and sheep.

(23)

[EU 2030 climate target plan Impact Assessment, https://eur-lex.europa.eu/resource.html?uri=cellar:749e04bb-f8c5-11ea-991b-01aa75ed71a1.0001.02/DOC_2&format=PDF .

(24)

  https://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/european-union-greenhouse-gas-inventory-2020  

(25)

‘The waste hierarchy generally lays down a priority order of what constitutes the best overall environmental option in waste legislation and policy. Further details in , Directive 2008/98/EC and https://ec.europa.eu/environment/waste/framework/

(26)

Measurement, reporting, verification (MRV), integrity and validation (IV).

(27)

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), 2019 Refinement to the 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories, https://www.ipcc.ch/site/assets/uploads/2019/12/19R_V0_01_Overview.pdf

(28)

Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC) Oil and Gas Methane Partnership (OGMP). https://ccacoalition.org/en/activity/ccac-oil-gas-methane-partnership#:~:text=The%20Climate%20and%20Clean%20Air,New%20York%20in%20September%202014.

(29)

https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32010L0075

(30)

https://prtr.eea.europa.eu/#/home

(31)

The Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC) is a voluntary partnership of governments, intergovernmental organizations, businesses, scientific institutions and civil society organizations committed to improving air quality and protecting the climate through actions to reduce short-lived climate pollutants. https://ccacoalition.org/en/content/who-we-are . The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is the leading global environmental authority that sets the global environmental agenda, promotes the coherent implementation of the environmental dimension of sustainable development within the United Nations system, and serves as an authoritative advocate for the global environment. https://www.unenvironment.org/about-un-environment .

(32)

Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC) methane science studies https://ccacoalition.org/en/activity/oil-and-gas-methane-science-studies .

(33)

Knapp, et al., (2014). Enteric methane in dairy cattle production: Quantifying the opportunities and impact of reducing emissions, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022030214002896  

(34)

The term ‘super-emitter’ in this general context refers to a specific site or facility with disproportionately high-emissions for a site or facility of that kind. In specific sectors, there are individual definitions of super-emitters. For example, in the fossil gas supply chain the term can refer to sites with the highest proportional loss rates, i.e. the greatest loss of methane emitted for methane produced/processed (Zavala-Araiza, et al., 2015).

(35)

CAMS analyses global fluctuations in methane emissions on a daily and monthly basis. It can also provide full emissions datasets with comparisons between the main global and regional inventories. To derive more accurate data, CAMS methane products are reconciled with other independent measurement sources, such as surface-monitoring stations, ships, and aircraft programmes.

(36)

Brandt, Cooley, Heath, (2016) (DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.6b04303).

(37)

10-20% of sites are responsible for 60-90% of emissions. Source: ‘Tackling energy-related methane emissions’, 2020. Consortium led by Wood Environment & Infrastructure Solutions GmbH.

(38)

Directive 2010/75/EU.

(39)

Regulation (EC) No 166/2006 on the establishment of a European Pollutant Release and Transfer Register.

(40)

COM(2020) 299 and 301; https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_20_1259 . 

(41)

  https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:52018DC0773  

(42)

These and other recommendations were conveyed by stakeholders at a workshop organised by the Commission on 17 July 2020 entitled ‘The opportunities and barriers to achieving methane emission reductions in waste and agriculture through biogas production’.

(43)

Regulation (EU) 2020/852 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 June 2020 on the establishment of a framework to facilitate sustainable investment, and amending Regulation (EU) 2019/2088.

(44)

International Energy Agency (IEA), Methane Tracker, (2020).

(45)

Unintended leaks from all equipment.

(46)

Ongoing coordination with relevant stakeholders is supporting the development of revised MRV methodologies, adapted for these sectors and sections of supply chains.

(47)

However, this would only reduce leakage if (and to the extent that) the cost of abatement is lower than the additional sale price achievable. However, as these companies do not own the resource they are using (those are generally owned by the country of production) and not accountable for losses, they often have little interest in reducing them. Also, oil producers often have little or no incentive (other than regulatory) to reduce their emissions of methane or other gases that are not in their core business.

(48)

This would exclude flaring that is necessary, for example for safety reasons.

(49)

  https://www.worldbank.org/en/programs/zero-routine-flaring-by-2030#1  

(50)

  https://www.worldbank.org/en/programs/gasflaringreduction  

(51)

EU 2030 climate target plan Impact Assessment, https://eur-lex.europa.eu/resource.html?uri=cellar:749e04bb-f8c5-11ea-991b-01aa75ed71a1.0001.02/DOC_1&format=PDF .

(52)

Kholod, et al., (2020). ( https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.120489 ). 

(53)

COM(2020) 381.

(54)

  https://ec.europa.eu/jrc/en/publication/eur-scientific-and-technical-research-reports/economic-assessment-ghg-mitigation-policy-options-eu-agriculture-ecampa-2  

(55)

One novel approach to feeding that holds great promise is incorporating seaweed into cattle feed. One in vitro study found that seaweed could powerfully inhibit methane production even at very low levels. See https://www.publish.csiro.au/an/AN15576.

(56)

https://ec.europa.eu/eip/agriculture/sites/agri-eip/files/eip-agri_fg_livestock_emissions_final_report_2017_en.pdf

(57)

The LEAP Partnership (Livestock Environmental Assessment and Performance) under the auspice of FAO

(58)

Farm to Fork Strategy (COM(2020) 381).

(59)

Farm to Fork Strategy (COM(2020) 381).

(60)

Directive 1999/31/EC.

(61)

Eurostat, env_wasmun.

(62)

As interpreted by the EUCJ ruling Case C-323/13, European Commission v. Italian Republic. http://curia.europa.eu/juris/liste.jsf?language=en&num=C-323/13 . 

(63)

LIFE Project RE MIDA - Innovative Methods for Residual Landfill Gas Emissions Mitigation in Mediterranean Regions LIFE14 CCM/IT/000464. The project demonstrated the technical and economic viability of two technologies (biofiltration and biowindows) implemented to biologically oxidise landfill biogas with low calorific value. The technologies resulted in gains related to: oxidation efficiency, abatement of odorous compounds, minimisation of the risk associated with emissions of carcinogenic compounds and reductions in the cost of landfill post treatment when compared to a conventional combustion system.

(64)

  https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/have-your-say/initiatives/12405-Revision-of-the-Urban-Wastewater-Treatment-Directive .

(65)

  https://ec.europa.eu/environment/waste/landfill/pdf/guidance%20on%20landfill%20gas.pdf . 

(66)

Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), (2019).

(67)

Current members are: BP, Ecopetrol, Eni, Equinor, Neptune Energy International SA, Pemex, PTT, Repsol, Shell, and Total.

(68)

International Energy Agency (IEA), (2019).

(69)

Saunois et al. (2019)

(70)

The launch of satellites Sentinel 4 and 5 will provide higher-frequency observations, increasing the likelihood of capturing intermittent sources.

(71)

  https://unfccc.int/topics/land-use/workstreams/agriculture  

(72)

  http://www.fao.org/climate-change/our-work/what-we-do/ndcs/twg/en/  

(73)

  https://ccacoalition.org/en/resources/ccac-agriculture-initiative-infosheet  

(74)

  EU Communication on Stepping up EU Action to Protect and Restore the World’s Forests ; 23 July 2019

(75)

IPCC, (2019).

(76)

Forest conservation and sustainable management also reduce flood risks, and thereby reduce the methane emissions associated with flooding.

(77)

From the perspective of methane emissions, a switch to other biomass fuels, even if they are sustainably produced, is not ideal as all biomass burning generates methane.

(78)

Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal https://www.basel.int/Portals/4/Basel%20Convention/docs/text/BaselConventionText-e.pdf .