The Oil and Gas Climate Initiative, or OGCI, pledged on Monday to cut GHG emissions by one-fifth by 2025, or about 350,000 tonnes of methane annually. Total photo.
GHG emissions reductions to fight climate change
On Monday, members of the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative, or OGCI, pledged to battle climate change by cutting their greenhouse gas emissions by one-fifth by 2025.
The OGCI represents nearly one-third of global oil production and includes oil majors Exxon Mobil, Chevron, BP, Shell, France’s Total and national oil companies of China, Mexico, Brazil and Saudi Arabia.
The proposed reduction amounts to about 350,000 tonnes of methane annually and compares with a baseline intensity of 0.32 per cent in 2017, excluding new members.
According to Reuters, the pledge, which could be dropped further to 0.20 per cent intensity, is similar to GHG emissions reduction targets set by some members, including BP, Shell and Exxon.
“Our aim is to work towards near zero methane emissions from the full gas value chain in support of achieving the goals of the Paris (Climate) Agreement,” Reuters reports the heads of the OGCI members said in a statement. The statement referred to an international agreement aimed at limiting global warming.
The Environment Defense Fund, EDF, said the OGCI needs to adopt more, and transparent, means of measuring methane emissions to meet the group’s target.
“It will be critical now for companies to follow through on their commitment, reporting on progress with actual measured emissions, fully and publicly disclosed,” EDF President Fred Krupp said in a statement, according to Reuters.
“A second challenge for OGCI is the risk that laggards in the industry hide behind their efforts, falsely claiming that the actions of an important few represent what all in the industry are doing.”
OCGI also announced the creation of a $100 million China-focussed climate investment fund in conjunction with China National Petroleum Corporation, or CNPC. This announcement coincided with the start of Climate Week in New York.
The OGCI says it is investing in new technologies to help measure and detect methane leaks from pipelines, wells and other oil and gas infrastructure, according to Pratima Rangarajan, head of CGCI Climate Investments.
“Today there is no global measurement, so what you don’t measure you don’t fix or operate as well as you should,” she told Reuters.
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