This article was published by the Pembina Institute on April 2, 2024.
CALGARY, AB — A new international poll commissioned by Pembina Institute partner the Global Methane Hub shows 86 per cent of Canadian respondents support action to mitigate methane emissions.
Methane is a major contributor to Canada’s overall emissions and accounts for about 20 per cent of all oil and gas sector emissions annually. The Global Methane Hub polling data underscores the need for strong regulations that will ensure the industry meets public expectations on reducing methane, and achieves the Government of Canada’s target of a 75 per cent reduction of oil and gas sector methane emissions from 2012 levels by 2030.
Marcelo Mena, CEO of Global Methane Hub said “Given its potency and lifetime in the atmosphere, addressing methane is the fastest way to drive down global temperatures, which can buy time to address other greenhouse gasses such as carbon dioxide.”
The online poll reached 12,976 people in 17 countries. In Canada, 89 per cent of the 754 respondents supported implementing standards that require the oil and gas industry to find and fix methane leaks, and 86 per cent support improving methane emissions measurement data to ensure accountability.
Pembina argues that while proposed federal regulations strengthen leak detection and repair requirements, they do little to move Canada beyond estimation-based reporting to a measurement-based methane inventory. “To remain in step with international policy, Canada’s federal and provincial governments must rapidly implement proposed federal methane regulations and equivalent provincial regulations, and make measurement-based reporting a regulatory requirement,” said Amanda Bryant, Senior Analyst, Pembina Institute.
As a result of the survey results, Pembina is looking to the federal government to update methane regulations, and encourages it to seize the opportunity to align with other global leaders and with public sentiment.
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