Is the EU ready for new methane legislation?

This event is the first of a series of webinars jointly organised by the Florence School of Regulation and the Environmental Defense Fund

The upgraded EU 2030 climate goals require at least a 35-37% reduction in methane emissions in the next decade compared to 2005 levels. The upcoming EU legislation will step up and synchronise the actions in the EU in three key areas: Measurement, Reporting and Verification (MRV), Leak Detection and Repair Programmes (LDAR), and routine venting and flaring. The European Commission is also considering measures to reduce emissions from the imported natural gas.

However, the adoption of new legislation alone does not guarantee a qualitative shift and effective implementation. All actors involved should be well-prepared and motivated. However, a lot could be done even before the legislation comes into force, e.g. by committing to voluntary industry initiatives such as the OGMP2.0. The webinar will address all areas that will be and may be covered by the upcoming EU legislation: from MRV to treatment of the imported gas.

The purpose of the seminar is to identify the areas where further work by the EU, Member States, and the industry may be needed to successfully implement the forthcoming EU legislation, which the EU Commission will present by the end of 2021.

Questions:

• Which EU legal instruments could be the most efficient ones in delivering bold action on mitigation of methane emissions in the energy sector?
• Could we expect a swift agreement on the legislative measures on the European level?
• Are national energy regulators ready for actions on methane emissions?
• What the industry is already doing to reduce methane emissions, and what is it expecting from legislators?

Moderation: Andris Piebalgs, Florence School of Regulation

Welcome

Andris Piebalgs | Florence School of Regulation

Session 1: The perspective of the EU institutions

Kitti Nyitrai | European Commission

Nicolás González Casares | European Parliament

Urška Dolinšek | Slovenian Presidency of the Council of the EU

Session 2: Regulatory challenges

Marco La Cognata I ARERA/CEER

Klaus-Dieter Borchardt I Baker McKenzie

Karolina Cegir I Energy Community

Session 3: The perspective of the industry

Muhunthan Sathiamoorthy| BP

Francisco de la Flor | Enagás / Gas Infrastructure Europe

Eva Hennig | Thüga / Eurogas

Conclusion

Dagmar Droogsma | Environmental Defense Fund

Related links

Cover the Basics: Methane Emissions

The Upcoming EU Legislation on Methane Emissions (event recording)

Previous events with EDF:

Addressing Methane Emissions  in the context of energy system integration

The Impact of EU Methane Strategy on the Natural Gas Market

The EU Methane Strategy – the case for multilateralism (event highlights)

Policy briefs:

Designing an EU Methane Performance Standard for Natural Gas

Methane emission reduction

How far should the new EU Methane Strategy go?