Canada releases Faster and Further: Canada’s Methane Strategy

26 September 2022

Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) has released an official strategy, titled Faster and Further: Canada’s Methane Strategy, to reduce methane emissions from across the Canadian economy. Methane is a potent greenhouse gas and climate pollutant that is responsible for 30% of observed global warming to date, according to ECCC, with global levels of atmospheric methane continuing to rise.

With the measures outlined in the strategy, Canada intends to reduce domestic methane emissions by more than 35% by 2030, compared to 2020 levels. This would exceed the Global Methane Pledge target of 30% that Canada signed on to last year. The document builds on Canada’s existing commitments, including the 2030 Emissions Reduction Plan.

The strategy outlines plans to further reduce methane emissions from the oil and gas industry, agriculture, and at landfill sites. It also looks at the science behind methane measurement, reporting, and modelling methane in the atmosphere.

Reducing methane emissions from the oil and gas sector is one of the lowest cost GHG reduction opportunities, because methane gas that is conserved is a marketable product and can be sold as fuel—natural gas. The sources of methane emissions from Canadian oil and gas sector include venting (35%), fugitive emissions from oil (32%) and gas (25%) operations, stationary combustion (7%) and flaring (1%).

Canada adopted federal methane regulations in 2018 to reduce oil and gas methane emissions from 2012 levels by 40-45% by 2025. An Emissions Reduction Fund was created to invest in green technologies to lower or eliminate methane and other GHG emissions from the oil and gas sector. Strengthened methane regulations are being developed to achieve at least a 75% reduction of oil and gas methane emissions by 2030 from 2012 levels. Proposed regulations are to be published in 2023.

Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada