Media Partnership: Towards an EU Methane Import Standard - Opportunities for global climate leadership ahead of COP28

Despite numerous initiatives to curb methane emissions, concentrations continue to rise, posing the greatest threat to passing irreversible climate tipping points. In the face of ever-rising temperatures and worsening impacts of climate change, swift and bold leadership to reduce global methane emissions remains the most urgent low hanging fruit available to policymakers.The passage of the EU’s first bloc-wide legislation on methane emissions is underway. One of the key issues for trialogues will be the question of what the EU can – and should – be doing about methane emissions beyond its borders.In recent years, the EU has leveraged its buying power to encourage global leadership and action against climate change, establishing import rules to curb the negative impacts of deforestation, biofuels, and carbon-intensive products. With the EU importing over 90% of its oil and gas, it now has an opportunity to drastically cut methane emissions in the energy sector by establishing an EU Methane Import Standard in the forthcoming Methane Regulation.On the flipside, legislation that only accounts for domestic methane emissions would be a major step back from the oft-stated goal of the Von der Leyen Commission for the EU to lead from the front on this issue.With many important questions surrounding the feasibility, legality, and broader impact of such a standard, this event will bring a diverse group of policy-makers, NGOS, academics, and industry stakeholders together for a constructive discussion on how the EU can best tackle methane emissions abroad. The event will showcase CATF and Carbon Limit’s new report on this issue, and build clarity around the legal, regulatory, and technical steps needed to create a comprehensive, effective, and WTO-compliant standard.