2025 is ‘a pivotal year for methane mitigation’ in EU thanks to world-first rules. What’s changing?

Methane emissions from EU ember mines person dropped for nan first time, according to nan latest yearly study from nan International Energy Agency (IEA).

The region is nan first to officially constrain this awesome root of contamination aft adopting a Methane Regulation past year. Coal excavation methane emissions decreased by 8 per cent successful 2024 compared to 2023.

But nan greenhouse state - which is responsible for astir 30 per cent of nan emergence successful world temperatures since nan Industrial Revolution - remains a immense problem successful Europe and astir nan world.

Record accumulation of oil, state and ember has kept emissions supra 120 cardinal tonnes (Mt) annually, according to nan IEA’s 2025 Global Methane Tracker. The analysts included abandoned wells and mines for nan first clip - uncovering that these sources contributed astir 8 Mt to emissions successful 2024.

How has Europe contained methane emissions?

The EU Methane Regulation was nan world’s first regularisation to group a period connected really overmuch progressive underground mines, arsenic good arsenic abandoned and closed underground mines, tin emit.

It forces nan fossil substance manufacture to travel measurement, reporting and verification requirements; bans regular flaring and venting; sets leak discovery and repair (LDAR) mandates for each lipid and state facilities; and limits venting successful thermal ember mines.

“2025 marks a pivotal twelvemonth for methane mitigation, pinch ember excavation emissions decreasing for nan first clip arsenic nan EU Methane Regulation for nan power assemblage takes effect,” says Dr Sabina Assan, methane expert astatine world power deliberation vessel Ember.

The caller regularisation besides stipulates that by 2027, importers must show that imported fossil power meets nan aforesaid requirements. 

“By ensuring that each fossil fuels meet nan aforesaid methane standards, nan regularisation will create a level playing section betwixt importers and home producers, extending nan regulations' effect acold beyond European ember mines,” adds Dr Assan.

This is significant, arsenic astir of nan methane emissions from fossil fuels utilized successful Europe are tied to imports.

In 2024, according to IEA’s tracker, methane emissions from nan proviso concatenation for oil, state and ember imports were astir 6 Mt - astir 4 times what Europe emits wrong its ain fossil substance sector.

Around 55 per cent of nan fossil substance methane emissions that hap wrong Europe travel from nan lipid and state sector, mostly from downstream operations. 45 per cent travel from ember mines, chiefly successful Poland and Ukraine. 

Upstream lipid and state operations are responsible for nan mostly of emissions successful Romania and nan UK. Norway and nan Netherlands person nan lowest upstream intensities successful nan world, it says, while astir different countries successful nan region execute adjacent nan world average. 

How do abandoned underground mines emit methane?

Abandoned underground ember mines represent a important and overlooked root of methane emissions.

Methane state is generated erstwhile integrated matter turns to ember and is buried underground successful these ember seams. When mining creates a way to nan surface, overmuch of nan methane escapes. If it is not plugged, these emissions tin proceed for decades aft a excavation is abandoned.

Globally, nan IEA estimates that abandoned coal mines emitted astir 5 Mt of methane successful 2024, and abandoned lipid and state wells released conscionable complete 3 Mt. Combined, these sources would beryllium nan world’s fourth-largest emitter of fossil substance methane - aft China, nan US and Russia, and up of Iran, Turkmenistan and India. 

Since astir emissions consequence from mines and wells that person precocious been abandoned, timely action is critical, nan IEA urges. Options see plugging and monitoring wells that are nary longer successful use, sealing abandoned ember mines, and directing methane flows for power use.

In total, nan power assemblage – including oil, earthy gas, ember and bioenergy – accounts for much than 35 per cent of methane emissions from quality activity.

The agriculture and discarded sectors are besides awesome sources of methane emissions, but fossil substance proviso offers nan top imaginable for contiguous reductions successful methane emissions, nan IEA notes.