IEA’s Methane Global Tracker report

IEA’s Methane Global Tracker report

• According to the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) annual Methane Global Tracker report, fossil fuel companies emitted 120 million metric tonnes of methane into the atmosphere in 2022, only slightly below the record highs seen in 2019. 75 percent of methane emissions from the energy sector can be reduced with the help of cheap and readily available technology.

Key points from the report

• The energy sector accounts for around 40 percent of the total average methane emissions from human activity, as oil and natural gas companies are known to release methane into the atmosphere when natural gas is flared or vented.
• The greenhouse gas is also released through leaks from valves and other equipment during the drilling, extraction, and transportation process.
• More than 260 billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas (mostly composed of methane) is wasted through flaring and methane leaks globally today.
• Although it’s impossible to avoid this entire amount, the right policies and implementation can bring 200 cm of additional gas to markets.
• In the oil and gas sector, emissions can be reduced by over 75%  by implementing well-known measures such as leak detection and repair programs and upgrading leaky equipment, the report pointed out.
• It further mentioned that 80% of the available options to curb the release of methane could be implemented by the fossil fuel industry at net zero cost.

The contribution of methane emissions in driving climate change

• Methane is a greenhouse gas, which is responsible for 30% of the warming since preindustrial times, second only to carbon dioxide.
• A report by the United Nations Environment Programme observed that over a 20-year period, methane is 80 times more potent at warming than carbon dioxide.
• In recent years, scientists have repeatedly sounded the alarm regarding the increasing amount of methane in the atmosphere.
• Last year, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said that the atmospheric levels of methane jumped 17 parts per billion in 2021, beating the previous record set in 2020.

 
Windsor Framework between UK and EU

• The UK government under Prime Minister Rishi Sunak reached a landmark deal with the European Union (EU) on post-Brexit trade rules that will govern Northern Ireland. The ‘Windsor Framework’ will replace the Northern Ireland Protocol, which had proved to be among the thorniest of Brexit fall-outs, creating problems both economic and political.
• The Northern Ireland Protocol problem
• After the UK left the European Union, Northern Ireland remained its only constituent that shared a land border with an EU member, the Republic of Ireland.
• Since the EU and the UK have different product standards, border checks would be necessary before goods could move from Northern Ireland to Ireland.
• However, the two Irelands have had a long history of conflict, with a hard-fought peace secured only in 1998 under the Belfast Agreement, also called the Good Friday agreement.
• Fiddling with this border was thus considered too dangerous, and it was decided the checks would be conducted between Great Britain (England, Scotland, and Wales) and Northern Ireland (which together with Great Britain forms the United Kingdom). This was called the Northern Ireland Protocol.
• Under the protocol, Northern Ireland remained in the EU single market, and trade-and-customs inspections of goods coming from Great Britain took place at its ports along the Irish Sea.

The Windsor Framework proposes

• The framework has two crucial aspects – the introduction of a green lane and red lane system for goods that will stay in Northern Ireland and those that will go to the EU respectively; and the ‘Stormont Brake’, which allows Northern Ireland lawmakers and London to veto any EU regulation they believe affects the region adversely.

The two lanes

• British goods meant for Northern Ireland will use the green lane at the ports, and will be allowed to pass with minimal paperwork and checks.
• Physical checks will be conducted if the goods are deemed suspicious, in place of the routine checks now.
• This is especially significant for meat products, such as sausages, travelling between the two parts of the UK, as the EU has stricter rules about animal products.
• Goods destined for Ireland or the rest of the EU will have to take the red lane, with the attendant customs and other checks.

Stormont Brake

• The new Stormont Brake means the democratically elected Northern Ireland Assembly can oppose new EU goods rules that would have significant and lasting effects on everyday lives in Northern Ireland.
• For this, they will need the support of 30 members from at least two parties. The British government can then veto the law.