What to know about the COP28 deal and new U.S. rules to cut methane emissions

John Yang:

At the COP28 summit in Dubai today, 50 oil and gas companies representing about 40 percent of global production pledged to reduce methane emissions to near zero by 2030. Methane is a byproduct of oil and gas production that can trap 80 times as much heat as carbon dioxide in the short term.

The companies including industry giants like Exxon Mobil, Shell and BP say they'll achieve this by plugging leaks at their facilities and ending the practice of burning off excess gas with flares. The same time the Biden administration announced new rules to enforce major elements of that agreement in this country.

Earlier, I spoke with Fred Krupp the president of the Environmental Defense Fund, who was at COP28. I asked him what makes this deal so important.

Fred Krupp, President, Environmental Defense Fund:

John, I've been at this for a long time. And in my 30 plus years of doing this work, I don't think we've ever had as good a day for the climate as we had today.

First, we had the U.S. EPA announcing the strongest methane rules for the oil and gas sector on the planet. Second, we had 50 companies representing 40 percent of global oil production, pledging to virtually eliminate their methane pollution. And then third, we saw an announcement from the U.S. and China that they've agreed to incorporate methane in the future into their pledges internationally.

And methane, John, is 80 times more powerful as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide pound for pound in those first 20 years. And so reductions now that will happen as a result of these three actions mean that storms will be less ferocious temperatures will be lower than they would otherwise be over the next 10 years. Thanks to the actions that were pledged today.

John Yang:

Is this a long term solution to the problem is just a sort of short term quick fix.

Fred Krupp:

Well, we have to both do methane to reduce temperatures in the short term and we cannot stop working. In fact, we have to accelerate our work on eliminating carbon dioxide. The oil and gas industry took this one step.

But they have to do a lot more than this. We have to move away from reliance or dependency on fossil fuels as quickly as we can. But while we're still you them, we have to eliminate this very powerful greenhouse gas methane.

John Yang:

This agreement is voluntary. The oil companies have to do what they what they promised to do. And a lot of environmental groups don't like that. They say there's no accountability mechanism or guarantee the companies will follow through. What do you say to that?

Fred Krupp:

Well, I think it's good to be skeptical of pledges at the COP. A lot of pledges that have been made at this Conference of the Parties year after year aren't delivered on. In this particular pledge, we structured it to have accountability built in. So the oil and gas companies are agreeing to report their emissions by monitoring them and then sending them to an international independent third party.

In addition to that, the Bloomberg Philanthropies today announced a major $25 million gift to not only the Environmental Defense Fund, but it will stand up an accountability partnership, that will make data transparent. And so we'll be able to see exactly who is meeting this pledge, and who's not.

John Yang:

But there's really no teeth in that they sort of, you're relying on public shaming, to just sort of publicize that they're missing their goals.

Fred Krupp:

It turns out that oil companies in order to stay in business, like other businesses need public support a license to operate. But there is some more teeth than that. Just a couple of weeks ago, the European Union pass new methane regulations that anticipate within a few years, they will put in place import standards that require companies to meet this sort of cleanup.

And the sort of cleanup we're talking about, John, is not incremental. The average company that has signed up will have to reduce their methane pollution by 80 to 90 percent, and not by some faraway date of 2050 but by 2030. There'll be giving these measurements to an independent international third party and methane sat an Environmental Defense Fund project that we'll be able to look at 80 percent of the oil and gas infrastructure worldwide, multiple times a week.

And that's how we will know whether companies are meeting the standards. And then the purchasers like the European Union, and maybe a few years later Japan will be able to enforce that.

John Yang:

Today, of course, the Biden administration, the EPA also announced new rules on methane. How are these two work together?

Fred Krupp:

Well, the Biden administration rules are the strongest on the planet, that will not only help clean up the United States, but here at the COP, I've been meeting with oil companies from developing nations. And most of the questions they've asked me have been, what's that EPA regulation coming out? What are the monitoring requirements.

And so because the United States is the biggest oil and gas producer in the world, other countries and companies look to our regulations to kind of set the bar for their practices, it's plugging leaks, it's when the compressor seals were out and the compressor is leaking methane, you'll have to replace them periodically. You'll have to regularly go look for and fix leaks.

This isn't rocket science. This is something the oil company should already be doing. But an 80, 90 percent reduction, that's a very big deal.

John Yang:

Is the agreement to reach the lower levels to essentially bring it to near zero by 2030. Or just the grid also due to specific things of plugging methane leaks and stopping venting.

Fred Krupp:

The agreement is performance oriented. So we know now that these companies are leaking two or sometimes 3 percent of the methane, they take it out of the ground natural gases, methane, we can two or 3 percent. And the agreement requires near zero defined as 0.2 percent.

So going from 2 to 0.2, that's where you get that 80 to 90 percent reduction. The reductions in this pollutant mean will actually reduce pollution in the next 10 years that we'll be able to feel that benefit will be able to reduce temperatures from what we would otherwise experience.

John Yang:

Do you think this year's summit will be the time that they finally address fossil fuels and deal with fossil fuels? Either an agreement to reduce them or an agreement to eventually eliminate their use?

Fred Krupp:

Well, I don't know that that will happen. This year there's been an agreement by many countries over 100 countries to triple the construction of renewable energy and to double energy efficiency by 2030.

So we need that those things in order to be able to rapidly get away from fossil fuel. But I don't know that the language of do we face it out or do we get out of it completely by when will be agreed on I don't think that's likely

John Yang:

Fred Krupp of the Environmental Defense Fund at the COP28 summit. Thank you very much.

Fred Krupp:

Thank you, John.