COP28: 40% of Global Oil Producers Pledge Reducing Methane Emissions to Zero by 2030

Saudi Arabia and the UAE launched the “Oil and Gas Sector Emissions Reduction Charter” - during the COP28 conference - which was signed by 50 companies representing more than 40% of global oil production, and pledged to reach net zero emissions of methane and stop burning gas by 2030.

Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, President of the Conference of the Parties “COP28” (COP28), announced during the activities of the third day of the conference that 50 companies in the oil and gas sector had signed the “Charter to Reduce Emissions of the Oil and Gas Sector” within the framework of the “Global Accelerator to Reduce Emissions”, where companies are committed to achieving net zero methane emissions and stop gas flaring by 2030, and achieve climate neutrality by 2050.

Al-Jaber confirmed the commitment of 29 national oil companies to the charter, which is the largest number ever of national oil companies that have signed a pledge to reduce emissions.

Among the companies that signed the charter - which represent 60% of the signatories - are: Saudi Aramco, UAE ADNOC, Bahraini Bapco Energies, Colombian Ecopetrol, and the Corporation Libyan National Oil Company, Oman Petroleum Development Company, Equinor, Brazilian Petrobras, Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company, Petronas, Sharjah National Oil Corporation, OMV, and GOG GOGC, INPEX Corporation, Namcor, Mari Petroleum, Pakistan Petroleum Limited, and Uzbek Oil Gas.

At the level of private institutions, several companies joined the charter, including BP, Crescent Petroleum, Dolphin Energy, Eni, Energen, EQT Corporation, and Exxon. Mobil, Lake Oil, Mitsui & Co., Occidental Petroleum, Puma Energy Trafigura, Repsol, Shell, Total Energy, and Woodside Energy Group .

The Oil and Gas Sector Emissions Reduction Charter is an important step in the process of strengthening measures that are consistent with the goals of the Paris Agreement.

This came in the context of the announcement, during the World Climate Action Summit today, of the launch of the “Global Emissions Reduction Accelerator,” which is a set of initiatives aimed at achieving an orderly, responsible, fair and logical transition in the energy sector, and significantly reducing global emissions.

Al-Jaber stressed that reducing methane emissions is the quickest way to reduce temperature rise rates as quickly as possible, which prompted the COP28 presidency to make speedy elimination of methane its main goal.