By Toby McIntosh
The release of information about large methane emissions by the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) has been delayed.
The much-anticipated revelations, based on sophisticated satellite images, were projected to start on July 1, but now may not begin until as late as Nov. 30, according to officials of the Methane Alert and Response System (MARS) initiative, sponsored by the International Methane Emissions Observatory (IMEO), part of the UNEP.
“We do expect this will happen before COP28,” according to Sophie Loran, responding for UNEP. COP28 refers to the United Nations Climate Change Conference to be held from Nov. 30 to Dec. 12 in Dubai.
“The MARS Programme is currently in its pilot phase, and we are still evaluating when the data will become public,” Loran said.
The pilot phase, that began in January, is a test run for the procedures MARS plans to use to gather methane emissions data, engage with emitters and disclose information. MARS officials said the pilot phase would take six months and that MARS would launch publicly on July 1.
Loran wrote: “Indeed the pilot has started, but we are not ready to share information or results about it just yet. We’ll inform you when the right time comes.”
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Disclosures to Follow Engagement
The MARS plan is for public disclosure of information about large methane emissions to follow a process of engagement with emitters that will last from between 45-75 days after the emission is detected.
MARS is expected to detect at least 40-50 episodes per month at the level of 10,000 kilograms per hour, according to MARS officials.
After using high resolution images to ascertain the sources of the emissions, MARS officials will seek to identify the responsible parties and to notify them of the emissions, MARS officials has said.
“Initial notifications” will be sent within 1-3 days of the detection of the plume, to potentially responsible parties and governments. The responsible parties will be asked to quickly acknowledge the notice and provide “initial feedback.”
More retailed “full notifications” will be sent out two weeks after the incidents.
Within 45-75 days of the initial notifications, operators will be asked to provide feedback to MARS “regarding the root cause of the emission and share any mitigation plans completed or in process,” explained Cynthia Randles, MARS program manager in a February 2023 video on the MARS website. MARS plans to connect stakeholders with mitigation support where possible, she said.
Emitters will be expected to “take action” on the basis of the information provided, said Randles during a webinar March 22. (View recording.)
According to June 4 IMEO (@MethaneData) tweet, “MARS is already facilitating methane mitigation action.”
See previous EYE articles on the MARS project: 45-75 Day Time-Delay Planned by IMEO for Release of Date on Methane Emissions, Nov. 30, 2022; and 40-50 Large Methane Emissions a Month May Be Revealed Soon, UN Official Says, March 22, 2023. The MARS initiative was announced Nov. 10, 2022. (See press release.)
Disclosure Plan Includes Data and Summaries of Explanations
Following the engagement period, MARS will make visual images, data and “summaries” of responses by emitters and governments.
“After 45 to 75 days all non-proprietary data and meta data will be made publicly available through the MARS data policy,” according to Randles.
Her slide showed that disclosure will include a “summary of company and/or country response(s) to notification,” a “summary description of mitigation efforts and/or plans,” and “any future MARS detections linked to the event location.”
“Our data policy,” Randles said in February, “first and foremost, is designed around transparency.” She continued, ”We want to be completely open with the data that we are taking within UNEP regarding the satellites.”
“At the same time, it’s important for us to have time to make sure that that data is scientifically sound and fully vetted,” Randles elaborated. She said further: “And we also want to give operators and countries time to respond to our notification processes, determine root causes of emissions and begin to implement mitigation plans before we make data available to the general public. And so we have this 45-75 day period delay from detection to making the publicly available to allow those two things to happen.”
Loran and other MARS officials did not respond to additional EYE questions about the pilot program and disclosures.
UNEP Declines to Release Related Contract
UNEP has contracted with two commercial providers to provide satellite images, Kayrros and GHGSat, supplementing information from publicly available sources.
EYE requested a copy of Kayrros contract, which UNEP denied, saying it is “confidential.”
EYE has appealed, saying UNEP’s claim is over-broad and that the agency failed to show that disclosure would cause ”harm,” the key test in UNEP’s access to information policy. UNEP also violated its policy by failing to redact only justifiably exempt material, EYE said.
EYE’s appeal was logged March 8 and a reply is overdue. Under UNEP’s policy, reviews “should normally be completed within sixty (60) working days of being requested.”
