The UN Environment Programme has released a second tranche of information about methane emissions worldwide and said that data will be issued twice a month.
However, UNEP has yet to disclose promised information describing its interactions with national governments and the parties responsible for the emissions.
Such summaries of the engagements with emitters will be coming, UNEP said in a Dec. 19 response to EYE questions, but “in the future versions of the platform.” But no time frame was provided for when this will occur.
Transparency about methane emissions is core to the mission of the Methane Alert and Response System (MARS). MARS was announced in 2022 and is run by the International Methane Emissions Observatory (IMEO) at UNEP. The first release of information about methane emissions gathered by satellite occurred early in the week of Dec. 4, 2023. (See EYE Dec. 20, 2023, article.)
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Second Batch Issued; Release Schedule Revealed
Two months later, on about Feb. 2, 2023, IMEO uploaded additional emissions data, bringing the total number of disclosed observations to 2,273.
Henceforth, the IMEO Methane Data Platform will be updated twice a month, the UNEP News Desk told EYE on Feb. 2.
“The first monthly update will occur on or shortly after the 1st of the month and the second will follow on or shortly after the 15th of the month,” according to UNEP.
The first release of information covered 1,626 methane emissions, mainly from sites related to oil and gas production, but also some from coal mines and landfills. Some of the information dates back to Oct. 29, 2020, but most concerns plumes seen in 2023. The geographic coordinates of the source are provided, along with estimated rate of the emission and other data.
UNEP appears to have added some entries for the time period covered in the first batch. The last entry in the first group concerned a Nov. 27, 2023, emission in Algeria. It appeared on line 1,627. The same sighting now appears as line 2,114
The most recent emission event included in the second batch of data is from Dec. 23, 2023, and occurred in Turkmenistan.
Delayed Data Release Part of IMEO’s Plan
IMEO delays the release of the emissions data for what it calls a “latency period” of 45-75 days while it contacts governments and/or the party likely responsible for the emission.
Officials at UNEP have stressed that they don’t want to use emissions information as “a shaming tool” and that their strategy is to engage “in a constructive and productive way” with governments and those responsible for the emissions.
UNEP officials said in early 2023 that they would disclose “a summary” of operator and/or government response(s) to the notification process,” of mitigation efforts and/or plans, and information on subsequent emissions from the site.
However, no such summaries have been provided. IMEO has not replied to EYE inquiries about when it will disclose summary information about specific engagements.
More Details on Notification Strategy
UNEP does not follow up on every detected emission and the new data suggests that the engagement ratio is under 10 percent.
In early December, UNEP said it had notified governments and companies about 127 large methane emissions detected in the oil and gas sector during 2023, according to the Dec. 1 report. (See EYE article.)
Whether contact efforts were initiated is shown in the “notified” column (the entry saying either “True” or “False”).
EYE has learned slightly more from the UNEP News Desk about who will be notified.
The first contact will be with the 120 companies that are members of the Oil and Gas Methane Partnership 2.0, another IMEO initiative than includes more than 120 companies. However, if the emission appears to not come from a Partnership member, UNEP will contact the government.
The UNEP News Desk said: “If UNEP’s IMEO is able to link an emitting facility to an operator that is a member of UNEP’s Oil and Gas Methane Partnership 2.0, the notification will also be sent directly to that operator. Otherwise, UNEP’s IMEO will request that the government assist it in notifying the facility operator.”
For the 146 reported emission events between Dec. 1 (line 2128) and the last reported event, Dec. 23 (line 2274), the data indicates that five notifications occurred during that three-week period.
New Data Columns Added
The latest data posted includes two new columns, about the “total” emissions, but there are no entries.
Rather, what’s reported, in other columns, is the rate of emissions, the flux rate. The flux rate is given in kilograms per hour.
Two of the largest emissions shown in the latest data release came from waste facilities in Pakistan, with rates far exceeding other reported events. One occurrence on shows a flux rate of 100,230.0 on Dec. 10 in Karachi (line 2217). Another standout is from Lahore with a flux rate 64,930.0 on Dec. 11 (line 2221)
The notification column indicates that no contact with authorities was made
UNEP officials have indicated that emissions from oil and gas facilities have been prioritized, which seems to borne out by perusal of the when contacts have been made.
