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Global Methane Pledge: A Review of Data, Policy and Transparency in Reducing Methane Emissions in Malaysia
- Matthew Ashfold, University of Nottingham, Malaysia, Helena Varkkey, Universiti Malaya, Yong Jie Wong, Kyoto University of Advanced Science, Anjulie Razak, Universiti Malaya, Shareen Yawanarajah, Mark Lunt, Emily Yen Tse Oi
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- Book:
- Global Methane Pledge
- Published by:
- ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute
- Published online:
- 26 March 2024
- Print publication:
- 19 September 2023, pp vii-viii
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- Chapter
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Summary
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Malaysia is a signatory of the Global Methane Pledge, but the implications for national action on methane emissions remain unclear. We reviewed publicly available literature and data, arriving at the following key findings:
1. There is no clear national plan for methane action yet. Since signing the Pledge in 2021, there has been no demonstrable government initiative focusing on joined-up methane action at the national level. Malaysia does not have a methane strategy or policy, and sector-specific regulations focusing on methane emissions are either not present, vague, or publicly inaccessible.
2. There are indications emissions are falling due to positive corporate action. Effective methane reduction initiatives exist in Malaysia’s top two methane-emitting sectors, oil and gas and palm oil, and key players have committed to net zero pathways with methane reductions central to progress to 2030. Emissions should be expected to rapidly fall further if action can be scaled across all industry players.
3. Quantifying reductions with confidence remains challenging. Different reporting approaches and incomplete information on assumptions and uncertainties in quantification approaches, make independent analyses of reported emissions challenging. Wider
deployment of measurement-based emission quantification is a key option to improve confidence in progress.
4. Improvements in corporate Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) in the coming years are expected. While some corporate standards remain confidential, key companies have joined international frameworks featuring transparency and MRV measures like the Oil and Gas Methane Partnership 2.0 and, in a broader climate context, the evolving Science Based Targets initiative. Improved corporate MRV should enable improved national emissions reporting.
5. Methane reduction is a “low-hanging fruit”. Methane is a major initial lever to reduce greenhouse gas emissions up to 2030 in the climate plans of leading Malaysian industry players. Action to improve methane-related processes in the key oil and gas and palm oil sectors thus presents a valuable opportunity for Malaysia to contribute to global climate mitigation within its long-term national interests. Therefore, decisive methane action is needed even while plans for further crucial greenhouse gas emission reductions are developed and articulated in more detail.
Global Methane Pledge
- A Review of Data, Policy and Transparency in Reducing Methane Emissions in Malaysia
- Matthew Ashfold, Helena Varkkey, Yong Jie Wong, Anjulie Razak, Shareen Yawanarajah, Mark Lunt, Emily Yen Tse Oi
-
- Published by:
- ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute
- Published online:
- 26 March 2024
- Print publication:
- 19 September 2023
-
Malaysia is a signatory of the Global Methane Pledge, but the implications for national action on methane emissions remain unclear. A review of publicly available literature and data revealed that there is no clear national plan for methane action yet. Since signing the Pledge in 2021, there has been no demonstrable government initiative focusing on joined-up methane action at the national level. Malaysia does not have a methane strategy or policy, and sector-specific regulations focusing on methane emissions are either not present, vague, or publicly inaccessible.
There are indications emissions are falling due to positive corporate action. Effective methane reduction initiatives exist in Malaysia's top two methane-emitting sectors, oil and gas and palm oil, and key players have committed to net zero pathways with methane reductions central to progress to 2030.
Quantifying reductions with confidence remains challenging. Different reporting approaches and incomplete information on assumptions and uncertainties in quantification approaches, make independent analyses of reported emissions challenging.
Improvements in corporate Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) in the coming years are expected.
Methane reduction is a 'low-hanging fruit'. Methane is a major initial lever to reduce greenhouse gas emissions up to 2030 in the climate plans of leading Malaysian industry players. Action to improve methane-related processes in the key oil and gas and palm oil sectors thus presents a valuable opportunity for Malaysia to contribute to global climate mitigation within its long-term national interests.
Frontmatter
- Matthew Ashfold, University of Nottingham, Malaysia, Helena Varkkey, Universiti Malaya, Yong Jie Wong, Kyoto University of Advanced Science, Anjulie Razak, Universiti Malaya, Shareen Yawanarajah, Mark Lunt, Emily Yen Tse Oi
-
- Book:
- Global Methane Pledge
- Published by:
- ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute
- Published online:
- 26 March 2024
- Print publication:
- 19 September 2023, pp i-iv
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- Chapter
- Export citation
Global Methane Pledge: A Review of Data, Policy and Transparency in Reducing Methane Emissions in Malaysia
- Matthew Ashfold, University of Nottingham, Malaysia, Helena Varkkey, Universiti Malaya, Yong Jie Wong, Kyoto University of Advanced Science, Anjulie Razak, Universiti Malaya, Shareen Yawanarajah, Mark Lunt, Emily Yen Tse Oi
-
- Book:
- Global Methane Pledge
- Published by:
- ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute
- Published online:
- 26 March 2024
- Print publication:
- 19 September 2023, pp 1-54
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- Chapter
- Export citation
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Summary
1. METHANE AND CLIMATE CHANGE
The concentration of atmospheric greenhouse gases (GHGs) is steadily increasing, with the 2021 levels of carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) 49 per cent, 162 per cent and 24 per cent, respectively, above pre-industrial levels. Due to continually rising GHG concentrations, the past eight-year period (2015–22) is likely the warmest on record at around 1.1°C above the pre-industrial temperature. Associated climatic extremes such as heatwaves and flooding are already causing “widespread adverse impacts and related losses and damages to nature and people”. Despite ongoing global efforts to address climate change, such as the Paris Agreement, which aims to keep global warming well below 2°C, cross-cutting challenges mean GHG emissions are not falling and leave climate change unresolved. Additional strategies are needed to slow the warming induced by GHG emissions.
Among the GHGs, methane is gaining increasing attention as a significant shorter-term driver of warming. Although there is around 200 times less methane than CO2 in the atmosphere, the global warming potential (GWP) metric indicates each unit of methane causes around 80 times more warming than a unit of CO2 over twenty years. The increasing methane concentration has made the second-largest contribution to observed global warming, after CO2. Due to its warming potency and its shorter atmospheric lifetime (about twelve years) than CO2 (usually assessed as hundreds to thousands of years), rapid reductions in methane emissions have great potential to slow climate change in the coming decades. Unfortunately, methane concentrations are rising at an increasing rate, with a record increment of 18 parts per billion (ppb) in 2021. While the precise reasons for recent records are the subject of ongoing research, methane is known to be emitted from several anthropogenic sectors, including waste (e.g., from wastewater), energy (e.g., from oil and gas (O&G) production) and agriculture. Importantly, owing to methane’s role in producing global surface ozone pollution, reductions in methane emissions should also yield air quality improvements and associated health and crop productivity benefits.
Launched by the United States and the European Union in 2021 during the 26th Conference of the Parties (COP26) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Global Methane Pledge (GMP) aims to catalyse global anthropogenic methane emission reductions of at least 30 per cent by 2030, relative to 2020 levels. By November 2022, more than 150 countries have joined the pledge.