Background – The Oil and Gas Methane Partnership
The OGMP 2.0 is a global initiative coordinated by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Climate and Clean Air Coalition that seeks to enable the oil and gas industry to realize deep reductions in methane emissions over the next decade in a way that is transparent to civil society, governments, and their investors.
OGMP member companies commit to the OGMP 2.0 Framework, the only direct measurement-based reporting framework for methane emissions from the oil and gas sector. Companies set and inform methane reduction targets to UNEP and report their progress against such framework. Data collected from the OGMP 2.0 framework will also be integrated into the UN’s International Methane Emissions Observatory (IMEO), which serves as the key implementing vehicle for the Global Methane Pledge (GMP), the major multinational agreement for methane emissions mitigation, which aims to reduce global methane emissions by 30% by 2030.
Methane, while shorter lived than carbon dioxide, is 80 times more potent over a 20-year period, accounting for over 30% of global temperature rise since the preindustrial era. As a result, cutting methane emissions is considered the single biggest action governments and multi-nationals can take in the short-term to mitigate further warming, so to keep the 1.5˚C temperature goal of the Paris Agreement within reach. According to the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), one of the key technical partners of the OGMP, the oil and gas industry, which is responsible for 25% of global human-made methane emissions, offers the most straightforward and affordable reduction opportunities.
Petrobras’ Commitment
By committing to the OGMP, Petrobras demonstrates the company’s recognition that rapid action on this powerful greenhouse gas is imperative for mitigating climate change – and that the oil and gas sector have a critical role to play in this effort. The company has committed to reducing methane emissions intensity by 55% across its upstream operations by 2025. In addition to joining the OGMP, Petrobras is also involved in a flaring monitoring effort through the Aiming for Zero Methane Emissions from the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative (OGCI). Such actions align the company with Brazil’s national commitment to reduce methane emissions through its inclusion in the Global Methane Pledge. According to the IEA, Brazil is currently the fifth-highest emitter of methane, and the second-largest emitter of all GMP signatories after the U.S.
Investors engaging Petrobras through Climate Action 100+ welcome Petrobras’s commitment to the OGMP 2.0, regarding it as a significant milestone in their engagement, and a signal of the company’s increased ambition and action on climate change. The Climate Action 100+ engagement, which has been ongoing since late 2019, has also seen Petrobras set a commitment to become net-zero in scopes 1-2 by 2050, and implement TCFD aligned reporting to disclose the company’s climate risks, opportunities, and performance. This group of Climate Action 100+ investors will continue to engage with Petrobras over the coming year to mobilise further action and bring targeted focus to areas of the net-zero Benchmark where the company could still improve.
AllianceBernstein and Nordea noted this announcement and issued the following statement:
“Committing to the OGMP 2.0 was a key focus for our engagement with Petrobras in 2022, and it’s an area where the company clearly demonstrated to us that they are serious about making real, tangible progress in addressing material risks and opportunities to their business stemming from climate change. AllianceBernstein and Nordea will, along with other key investors as part of ClimateAction 100+, continue to closely follow the company’s implementation of the OGMP 2.0 framework.”
– Erin Bigley, Chief Responsibility Officer at AllianceBernstein & Harry Granqvist, Nordea Asset Management