Methane Strategy

Key points:

• The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) supports the goal and basic thrust of the EU Methane Strategy, aimed at further significant reductions in methane emissions for climate protection. The methane strategy should be tied in with the bioeconomy and circular economy strategies.
• The EESC strongly supports the focus on better measurement of methane emissions and on international mitigation initiatives. Methane emissions often come from decentralised, diffuse sources along international production and supply chains. Improved monitoring should be developed in a consistent, comparable way for the sectors concerned, such as agriculture, energy, waste and the chemicals industry.
• Member States should in their climate change plans set out their progress with and the potential for using biogas from slurry and manure, bio-waste, waste water, landfills and mine gas and define measures to increase the use thereof. There is still considerable potential in agriculture for cutting back methane emissions, above all through the digestion of slurry and manure in biogas plants, as well as progress in feeding and breeding farm animals and low-emission fertiliser use. This potential should be further defined as part of the implementation of the EU Methane Strategy.