As a signatory of the Global Methane Pledge, Canada has committed to reduce human-caused methane emissions across its economic sectors by at least 30% from 2020 levels by 2030. As part of this commitment, the Canadian government has produced this methane strategy which outlines the country’s plans for reducing methane emissions. These plans include improvements in monitoring methane emissions in the atmosphere, as well as mitigation specific measures in three key methane-producing sectors: oil and gas, landfills and waste, and agriculture.
Proposed mitigation measures include:
1. strengthening methane regulations to achieve at least a 75% reduction of oil and gas methane emissions by 2030 from 2012 levels (set to be published in 2023);
2. developing new technologies to reduce methane emissions through electrification, fuel switching, improvements to efficiency, and mitigating fugitive emissions;
3. improving leak detection and repair processes and deploying gas capture technologies to reduce direct release into the atmosphere;
4. developing new regulations to increase the recovery and destruction of methane from large municipal solid waste landfills by approximately 50% by 2030 from 2019 levels;
5. working with provinces and territories to support and accelerate resource and energy recovery efforts for biodegradable waste;
6. creating the On-Farm Climate Action Fund (OFCAF) as part of the Agricultural Climate Solutions programme, which will provide $670m in funding to support immediate on-farm action to tackle climate change, including methane-reducing measures;
7. developing the Agricultural Clean Technology (ACT) programme to support the development and adoption of clean technologies in agriculture;
8. developing a Livestock Feed Management protocol to use in Canada’s Greenhouse Gas Offset Credit System.
