Romania, not on list of 103 signatory countries of Global Commitment for Methane at COP26 (NGO)

Romania is missing from the 103 signatory countries of the Global Methane Pledge, initialled at the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow, environmental activists with the 2Celsius Association specify, agerpres reports.

"Being one of the few natural gas producers in the EU, it would be normal to assume stronger commitments to reduce methane emissions. Unfortunately, we are again waiting for others to do more for us - if the EU assumes something, we do too, but we would rather have others do more. Worse, we do not follow global debates seriously and may not even have known, at the highest level, that we have anything to sign," said Otilia Nutu, an energy researcher at 2Celsius.

According to the organization, the signatory countries, which account for 70 percent of the world economy, have joined the EU and US commitment to reduce methane emissions by 30 percent by 2030, from the 2020 level. Several EU Member States, such as Bulgaria, France, Germany or Croatia can be found among the signatories of the Global Methane Commitment.

On the other hand, Romania, Hungary or Poland are not on the list of signatories.

"In principle, 2Celsius is an organization critical of any local, national or European plan that involves investments in fossil fuels. However, even if Romania intends to increase its production or consumption of natural gas, fugitive methane emissions or gas leaks are issues which must be taken into account and resolved with some extra commitment," says Raul Cazan, president of 2Celsius.

In August, together with the Clean Air Task Force (CATF), an international organization fighting for climate, 2Celsius documented, for the first time in Romania, methane emissions from oil and gas installations from about 50 sites and showed that there are severe methane leaks.

The analysis was conducted between June 7 and 17, 2021 and involved the use of an infrared camera and a special sensor to identify the level of methane emissions from sites owned by Conpet, OMV Petrom, Transgas and several other companies.

2Celsius is a non-governmental organization established in 2010 with the aim of influencing climate change policies at national and European level. The association is a member of the international organizations European Environmental Bureau, Climate Action Network Europe and the European Federation for Transport and the Environment (T&E).