European Union countries approved a law on Monday to impose methane emissions limits on Europe’s oil and gas imports from 2030, pressuring international suppliers to cut leaks of the potent greenhouse gas.
EU countries’ agriculture ministers - who, in common with all ministers, have the power to approve laws on any topic - gave their governments’ final approval to the policy at a meeting in Brussels, meaning it can now enter into force. Only Hungary voted against it. The Biden administration - which alongside the EU has rallied countries to cut methane emissions by 30% by 2030 to limit climate change - has welcomed the EU’s methane law.From 2027, the EU will also require that new import contracts for oil, gas and coal can only be signed with foreign producers that follow methane emissions reporting rules equivalent to those of the EU.