How import rules can cut global methane emissions
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Methane is one of the quickest levers available to slow warming in the near term, yet current policies are nowhere near enough to deliver the cuts needed by 2030. As governments look for ways to narrow that gap, methane import standards are emerging as a powerful new tool. This briefing explores how the European Union’s new rules for imported oil, gas, and coal could drive emissions cuts far beyond its borders – and how, if other major importers follow, they could help close more than 40% of the gap to a 1.5°C-consistent methane pathway.
At current trade levels, an EU standard of 0.2% methane intensity could reduce emissions by more than 3 Mt CH₄ annually from its imports alone. Wider adoption by six other major importers could cut global methane emissions by over 10 Mt CH₄, driven in particular by Russia and the United States, which have the largest excess methane emissions relative to a 0.2% intensity standard.
Phasing out fossil fuels is one of the most effective ways to reduce both carbon dioxide and methane emissions from the fossil fuels sector, while also protecting economies from the volatility of global fossil fuel prices, economic damage from very high fuel prices and critical supply security issues threatening industry, agriculture and livelihoods.
Methane import standards offer a practical and powerful tool for doing precisely that. By tying market access to emissions performance, they can deliver measurable near‑term reductions and raise the bar for global methane management.
How import rules can cut global methane emissions
Assessing the emissions reduction potential of methane import standards
Methane import standards: a new tool to unlock methane reductions
While most government action to date has focused on cutting methane emissions from domestic production, import standards are emerging as a new tool to tackle methane beyond national borders. The EU Methane Regulation, which entered into force in 2024, puts in place binding requirements to measure, report, verify, and reduce methane emissions across the oil, gas, and coal sectors. Operators are required to adopt the highest standards for measurement and reporting and take actions to reduce emissions, including enhanced leak detection and repair and limiting venting and flaring.
Critically, the regulation also applies to imported fossil fuels. With about 60% of the EU’s fossil demand met by net imports, these standards extend the EU’s climate influence into its global supply chain by requiring methane intensity improvements in exporting countries. The rules phase in gradually, beginning with requirements to increase transparency and reporting, and progressing to stricter methane controls over time. By August 2028, importers must report the methane intensity of their imports, and by August 2030, they must show that all imported fossil fuels meet a minimum intensity threshold determined by the European Commission, though the threshold has not yet been set.
To assess the potential impact of methane import rules to close the global emissions gap, our analysis explores what would happen if current fossil fuel trade were governed by stringent methane intensity production standards, such as those foreseen by the EU. It uses a new, comprehensive model that maps trade flows and methane emissions across 24 top exporting and 44 importing countries. Together, these products account for more than 80% of global oil, gas, and coal trade, as well as more than 95% of imports of these products into the countries included in our study.
