Global Flaring and Methane Reduction Partnership (GFMR)

The World Bank announced the GFMR Partnership at COP28 in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to help developing countries cut flaring and methane emissions generated by the oil and gas industry. GFMR builds on the work of the Global Gas Flaring Reduction Partnership (GGFR), widening its focus to address methane venting and leaks in addition to flare gas reduction. GFMR is active in over a dozen countries, which account for about a quarter of the oil and gas sector’s methane emissions.

Flaring and Methane Reduction Programs

East Asia and Pacific

GFMR is assisting Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand in developing a methane emissions baseline for each country, while also launching a dashboard for methane emissions, enabling more transparent and actionable monitoring and abatement strategies in the region. GFMR is now working with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Center for Energy to identify methane abatement projects.

Europe and Central Asia

In Uzbekistan, GFMR is mobilizing US$11 million to support a complete methane survey for the state-owned gas transmission company and kick-start a leak repair facility within the Ministry of Economy and Finance. This project will quickly eliminate around 100 thousand tonnes of methane emissions per year (over 2 MtCO2e/yr). 

Latin America and Caribbean

In Brazil, GFMR is assisting the National Agency for Petroleum, Natural Gas, and Biofuels (ANP) to introduce improved methane emissions regulations from the oil and gas sector by the end of 2025.

Middle East and North Africa

GFMR is helping Iraq, Egypt, and Yemen identify flaring and methane reduction project opportunities while developing action plans to address them. GFMR is also assisting the East Mediterranean Gas Forum in developing and adopting carbon abatement policy and regulatory frameworks to lower the carbon intensity of oil and gas production and enable future sustained mitigation action.

South Asia

In Bangladesh, the World Bank is helping improve energy efficiency through improved monitoring and metering, and the detection and reduction of carbon dioxide and methane emissions.

Global Initiatives

Zero Routine Flaring by 2030 Initiative (ZRF)

GFMR advocates for ending routine gas flaring and venting by garnering commitments for  ZRF and monitoring and publicly reporting on progress. Governments and companies that endorse ZRF commit to no routine flaring in any new oil field developments and to end routine flaring at existing (legacy) oil production sites as soon as possible and no later than 2030. 

Global Knowledge Resources and Reports

Global Gas Flaring Tracker Report

The World Bank's annual Global Gas Flaring Tracker is the only global and independent indicator of routine gas flaring. Our global flaring data estimates allows us to monitor global flaring levels and track progress toward our goal of Zero Routine Flaring by 2030.

Review of Global Flaring and Venting Regulations

A detailed review of regulatory frameworks governing fugitive methane emissions and gas flaring and venting in 31 jurisdictions. The report serves as a template for reducing methane emissions, which captured a great deal of attention at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in 2021.

Financing Solutions to Reduce Natural Gas Flaring and Methane Emissions 

A systematic framework to evaluate the feasibility of flare reduction projects at medium-sized flaring sites. The approaches and tools developed will help policymakers and operators analyze investment barriers, identify key variables and success factors, and model financial options for those medium-sized flares that have historically been overlooked.

Flaring Management Guidance for the Oil and Gas Industry

Developed by GFMR in partnership with Ipieca and IOGP, the Guidance outlines new flaring management and reduction developments, and examines industry experiences with eliminating flaring, new technologies, business models, operational improvements, and regulatory policy.

Oil and Gas Sector Toolkit for the Global Methane Pledge, in partnership with the Methane Guiding Principles (MGP). 

A toolkit to support policymakers as they develop sound policy and regulation to drive down oil and gas methane emissions.

Methane from Flaring Toolkit, with MGP and the Oil & Gas Climate Initiative (OGCI)

Developed by GFMR in partnership with MGP and OGCI, the toolkit provides users with a systematic framework for assessing the options and decisions that will enable operators to meet and exceed existing regulatory requirements. The approaches and tools developed enable operators to understand the different technologies that address methane measurement from flaring and support them through each of the key questions they need to consider when assessing how to reduce and eliminate methane emissions from flaring.

Contact us

For more information about GFMR, to join the partnership, or discuss collaborating on flaring and methane reduction opportunities, please contact us.