Reducing gas flaring and methane emissions from the energy sector is a priority in tackling climate change and aligning the global energy sector with a 1.5˚ C temperature trajectory. The World Bank’s Global Flaring and Methane Reduction (GFMR) Partnership is active in over a dozen countries, which account for about a quarter of the oil and gas sector’s methane emissions.
Why Methane?
Methane is a potent greenhouse gas with a global warming potential up to 80 times greater than carbon dioxide and its contribution to climate change is second only to carbon dioxide. Methane only remains in the atmosphere for around 12 years, whereas carbon dioxide remains for over a century. Rapidly reducing methane emissions is one of the most effective short-term climate actions. However, methane mitigation receives less than 2 percent of climate finance.
Oil and gas operations contribute over a fifth of global methane emissions from human activity through the wasteful and polluting practices of flaring and venting, and fugitive methane leaks. About half of these emissions occur in developing countries. Deploying the full potential of methane reduction solutions in the oil and gas sector may avoid ~0.1 degrees Celsius of warming by mid-century—equivalent to eliminating the emissions of every car and truck.
World Bank Action
The World Bank announced the GFMR Partnership at COP28 to help developing countries cut flaring and methane emissions generated by the oil and gas industry.
GFMR provides critical catalytic grants and technical assistance to governments and state-owned operators that commit to addressing flaring and methane emissions through long-term programs. GFMR supports governments and state-owned operators to:
- conduct leak detection and repair campaigns;
- identify and implement flaring and methane abatement projects;
- produce analytical and feasibility studies;
- build capacity and strengthen institutions, including deploying robust MMRV systems in line with the best industry standards;
- strengthen and enforce policies and regulations; and
- prevent and respond to methane super-emitter events, including the IMEO Methane Alert and Response System.
Our support will help countries that face significant financial barriers and account for about a quarter of global oil and gas sector-related methane emissions. GFMR will mobilize $2 billion by catalyzing additional financing from commercial investors and lenders as well as concessional finance providers, such as development banks and other international finance institutions.
COP29: Progress-to-date
In Uzbekistan, GFMR is mobilizing US$11 million to support a complete methane survey for Uztransgaz, the state-owned gas transmission company, and kick-start a leak repair facility in the Ministry of Economy and Finance. This work will quickly eliminate around 100 thousand tonnes of methane emissions per year (over 2 MtCO2e/yr). GFMR aims to expand this model to other countries, including in Central Asia, and is in the advanced stages of setting up a similar program in Azerbaijan.
In Brazil, GFMR is assisting the National Agency for Petroleum, Natural Gas, and Biofuels (ANP) better regulate methane emissions from the oil and gas sector by the end of 2025.
In the Middle East, GFMR is helping Iraq, Egypt, and Yemen identify opportunities and develop action plans to reduce emissions from oil and gas operations. 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.
In Southeast Asia, 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 Center for Energy to identify methane abatement projects.
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.
About GFMR
GFMR is supported by several governments and international energy companies, including Germany, Norway, the United Arab Emirates, the United States, bp, Eni, Equinor, Occidental (Oxy), Shell, and TotalEnergies.
To achieve its objectives, GFMR has developed partnerships with an array of organizations, industry initiatives, and civil society, including the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), the UN Environment Program’s Oil and Gas Methane Partnership (OGMP) and International Methane Emissions Observatory (IMEO), the Payne Institute at the Colorado School of Mines, the Methane Guiding Principles, the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative (OGCI), the Oil and Gas Decarbonization Charter (OGDC), the Clean Air Task Force, and others.