A new international poll commissioned by Pembina Institute partner the Global Methane Hub shows 86 per cent of Canadian respondents support action to mitigate methane emissions.
Methane is a major contributor to Canada’s overall emissions and accounts for about 20 per cent of all oil and gas sector emissions annually. The Global Methane Hub polling data underscores the need for strong regulations that will ensure the industry meets public expectations on reducing methane and achieves the Government of Canada’s target of a 75 per cent reduction of oil and gas sector methane emissions from 2012 levels by 2030.
The online poll reached 12,976 people in 17 countries. In Canada, 89 per cent of the 754 respondents supported implementing standards that require the oil and gas industry to find and fix methane leaks, and 86 per cent support improving methane emissions measurement data to ensure accountability. While proposed federal regulations strengthen leak detection and repair requirements, they do little to move Canada beyond estimation-based reporting to a measurement-based methane inventory. As the federal government continues to update methane regulations, it should seize this opportunity to align with other global leaders and, given the survey results, with public sentiment.
Courtesy of Pembina Institute.