Brussels, 19 October – A new analysis by energy think tank Ember finds that the final negotiations of the EU Methane Regulation risk weakening the potential emissions reductions from coal mines by six times. Opposition from Poland continues despite the fact that 21% of the country’s emissions reductions could be achieved at profit, generating €31 million every year.
In the coming days, the final negotiations on the EU Methane Regulation will take place, and Poland is pushing for further watering down of the regulation on coal mines.
The Methane Regulation originally proposed an emissions reduction from thermal coal mines of 70% until 2040. However, the text currently agreed on by both the EU Parliament and Council has already weakened these potential reductions to 34%. In its current form, the regulation only requires the implementation of the easiest solutions to capture methane emissions and does not require mine closures.
However, Poland continues to pressure the EU to weaken potential emission cuts even further. Ember’s analysis finds that Poland’s most recent position would result in almost no improvements to the current operations of active mines until 2031, and minor improvements thereafter.
The report calculates the impact of weakening the methane threshold for thermal mines–from eight to five tonnes of methane per kilotonne of coal in 2031. The analysis finds that at best, cumulative emissions of Poland’s active thermal mines would be reduced by 12% by 2040 compared to business as usual.
