On behalf of the Australian NGO community here undersigned, we request that the Australian Government rapidly reduce methane and take the following ten actions:

Establish a national framework & commitment to reduce methane

1. Join 120+ other countries and sign the Global Methane Pledge (GMP) by COP27. (WIN: Labor Gov commits to signing, 23 Oct 2022.)

2. Establish a national methane target and include this in Australia’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC).

3. Develop a national methane action plan, with specific targets and critical pathways for rapid methane emissions reductions, prioritising action to reduce emissions in the domestic energy sector, and across coal and gas, and accelerating R&D investment in the agricultural sector for methane emissions reductions.

4. Work with states and territories to ensure scientific methane emission pathways are reflected in law and states' and territories' emissions reduction regulation. Coordinate funding and policy to ensure accurate methane measurement, emissions limits, and mitigation.

Restore integrity to Australian methane measurement

5. Ensure actual measurement of coal and gas methane emissions by updating National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting methods for measurement to continuous measurements on all drainage and ventilation systems for underground coal mines sensitive enough to measure 20 parts per million, and continuous methane measurements at all open cut coal mines and gas wells and infrastructure. Default emissions factors should be removed.

6. Build Australia’s scientific methane assessment capability to develop robust national accounts, baseline studies, reporting and verification - including investing in satellite and on-site verification.

7. Increase transparency in corporate reporting of methane emissions to state, territories, and federal regulators and the market, including publication.

8. Develop a comprehensive national database of all inactive and abandoned coal mines, to enable mitigation at abandoned coal mines, and ensure proper rehabilitation to prevent methane leakage upon closure. Methane measurements should be taken at all abandoned point sources.

Limit and mitigate methane emissions

9. Ensure federal policy such as the safeguard mechanism restricts methane emissions from coal and gas facilities and the sectors overall in line with a 1.5C target.

10. Catalyse mitigation by requiring the deployment of all feasible technologies across the energy sector, and cost-recovering government investment in mitigation and monitoring from industry. This is the time for the nation to push hard to preserve a safe climate, and to rejoin the international community who have pledged rapid global efforts to cut methane during this critical decade.