Following an open letter from Healthy Futures that implored the federal government to tighten methane regulations, work is underway to reform current methane pollution reporting trends and ditch obsolete estimate-based methods for measuring methane emissions.
Healthy Futures – one of Australia’s respected health and climate advocacy organisations – penned an open letter to the government signed by more than ten primary health bodies representing more than 350,000 health professionals. The letter revealed the absence of a methane action plan, coupled with unregulated coal and gas projects, poses a grave threat to public health.
The open letter demanded stronger methane reduction methods to protect public health, namely creating a National Methane Action Plan to develop verification laws and monitor reporting and methane emissions across sectors. Healthy Futures also called for national targets to derive inspiration and guidance from successful global standards.
Lack of transparency in methane pollution reporting
Methane is a greenhouse gas with a warming potential far greater than carbon dioxide and is a key contributor to climate change. Healthy Futures underscores the need to scrutinise the coal and gas industry’s methane emissions in light of the major respiratory risks associated with ground-level ozone.
Coal and gas companies pollute more methane than currently reported, therefore tackling the lack of transparency in reporting is paramount, says Healthy Futures campaign manager Bronwyn McDonald.
“Healthy Futures is pleased with the government’s commitment to improving methane measurement and reporting,” she says. “This is a crucial first step, but we urge the government to go further and implement a national methane target and action plan focusing on abatement as soon as possible.”
McDonald expresses Healthy Futures’ concern that government bodies will continue to approve emission-heavy mining projects, despite its commitment to addressing methane pollution reporting gaps.
“We have serious concerns about the ongoing approvals for new coal and gas projects, especially when considering the likely extent of under-reporting of methane pollution from mining.”
Public health severely threatened by methane emissions
Health professionals cite methane’s role in deepening the climate-change public health crisis. Doctor Harry Jennens denotes climate change as the “greatest global health threat of our time”.
“Methane from coal and gas extraction contributes significantly to climate change – we need an abatement of methane pollution to protect public health,” says Jennens.
Momentum must be sustained to ensure lasting change
The federal government has accepted all but one of the Climate Change Authority’s 25 recommendations. The Climate Change Authority is a federal government statutory agency referenced by Healthy Futures that consults on climate change.
Healthy Futures acknowledges this long-awaited government involvement as a productive step in the right direction for Australia’s climate policy, yet warns celebration will be rendered futile if the government fails to implement regulations that work to decrease methane emissions from coal and gas industries.
Photography supplied by Healthy Futures.
Greater government involvement needed in the decarbonisation journey.
