WSSD Report FINAL! - OGP

THE OIL AND GAS INDUSTRY FROM RIO TO JOHANNESBURG AND BEYOND
Climate change
Climate change
UNFCCC
Background
The United Nations Framework Convention
on Climate Change (UN FCCC), ratified by
more than 180 nations, came into force in
1994. It contains a series of provisions, with
the long-term goal to achieve ‘stabilization
of greenhouse gas
concentrations in the atmosphere at a level
that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic
interference with the climate system’. The
proposed first step towards this goal is a set of
national emission reduction targets and timetables
for developed countries, embodied in the
Kyoto Protocol. Current scientific understanding,
as detailed in the Third Assessment Report
(TAR), produced by the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), gives
evidence that climate change is taking
place but also highlights the major uncertainties
that remain.
Concern about climate change and the
challenges and risks it poses will require
sustained efforts to develop understanding
and effective solutions while at the same
time meeting the growing needs of society
for energy.There is a belief that addressing these
risks requires appropriate actions now, with due
consideration for the significant scientific uncertainty
that limits our ability today to predict
exact future consequences. Our work convinces
us that near-term action alone cannot address
the long-term, global challenges and risks of
climate change.
Industry response
Oil and gas companies are taking steps today to
limit greenhouse gas emissions from operations
and to improve customers’ ability to use our
products more efficiently now and in the future.
Company policies and actions are implemented
through operational management systems,
investments, and research and development.
While actions differ from company to company,
they include steps such as:
● efficiency improvements from operations
and investment in cogeneration facilities;
● research and development to
commercialize innovative technologies
such as fuel cells, advanced fuels and
separation and sequestration of CO 2
;
● achieving greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction
targets from operations by utilizing gas and
reducing venting and flaring wherever possible;
● participation in commercial ventures on
renewable energy; and
Sharing resources throughout the industry
IPIECA has organized
workshops and symposia for
industry, policy makers,
academia and
intergovernmental organizations. Recent events
include a symposium on ‘Long-term Carbon and
Energy Management: Issues and Approaches’ (2001)
and a workshop on ‘Opportunities, Issues and
Barriers to the Kyoto Mechanisms’ (2000). IPIECA
also publishes reports addressing key scientific,
technical and socio-economic aspects of climate change.
OGP has been active in identifying and sharing best practices on
greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, reductions and methodologies.
Further work is under way to evaluate possible improvements to
methodologies for estimating GHG from oil and gas operations.
The American Petroleum Institute’s new Compendium of Greenhouse
Gas Emissions Estimation Methodologies for the Oil and Gas Industry,
April 2001,documents numerous calculation
techniques and emission factors available for
developing greenhouse gas emissions
inventories for carbon dioxide and methane. The
estimation techniques cover the full range of oil
and gas industry operations—from exploration and production
through refining to product marketing—including emissions from
transportation of crude oil, natural gas and petroleum products.
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