U.N. to hunt sources of climate-warming methane from space

companies to face up to the scale of their problem.

A senior EU official said the declaration aimed to advance international standards for such monitoring and reporting. "The methane abatement work is suffering from the lack of international standards," they said.

"We commit to working towards the creation of an international market for fossil energy that minimises flaring, methane, and CO2 emissions across the value chain to the fullest extent practicable, as we also work to phase down fossil fuel consumption," the draft said.

Methane has more than 80 times the planet-warming potency of CO2 in its first 20 years, but breaks down faster in the atmosphere, making it a high value target in near-term efforts to slow climate change.

"Any agreement to reduce methane and carbon dioxide from oil and gas is a reflection of the potential power of the market to push change throughout the world," said Jonathan Banks, Global Methane Director at the nonprofit Clean Air Task Force, who called for other big gas buyers and producers to join.

The 27-country EU is the world's biggest buyer of gas, while the United States is the world's biggest oil and gas producer.

Agriculture is the top source of methane emissions worldwide, but experts say the energy sector can cut emissions faster - and often at low cost.

Methane is the main component of natural gas, and leaches into the atmosphere from oil wells and leaky gas pipelines.

If captured, it can be sold as fuel. Despite that incentive to capture emissions, atmospheric concentrations of methane surged last year by the highest amount since records began in the 1980s.

U.S. liquefied natural gas deliveries to the EU have jumped this year as Russian gas supply to Europe dipped following its invasion of Ukraine.

Forty countries are expected to publish plans at the COP27 summit detailing how they will meet the Global Methane Pledge - which is voluntary, but aims to trigger more binding policies.

Tim Grabiel, senior lawyer at non-profit Environmental Investigation Agency, called for international action on methane emissions to move beyond voluntary declarations, to "concrete actions and commitments on reporting and mitigation".

So far, the Global Methane Pledge does not include China, the world's biggest methane emitter. Nor does it include Russia, which was Europe's biggest gas supplier before it invaded Ukraine in February.