US downstream faces emissions scrutiny

Biden’s low-carbon pledge could mean tighter regulations and punishment for serial emitters

US environmental policy has dramatically shifted under Joe Biden, with the country rejoining the Paris Agreement and the president pledging to halve emissions by 2030. The energy sector’s entire value chain will need to be transformed to achieve these ambitious decarbonisation goals, meaning the downstream sector will not go unscathed. Tackling methane emissions is among the most crucial challenges to both the Paris Agreement and domestic climate ambitions. These emissions contribute around 40pc to the global heat-trapping effect of greenhouse gases, and methane’s 20-year global warming potential is about 84 times that of CO₂.  “There is much more bilateral support for reducing methane