Gas Flaring: CSOs Decry Enforcement Gaps in Methane Emission Regulations
By Ndifreke Enefiok, Uyo
Civil society organisations have decried gaps in the enforcement of methane emission regulations, warning that these pooorly enforced regulatory compliance expose host communities to environmental and health impacts.
The CSOs raised the concern during the Media, Accountability and Methane Emissions Enforcement Webinar, convened by Policy Alert in collaboration with BudgiT Foundation, where participants examined gaps in methane regulation and the role of evidence-based reporting in holding operators and regulators accountable.
Declaring the webinar open, Edidiong Dickson, Lead, Energy Extractive Desk at Policy Alert, said the consequences of methane emissions were being felt most by communities living around oil and gas facilities.
“Methane may be invisible to the eye, but its cost is not invisible to the communities who live under the flare stacks every day. For too long, gas flaring has been treated as a routine cost of doing business, when in reality it is a routine cost imposed on the health, air, and livelihoods of host communities,” Dickson said.
He blamed weak enforcement of existing laws and regulations for allowing affected communities to bear the consequences of methane emissions.
Dickson stressed that the media had a critical role in exposing the gap between environmental regulations and their enforcement, particularly by documenting the experiences of communities affected by oil and gas activities.
Also speaking, Enebi Opaoluwa of BudgIT Foundation said the major challenge with methane emissions enforcement was not necessarily the absence of data or regulations, but the lack of adequate follow-through.
“Accountability starts with visibility, you cannot enforce what you cannot see, and you cannot see what isn’t reported,” Opaoluwa said.
He added that “Journalists sit at the center of closing that gap. When reporting is rigorous and sustained, it turns technical compliance failures into public conversations, and public conversations are what move regulators to act.
This webinar is part of building that pipeline, from data to story to accountability.”
Similarly, participants called for stronger collaboration between CSOs and journalists, deeper investigative reporting on methane emissions, greater use of data and human-centred storytelling, and sustained capacity building for journalists covering climate and extractive governance.
The engagement featured a screening of the Flaring Lives documentary, a panel discussion on media, accountability and methane emissions enforcement, participants’ reflections and an interactive session on practical reporting opportunities.
Participants further committed to strengthening public discourse around methane emissions and promoting stronger enforcement of Nigeria’s methane regulations and climate commitments.