Environmental groups are saying Alberta might not meet its own proposed targets to cut methane emissions from oil and gas operations if they are put in place.

The province outlined a series of regulations in April that would purportedly help the province reach its 45 per cent reduction target under Alberta’s Climate Leadership Plan, but an analysis completed by five environmental organizations on the potential of Alberta’s methane regulations indicates that they may only help the province reduce methane emissions 20 per cent by 2025.

The draft regulations in question were released by the Alberta Energy Regulator following extensive stakeholder consultation and “are designed to ensure actions are kept at the lowest cost to Alberta’s energy sector by securing flexibility for companies to innovate,” a release from the province stated.

Under the plan, Alberta would provide subsidies to the oil and gas industry to facilitate the use of clean technology. The province would also provide more than $2.3 billion in financial assistance to help energy companies save money “which they can use to focus on methane reductions,” the release said.

The directives will also feature “enhanced requirements” for measuring, reporting, and repairing methane leaks, as well as mandatory check-ins courtesy of a “multi-stakeholder technical committee.”

The province’s oil and gas industry “is up to the challenge of cutting methane pollution. Their early action and commitment to working with us to get this right means we are well on our way to an Alberta-made plan that puts hard-working Albertans and a strong economy front and centre,” declared Margaret McCuaig-Boyd, Alberta’s minister of energy.

Since releasing their draft regulations, Alberta has declared that it will seek an equivalency agreement with the federal government to recognize that the province’s regulations fall squarely within the national standard — a prospect that the Clean Air Task Force, Environmental Defence Canada, Environmental Defence Fund, the David Suzuki Foundation, and the Pembina Institute have critiqued sharply.

The organizations provided joint comments on the draft directives during the province’s feedback period, though they mostly focused on the following points:

That Alberta will not meet its 45 per cent oil and gas methane reduction target, and that real reductions would be closer to 20 per cent.

That a lack of robust measurement, monitoring, and reporting mechanisms would allow industry to take credit for actions that regulators cannot confirm.

That key provisions in the draft directive are far weaker than standards set out by Environment and Climate Change Canada.

And that the federal methane reduction goal will not be met should Canada accept Alberta’s equivalency agreement.

Since methane is 84 times more potent than carbon dioxide over its first 20 years in the atmosphere and nearly 70 per cent of Alberta’s methane emissions stem from its oil and gas sector, effective regulatory action is crucial, the organizations said.

They recommended that Alberta stop giving its industry a pass to continue venting emissions by actually enhancing its monitoring and reporting measures so that the public “can tell if a site is in compliance or not.”

As is, Alberta’s proposed methane pollution regulations would result in a “big payout to Canada’s largest industrial emitters while failing to shrink methane pollution to the required target,” a joint statement from the David Suzuki Foundation, Environmental Defence, and the Pembina Institute read.

Both Alberta and Canada’s respective standards would take effect in 2020.