In 2004 the World Bank published a report entitled “Regulation of Associated Gas Flaring and Venting, A Global Overview and Lessons from International Experience”.
Recommendations to develop policies with relevant primary and secondary legislation to empower regulators and reduce gas flaring and venting were set out for Governments that had not already done so. Regulators were encouraged to establish, monitor and enforce clear and efficient processes and procedures to achieve the reduction targets set by their Governments.
The now 15 year old report highlighted that 7 years on from the 1997 Kyoto Protocol* (with 61 countries having signed it at that time) most oil-producing countries lacked clear emissions policies and guidelines, including large oil-producing nations such as Algeria, Angola, Indonesia and Russia (which had no specific guidelines).
* – The Kyoto Protocol to the 1992 Convention was negotiated in 1997 and came into force in 2005. It is a legally binding agreement under which industrialized countries will reduce their collective emissions of greenhouse gases by 5.2% compared to the year 1990. More details can be found here. The goal is to lower overall emissions from six greenhouse gases: carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, sulphur hexafluoride, HFCs, and PFCs.