152 1. INTRODUCTION The JSW Group is the largest producer of high quality hard coking coal in the European Union and one of the leading producers of coke used for smelting steel. Production and sale of coking coal and production and sale of coke and hydrocarbons constitute JSW Group’s core business. Coking coal, also known as metallurgical coal, has been identified as one of the 34 critical raw materials for the European Union, signifying strategic economic importance and entailing a high supply risk for European industry. Coking coal is an essential ingredient in steel production - a key component for the development of an innovative economy and modern infrastructure. Mining of coking coal involves significant methane emissions. Methane is one of the main hazards associated with coal mining, alongside fire, water, rock bursts and gas and rock ejections. In addition to the direct threat to the safety of mining crews, methane, and specifically its emission into the atmosphere, has a significant impact on the environment. It should be remembered that methane and carbon dioxide are considered to be the two gases that have the greatest impact on global warming and climate change. The GWP (Global Warming Potential) for methane over a 100-year period (GWP100) is approximately 28, which means that it is 28 times more potent as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide over the same period, although over a 20-year period (GWP20) it is significantly higher at around 86 due to the shorter lifetime of methane in the atmosphere. The European Union's policy is also extremely important in this regard. In 2021, the European Parliament Resolution on the EU strategy for reducing methane emissions was announced. One of the elements of this strategy is the Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the reduction of methane emissions in the energy sector, known as the ‘Methane Regulation’, which entered into force on 5 August 2025. The provisions of this Regulation also take into account methane emissions from the mining sector and apply to both underground and opencast mining. It defines in detail the rules for monitoring, reporting and verifying methane emissions (MRV) and sets emission limits for individual sources. Methane accounts for approximately 72% of the carbon footprint of the Jastrzębska Spółka Węglowa Group. In 2022, JSW presented its business strategy for the entire Capital Group until 2030. Environmental protection was and remains an important element of this strategy. Due to the significant share of methane in the Group's carbon footprint, reducing methane emissions was an obvious assumption. Therefore, the Methane Drainage and Management Office developed and launched an extremely ambitious Methane Emission Reduction Programme.
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