The world's oil and gas companies should set targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 at the next COP28 world climate conference, the CEO of French company TotalEnergies, Patrick Pouyanne, said on Wednesday.

"If we can bring something to COP28 as an oil and gas industry... not only the IOCs (international oil companies), but also the NOCs (national oil companies) must have some objectives," Pouyanne said at the OPEC Seminar conference.

Companies must set targets to reduce emissions of methane, a potent greenhouse gas that escapes from oil and gas infrastructure, as well as targets to reduce pollution from their own operations, known as scope 1 and 2 emissions, by the end of the decade, Pouyanne said.

Setting targets would help "demonstrate to the world that this industry is capable of reducing emissions", he said.

The vast majority of emissions from oil and gas are produced by the burning and consumption of fuels, known as Scope 3 emissions, while emissions from their extraction and production typically account for around 15% of companies' global carbon footprint.

COP28 will take place in the United Arab Emirates, a major oil and gas producer, in November and December.

TotalEnergies and its European rivals have set scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions reduction targets, while their US counterparts and several of the major national oil companies have only set targets for reducing emissions from their own operations.

Scientists say the world needs to cut greenhouse gas emissions by around 43% by 2030, compared to 2019 levels, to have any chance of meeting the 2015 Paris Agreement goal of keeping warming well below 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels.