Recycle Organics and LEDS LAC launch Community of Practice on reducing methane emissions from organic sources in LAC

CCAP, LEDS LAC, ImplementaSur and the Global Methane Hub have been associated to develop a Community of Practice on Methane Emissions Reduction from Organic Sources in Latin America and the Caribbean (Met-LAC CoP), which will support 10 countries in the LAC region to advance towards compliance with the Global Methane Commitment to reduce methane emissions by 30% by 2030. The Met-LAC CoP will facilitate peer-to-peer learning, providing technical support and fostering knowledge exchange among relevant stakeholders in the waste sector in the LAC region. The CoP takes place in the framework of the program Recycle Organicsand will include Argentina, Barbados, Belize, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Grenada, Honduras, Mexico and Peru.

"This new initiative embodies one of the fundamental goals and aspirations of the Recycle Organics program," maintained CCAP Methane Mitigation Program Manager Brooks Shaffer. "Facilitating knowledge sharing on win-win opportunities to address the prevalent organic fraction of waste, learning and sharing with other waste professionals from the public and private sectors, and developing a community of practice in the region that will equip countries to replicate innovative and regionally appropriate waste management policies and projects is key to the success of the program and will lead to accelerated actions that will have a real impact on reducing methane emissions in the waste sector."

The CoP aims to raise awareness of significant opportunities that exist to reduce methane emissions and take advantage of the waste that countries produce, while supporting the development of enabling conditions so that sustainable projects can be implemented quickly and effectively. The goal of the CoP is to promote and accelerate public policies, business models and investment projects that contribute to mitigating harmful emissions from the waste sector and other sustainable development goals, through actions such as composting, anaerobic digestion, food waste reduction and landfill gas capture. Accelerating these waste management projects inherently improves the local environment, creates green jobs and moves countries closer to a sustainable, circular economy.

Composting facilities convert methane-producing organic waste into compost, which can be sold and used in gardens, landscaping, horticulture and agriculture, replacing synthetic fertilizers in the process. In addition, the harmful greenhouse gases produced by organic waste can be captured and converted into biogas, a renewable energy source that can fuel local economies and help countries phase out fossil fuels. The recovery and redistribution of food waste not only helps divert organic waste from landfills, but also allows food surpluses to be used efficiently, reducing food insecurity and at the same time methane emissions.

"Seeking to enhance south-to-south knowledge sharing and capacity building, we believe that this Community of Practice will allow its participants to learn from the experiences that are already happening around Latin America and the Caribbean to develop or scale up their own initiatives and effectively reduce methane emissions," said ImplementaSur Director Gerardo Canales. "In a global context where reducing methane emissions is crucial to achieving climate goals, collaborative efforts among countries in the global south, such as the Met-LAC CoP, that promote the development of public policies, business models and investment projects to reduce methane emissions from organic sources, are not only necessary but imperative."

Members of the CoP include representatives and decision-makers from national and municipal governments, along with international and regional associations representing key stakeholders in the sector. CoP representatives will participate in a series of activities over two years, aimed at knowledge sharing and capacity building. Activities will include:

• Face-to-face workshops, 

• Bi-monthly virtual sessions for knowledge exchange,

• Online training sessions,

• Quick technical support hotline for specific inquiries, and
  

• Personalized technical assistance to promote initiatives and projects.
• The CoP will also systematize and disseminate success stories, best practices and tools through knowledge content and webinars targeting a wider audience of key stakeholders. In the long term, the program aims to accelerate the progress of participating countries towards achieving a circular and carbon neutral waste sector, and to build a stronger community of decision makers in Latin America and the Caribbean capable of implementing transformative and inclusive organic waste projects in the region, contributing to their achievement of the Global Methane Commitment.

Overall, the Met-LAC CoP seeks to drive positive change in the region by promoting cooperation, sharing best practices, lessons learned and innovative approaches to accelerate action to address methane emissions from organic waste management, thus contributing to sustainable development and a greener future for Latin America and the Caribbean.

"For the LEDS LAC Platform, this is an opportunity to continue fulfilling our mission to promote and support system transformations that are key to achieving the region's climate goals and advancing on a low-emissions and climate resilient development path," said LEDS LAC Secretariat Technical Coordinator Virginia Vilariño. "Contributing to the reduction of methane emissions is one of the thematic priorities in our strategic planning, and we are happy to partner with CCAP and ImplementaSur to leverage their experience and expertise and facilitate learning among countries, organizations and individuals to accelerate those transformations."

The inaugural CoP workshop will be held in Bogota, Colombia in November 2023. We invite you to stay tuned for updates on the program, including the official launch of the CoP website.

Why methane?

Methane is a greenhouse gas with a global warming potential. 86 times higher than carbon dioxide over a 20-year period. According to the Global Methane Assessment (GMA) (2021), reducing human-caused methane emissions is one of the most effective strategies to rapidly reduce the rate of warming and contribute substantially to global efforts to keep temperature increase below 1.5°C.

Moreover, methane is one of the most dangerous short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs), responsible for 40% of global warming since the Industrial Revolution. In this context, 18% of man-made methane emissions come from waste.

Per capita waste generation will continue to increase worldwide as population and urbanization grow. When the organic fraction of waste - such as food scraps, garden waste, paper or wood - decomposes in landfills or dumps, it generates large amounts of emissions that reduce air quality and contribute greatly to global warming. 

According to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)organic waste represents, on average, 50% of the waste stream in Latin American countries. The lack of treatment options and recovery measures is consequently causing problems at disposal sites, including significant methane emissions, leachates contaminating subsoils and the spread of pest diseases.

In the LAC region, there are local and regional initiatives focused on recycling, anaerobic digestion, composting and other relevant technologies to reduce methane emissions, but these efforts are often disparate and not linked to national climate and development goals.

More about the Recycle Organics program

The underlying objective of the Recycle Organics program is to is to help the countries to which it provides support to fulfill the Global Methane Commitment to reduce its methane emissions by 30% by 2030, while bringing significant environmental, economic and social benefits to local communities. The Program focuses on policies and projects, helping to create enabling conditions for a sustainable expansion of organic waste treatment technologies, and develops a community of practice in the regions it supports.

Recycle Organics is particularly focused on working with developing countries and Small Island Developing States (SIDS), which historically have contributed the least to climate change, but are often the hardest hit by its effects. Many of these countries are particularly vulnerable to extreme heat, intensifying storms and flooding due to global warming, making the Paris Agreement's goals of keeping warming below 1.5°C increasingly critical.

In total, the Recycle Organics Program is currently supporting 19 countries and is funded by Environment and Climate Change Canadaof Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC)of the Global Methane Hub and of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)through different initiatives and projects.