By Wallace Mawire
The City of Accra has officially unveiled its LOW-Methane Portfolio, a landmark roadmap that sets out bold actions to reduce methane emissions from the waste sector while advancing climate resilience, public health, job creation, and the city’s transition toward a zero waste future.
The portfolio outlines Accra’s commitment to reducing methane emissions from waste disposal by at least 30% by 2030, in line with Ghana’s commitment under the Global Methane Pledge and the country’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). The initiative supports Ghana’s national target of reducing carbon dioxide (CO₂e) emissions by 21,313 kilotonnes (ktCO₂e) by 2030 through sustainable urban solid waste management solutions.
Developed with technical support from the Green Africa Youth Organization (GAYO), the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA), and C40 Cities, Accra’s LOW-Methane Portfolio provides a practical framework for transforming how waste is managed across the city. It places focus on source separation of organic waste and diversion of organic waste, while centering the role of waste pickers and community groups in reducing waste methane.
“Accra’s LOW-Methane Portfolio is proof that when local governments, national, regional, and global organisations pull in the same direction, climate targets can become real action on the ground. The opportunity to cut waste methane at the local level is enormous, and Accra is showing that cities across Africa are ready to move when communities, governments, and partners co-create practical, locally rooted zero waste solutions,” Desmond Alugnoa, GAIA Africa, Zero Waste & Climate Program Manager.
Accra’s LOW-Methane Portfolio is built around three strategic goals that together map a clear pathway to a LOW-Methane, zero waste city.
According to the authority Accra aims to achieve at least 50% source-separated organic waste collection by 2030 by establishing and enforcing citywide collection systems, build a decentralised organic waste management system capable of diverting at least 30% of organic waste by 2040 and invest in people and data by launching comprehensive public education campaigns on the climate and health consequences of food waste and methane pollution, while tracking progress against the Global Methane Pledge and Ghana’s Nationally Determined Contributions.
“We envision an Accra where climate action is more than a policy commitment; it is a promise to our people, our children, and the generations who will inherit this city. We are demonstrating that when communities, institutions, and young people work together, Accra can become a beacon of climate leadership for Ghana, Africa, and the world,”Victor N. Kotey, Deputy Head of Waste Management, Accra Metropolitan Assembly.
The Accra Portfolio goals are projected to generate 13,500 tonnes of annual methane reduction by 2040, while creating local jobs, improving air quality, strengthening food systems through compost production, and building energy resilience through biogas utilisation.
For GAYO, the Accra LOW-Methane portfolio calls for partnership and investment for a cleaner, healthier, and more sustainable Accra.
“The next phase must focus on scaling decentralized, community-based zero waste systems rooted in local realities, supported by strong city leadership, and sustained through meaningful partnerships and investment,’’ explains Jacob Johnson Attakpah, Zero Waste Director, GAYO.
He added, “At the core of this transition is recognizing waste pickers as essential actors in implementation. Their knowledge, labour, and leadership must be fully integrated into how Accra reduces organic waste from landfill, strengthens resource recovery, and delivers measurable methane reductions that advance Ghana’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).’’
The city of Accra was recently recognized among the United Nations 20 cities moving towards zero waste. The LOW-Methane Portfolio lays the foundation for future collaboration with development partners, investors, philanthropic organizations, civil society, and the private sector to scale up zero waste as a just climate solution for the city. The launch of this portfolio marks a significant milestone in Accra’s climate journey and further positions the city as a climate action leader in Africa.
GAIA is a global network of grassroots groups, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), and individuals, in over 90 countries. The organisation envisions a just, zero-waste world built on respect for ecological limits and community rights, where people are free from the burden of toxic pollution, and resources are sustainably conserved, not burned or dumped. GAIA works to catalyse a global shift towards environmental justice by strengthening grassroots social movements that advance solutions to waste and pollution.
