Chief Executive’s Monthly Update for September 2026
By Charlotte Morton OBE, Chief Executive of the World Biogas Association
As we approach COP31, the international spotlight on methane has never been brighter.
Under the Turkish Presidency, waste methane has been named among the 14 priorities for the conference, a recognition the biogas sector has long worked towards. This is unprecedented momentum, and at the World Biogas Association (WBA) we are determined to make the most of it. The task now is to move countries from pledges to action on the ground, and to ensure governments understand the full potential of biogas: not only as a proven solution to methane from organic wastes, but as a contributor to decarbonisation, energy security, waste management and sanitation, and soil health.
To that end, we continue to advocate for a Protocol on Organic Wastes, which first and foremost would commit countries to separately collecting organics for recycling, rather than sending them to landfills, incineration or dumpsites. Where organics do still end up in landfill, landfill gas capture must be installed to prevent potent methane going into the atmosphere and warming the planet far faster than CO₂ over the near term. Our newly launched Landfill Gas Position Statement sets out why this matters and what is needed.
The urgency was underlined at New York Climate Week, where WBA Head of External Affairs Giulia Ceccarelli represented the global biogas sector. Professor Johan Rockström presented the latest assessment of the nine planetary boundaries, which confirmed that we have now crossed seven of the nine, with tipping points approaching in many of them. To bend the curve, he identified three transitions that must happen: the energy transition, a transformation of our food and agriculture systems, and carbon capture at scale. The biogas sector is uniquely positioned to advance all three. Through anaerobic digestion, we produce renewable energy, return nutrients and organic matter to soil as biofertiliser, and generate biogenic CO₂ for capture and use or storage. It was important that this message was heard in the room.
Closer to the present, WBA will host the 4th World Biogas Association INDIA Congress. India’s biogas market is vast, and its potential is extraordinary. Our #MakingBiogasHappen programme is being implemented first in the state of Madhya Pradesh, with the ambition that the lessons learned can be scaled up nationally. The Congress brings together the key stakeholders in the Indian biogas market with international expertise, to accelerate the safe and sustainable growth of this critical sector.
Finally, with decisive International Maritime Organisation meetings taking place at the end of November and beginning of December, which will shape the future of the IMO Net Zero Framework, we are convening a closed-door, invite-only roundtable in London entitled “Advancing Bio-LNG in the Maritime Sector”. Stakeholders from across the bio-LNG value chain will discuss what is needed to unlock the sector’s potential in shipping, one of the hardest industries to decarbonise.
Across all this work, the message is consistent: biogas is a practical, scalable and available solution, delivering climate, energy, agricultural and public health benefits all at once. The window for action is narrowing, but the momentum is real.
I thank our members for their continued commitment, and I look forward to working with you as we turn ambition into delivery, #MakingBiogasHappen.
With best wishes,
Charlotte Morton OBE Chief Executive, World Biogas Association