IMPLEMENTATION PERIOD
1 September 2026–31 March 2028
GEOGRAPHIC SCOPE
Africa
BENEFICIARIES
African Methane experts, the African Methane Community of Practice (AMCoP), African governments, researchers, negotiators, policymakers
FUNDING
Global Methane Hub (GMH)
IMPLEMENTING PARTNERS
- African Group of Negotiators Experts Support (AGNES) – Lead implementing partner
- Environment Compliance Institute (ECI)
- African Methane Community of Practice (AMCoP)
- International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI)
- International Rice Research Institute (IRRI)
TrustAfrica will administer the grant on behalf of the Global Methane Hub.
Summary
The From Data to Action: Strengthening Methane Action in Africa project aims to strengthen Africa’s capacity to develop and deploy evidence-based, scalable methane emission reduction solutions appropriate for the continent’s context. The project will establish a comprehensive database of African methane experts, strengthen the African Methane Community of Practice, develop practical guidance on methane reduction pathways and methane action planning, and create opportunities for African experts to participate in regional and global climate processes.
About the Project
Methane is a significant contributor to global greenhouse gas emissions and is more potent than CO2. Reducing methane emissions is recognized as one of the fastest approaches to slowing near-term global warming while delivering important co-benefits for food security, public health and energy security. The launch of the Global Methane Pledge at COP26 in 2021 strengthened international attention to methane mitigation, with participating countries committing to contribute towards reducing global methane emissions by at least 30 per cent below 2020 levels by 2030. More than 40 African countries have joined the Pledge, with many also incorporating methane reduction targets and interventions into their Nationally Determined Contributions.
Despite this growing commitment, African countries continue to face significant barriers to advancing methane action. These include limited technical expertise, fragmented policy and regulatory frameworks, weak institutional coordination, inadequate climate finance, and persistent gaps in methane data, monitoring systems, and evidence generation. These challenges constrain countries’ ability to identify priority mitigation opportunities, track progress, and develop context-appropriate methane reduction interventions. African experts also remain underrepresented in global methane science, policy discussions and climate negotiations, while weak linkages between researchers, policymakers, negotiators and practitioners continue to limit knowledge exchange and collaboration.
To respond to these challenges, the African Group of Negotiators Experts Support (AGNES) is implementing the From Data to Action: Strengthening Methane Action in Africa project with support from the Global Methane Hub and Trust Africa. The initiative focuses on three major methane-emitting sectors: agriculture, energy, and waste. and will bring together African methane experts, researchers, policymakers, negotiators and practitioners to strengthen knowledge exchange, collaboration and access to relevant technical expertise across the continent.
A central component of the project will be the revitalization and expansion of a continental database of African methane experts. Through an open call, experts from across Africa will be identified, onboarded, and connected through an interactive digital platform. The database will provide a mechanism for profiling African expertise and supporting connections among researchers, governments, practitioners and other institutions working on methane. Regional methane expert working groups will also be established and convened through webinars to validate the database, strengthen peer exchange, and identify regional research priorities.
The project will also support the operationalization and strengthening of the African Methane Community of Practice (AMCoP) as a platform for knowledge sharing, peer learning and technical collaboration. By strengthening connections between methane experts, policymakers, negotiators and practitioners, AMCoP will provide a space for exchanging knowledge and experiences across sectors and countries and for strengthening the visibility of African methane expertise.
Another key output will be the development of a technical guide on methane reduction pathways and methane action planning. Developed in collaboration with African methane experts and AMCoP, the guide will consolidate information on scalable methane emission reduction solutions appropriate for Africa and provide step-by-step guidance to support the preparation of methane action plans. The process will draw on expertise and experience from across the agriculture, energy and waste sectors.
The project will further create opportunities for African methane experts to engage in strategic climate processes. Selected methane champions will participate in AGNES’ Pre-SB66 and pre-COP32 strategic meetings, providing opportunities to share technical knowledge with African negotiators and policymakers. At COP32, the project will convene a side event to showcase the African methane expert’s database, the technical guide and the African Methane Community of Practice, while raising awareness of the expertise and knowledge available across the continent.
Through these interventions, the project will strengthen connections among African methane experts, improve the visibility and accessibility of methane knowledge, and provide practical platforms and resources to support continued collaboration on methane action across Africa.