Mobilizing Private Capital to Reduce Methane Emissions from Waste in Emerging Markets

The waste sector contributes approximately 20% of global human-caused methane emissions, yet adoption of proven technologies like anaerobic digestion and landfill gas to energy remains slow in emerging economies due to a lack of bankable projects. RMI identifies São Paulo and Bangkok as prime opportunity hubs for near-term private investment. Scaling this finance requires de-risking through investment-ready project pipelines, concessional capital, grant funding, and strengthened carbon markets to improve returns.

• The waste sector is a significant source of methane, representing about 20% of human-caused emissions globally, but emerging markets struggle to deploy proven technologies like anaerobic digestion and landfill gas to energy because projects often fail to meet the investability requirements of capital providers.
• São Paulo and Bangkok are identified as the highest-impact and lowest-risk 'opportunity hubs' where private financial institutions can currently lead capital deployment for methane mitigation.
• Scaling private finance for waste methane projects requires specific de-risking mechanisms, including the creation of investment-ready pipelines, the use of grant funding and concessional capital, and the enhancement of carbon markets to better quantify and monetize environmental attributes.

APA

RMI (2026). Mobilizing Private Capital to Reduce Methane Emissions from Waste in Emerging Markets. https://rmi.org/resources/mobilizing-private-capital-to-reduce-methane-emissions-from-waste-in-emerging-markets/

Chicago

RMI. Mobilizing Private Capital to Reduce Methane Emissions from Waste in Emerging Markets. 2026. https://rmi.org/resources/mobilizing-private-capital-to-reduce-methane-emissions-from-waste-in-emerging-markets/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=RMI |title=Mobilizing Private Capital to Reduce Methane Emissions from Waste in Emerging Markets |date=3 June 2026 |url=https://rmi.org/resources/mobilizing-private-capital-to-reduce-methane-emissions-from-waste-in-emerging-markets/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{rmi2026mobilizing, author = {{RMI}}, title = {{Mobilizing Private Capital to Reduce Methane Emissions from Waste in Emerging Markets}}, institution = {RMI}, year = {2026}, month = jun, url = {https://rmi.org/resources/mobilizing-private-capital-to-reduce-methane-emissions-from-waste-in-emerging-markets/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }