Press release:
Rick Duke, White House Liaison for John Kerry, and H.E. Hadjia Samira Bawumia, Second Lady of Ghana, to headline World Biogas Summit 2022
How biogas can address methane emissions will be the key theme of this year’s event
The World Biogas Association (WBA) has published its preliminary programme for the fourth edition of its flagship event the World Biogas Summit – the only global thought-leadership forum entirely dedicated to anaerobic digestion (AD) and biogas – which will take place at the NEC Birmingham, UK on 15-16th June 2022.
Entitled “the Methane Imperative”, the event will build upon the launch of the Global Methane Pledge at COP26 to highlight how biogas could deliver up to 50% of the targets set up in the pledge, which has now been signed by over 100 countries.
Rick DukeRick Duke, Senior Director and White House Liaison for the Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry, and co-chair of the Climate & Clean Air Coalition (CCAC) Working Groups will open proceedings on 15th June. In its Global Methane Assessment of 2021, CCAC identified tackling global methane emissions as “the most immediate and cost efficient way to deliver on the Paris Agreement”, with AD and biogas recognised among the principal, low-cost technologies available to achieve this.
He will be followed by H.E. Hadjia Samira Bawumia, 2nd Lady of Ghana and Ambassador for the UN-backed Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves, who has won the prestigious Ashden Award in recognition of her efforts towards the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 7 to ensure access to modern reliable, renewable and affordable energy for all by 2030.
Samira Bawumia, 2nd Lady of Ghana“The world needs quick fixes to avert a gathering storm of crises, most immediately the energy crisis, food crisis and overarching climate crisis”, explains Charlotte Morton, WBA Chief Executive. “Anaerobic digestion (AD) and biogas are recognised by leading organisations such as the International Energy Agency (IEA), the Climate & Clean Air Coalition, and the EU as parts of these required quick fixes.”
“In Rick Duke and H.E Hadjia Samira Bawumia, we have particularly influential voices in illustrating the value of AD and biogas to address these current and dramatic issues. It will be an honour to welcome them on our stage and a testimony to the growing strength of our industry on a global scale.”
The two-day Summit will also welcome speakers from around the world, including Cliff Rechtschaffen, Commissioner at the California Public Utilities Commissioner, Peter Zeniewski, WEO Energy Analyst at the IEA, Kunal Shah, MD of Sales at Asia, Anaergia, as well as senior representatives from the Global Methane Initiative, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation, the European Commission, Total Energies, Unilever, IRENA, the Grantham Research Institute, the Danish Biogas Association and many more.
The sessions featured over the two days of the conference will discuss:
- action plans to reduce methane emissions
- biomethane and the transport and industrial revolution – as well as the gas crunch
- the role of biogas in achieving energy and food security and ushering a new era in food waste management
- the energy-finance gap
- the 2030 biogas outlook
View programme
Rick Duke’s biography
H.E. Hadjia Samira Bawumia’s biography
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What is the World Biogas Association?
As the only thought-leadership gathering dedicated to anaerobic digestion and biogas, the World Biogas Summit was inaugurated in 2019 by the World Biogas Association (WBA).
Now in its fourth year, it brings together industry leaders, policymakers, and other agenda-setting speakers from around the world to discuss the role of AD and biogas in addressing climate change and other global environmental and societal challenges.
Previous events have welcomed UNFCCC Manager Niclas Svenningsen, former French Agriculture Minister and spokesperson for the Hollande government Stéphane Le Foll, US Congresswoman Chellie Pingree, International Energy Agency Deputy Director-General Peter Beasley, and former French Agriculture Minister.
World Biogas Association Status
The World Biogas Association, which was established at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Marrakesh in 2016, is a global trade association representing the biogas, landfill gas, and anaerobic digestion (AD) industries.
Its mission is to facilitate the adoption of biogas throughout the world.
As a result, it thinks that the global adoption of biogas technologies represents a multi-faceted potential to provide clean, renewable energy while simultaneously addressing global challenges such as development, public health, and economic growth.
