As COP31 comes to Turkey, satellites reveal landfill methane problem

SEYMEN, Turkey — Along the outskirts of Istanbul's bustling metropolis, colossal heaps of waste from the city's 16 million residents are deposited en masse. At this site, a plant works to seize the noxious landfill gas, transforming it into electricity. However, a more worrying issue looms above the seagulls circling the mountains of rubbish: methane, a potent greenhouse gas, is leaking unchecked.

This runaway methane emission from Turkey's landfills has earned it a spot among the world's most significant emitters. At a time when Turkey is hosting the critical COP31 climate summit from November 9th to 20th, and has pledged to prioritize methane reduction, the country's waste sector presents both an opportunity and a challenge in the fight against climate change.

Methane, second only to carbon dioxide (CO2) in its contribution to global warming, is over 80 times more potent in the first twenty years it remains in the atmosphere. Consequently, swift and decisive action to curb methane emissions could yield significant gains in slowing the rate of warming. Unfortunately, Turkey's waste sector highlights the complexity of this endeavor.

Globally, Turkey ranks as the fifth-largest emitter of methane from solid waste, according to data from the non-profit emissions tracker Climate TRACE. Satellite observations show that this country's waste management practices could be better aligned with the urgent need to mitigate climate change.