As I step into 2026, my task is to continue building the layers that will create a future where African states can turn their climate commitments into real achievements, and I look forward to that with excitement.
When I reflect on the year, I do not see isolated trips or separate assignments, but a long journey that brought many threads together. The year carried me from landfills to lecture halls and from field visits in remote places to high-level meetings with climate leaders. And my background as a geologist shape how I understand progress. In geology, you learn that mountains form from layers of sediment that accumulate over long periods. Some layers look insignificant on their own, but together they become something powerful.
The year 2025 began in a way that set the tone for everything that followed. On a cold January morning in Arlington, Texas, I stood outside the lecture hall of the International Solid Waste Association Winter School with a cup of coffee warming my hands, while the winter air pressed against my face. I had just finished listening to a series of discussions that spilled across topics such as the circular economy and landfill engineering. The hall vibrated with voices from many regions, each accent carrying a distinct experience. During a break, as I exchanged thoughts with colleagues, I sensed the magnitude of what lay ahead. It was not a vague feeling but a quiet certainty that the year was going to stretch me in new ways. I could already see the sense of responsibility that comes with shaping a path for methane mitigation across the continent. That moment in January was the beginning of a year that tested my endurance and deepened my resolve.
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When February arrived, Accra greeted me with its humid air and restless vibrancy. At the Africa Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP), I spoke about how Ghana could finance methane reduction in its oil and gas sector. My audience consisted of government officials, academics, private sector actors, etc. While standing at the podium, I remembered how my background once involved long hours of studying rock layers and tracing their stories through time. This memory guided my thinking as I explained how financing structures must be layered with the same precision used in geology. I thought that a poorly placed financial assumption can cause a collapse, just as easily as a weak geological layer can undermine a structure. Later that same month, I met with directors and staff of the Ghana Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) to support the development of the country’s methane mitigation guidelines in the oil and gas sector. Some discussions were friendly and some were intense, but all of them were grounded in responsibility. But one quiet moment with a director has stayed with me, as he leaned slightly forward and said, “If we get this right, we are changing policy, but at the same time, we are also changing lives.” These words became a steady reminder as the year unfolded.
April brought me back to Ghana with renewed urgency. At Ghana’s Petroleum Commission in Accra, and the Ministry of Energy and Green Transition, attention shifted toward a question that seemed simple but carried enormous weight: Does the country have a real energy strategy that can be defended at all levels? And the subsequent conversations we had in addressing that question were always linked to people and livelihoods. That same month, I was in Abuja for a session with the Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI) on the new European Union (EU) Methane Regulation. My contribution centered on the implications and opportunities for African producers. I thought of the workers I had seen in various oil fields across West Africa, and how the decisions taken in faraway places such as Brussels would soon affect their daily routines and how they may never meet the people making these rules.
May transported me to Madrid, where the methane team in my organisation gathered for several days. Our work is spread across many regions, and we could sometimes operate under intense pressure, so the meeting felt like an important pause. As a team, we compared experiences and shared concerns, but most importantly, encouraged each other. It was less about formal presentations and more about strengthening our sense of purpose. Shortly after Madrid, I was in Côte d’Ivoire for Leak Detection and Repair (LDAR) training. At the Kossihouen Landfill, I watched how a drone and a mobile monitoring equipment cut through the warm air as it detected emissions. At the Foxtrot facility, screens illuminated methane measurements in real time. In the island of Jacqueville, surrounded by forest, I reflected on the deep past held within that landscape, as I wondered what future generations would think of these early attempts to curb emissions and reshape how Africa engages with energy and environmental responsibility.
September carried me to the Africa Climate Summit in Addis Ababa. There, at a high-level roundtable on Africa’s renewable transition, I spoke about the essential role of methane abatement in financing discussions. The hall was expansive and filled with delegates from across the continent. My message was that methane is a challenge, but also a source of opportunity if addressed with purpose.
June unfolded through the forests and city streets of Gabon. I spent time in Libreville presenting the development of a methane emissions inventory we had prepared for the country. The meeting involved long exchanges with government agencies as we refined assumptions and verified the numbers. The process felt like returning to the discipline of field mapping in Geology, where small corrections slowly sharpened the full picture. Later in June, I returned to Libreville to finalise this important work that had stretched across nearly three years. We presented a monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV) framework to officials who had been part of the journey from the beginning. Although the room was warm and the hours were long, yet there was a sense of a collective breakthrough.
July again took me to Accra, where I worked with the EPA to refine methane guidelines that would soon appear before parliament. We read through each paragraph with care, as each word had consequences for both the industry and regulators. I could feel the weight of expectation from people who hoped these guidelines would create both just compliance and real environmental progress.
August marked a major moment in Ghana’s methane journey. In Kumasi, at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), we facilitated the launch of an organics diversion pilot. The project was carried out with the Brew Hammond Energy Centre and Safisana Ghana. The objective was to divert waste from landfills and process it through new streams that could reduce emissions and create economic value. We followed the workers and students as they hauled waste away from dumping sites. I could imagine how the strong smell of decomposing materials could mix unexpectedly with a feeling of hope. Perhaps it was one of the few times when policy becomes something you can touch or smell. Later in the month at the Africa Policy Research Institute (APRI) workshop in Abuja, I gave presentations on methane reduction and regulatory design. The panel sessions were lively and at times intense. The encounters were constructive and served as a reminder that progress often comes through honest disagreement. Soon after, at the Future of Energy Conference in Accra, I spoke again about aligning governance and financing with methane mitigation. I drew examples from Gabon, Côte d’Ivoire, and Nigeria hoping to make the discussion real and relevant.
September carried me to the Africa Climate Summit in Addis Ababa. There, at a high-level roundtable on Africa’s renewable transition, I spoke about the essential role of methane abatement in financing discussions. The hall was expansive and filled with delegates from across the continent. My message was that methane is a challenge, but also a source of opportunity if addressed with purpose. At a side event focused on equitable pathways to methane abatement, I emphasised the importance of an African owned framing, especially in light of the EU Methane Regulation. After a long day of discussions, an older man approached me. He had listened quietly throughout the event. His simple encouragement, that he liked my way of thinking and that I should keep going, carried a depth that stayed with me for months.
In November, I took part in the Sub-Saharan Africa Regional Roundtable in Abuja. The gathering brought voices from Africa, Europe, and the United States, all intent on discussing the path from methane pledges to measurable progress. When the roundtable ended, I helped coordinate a meeting between Ghana’s oil and gas regulators and their counterparts in Nigeria. The objective was for both countries to share experiences and for Ghana to learn from Nigeria’s early progress on implementing methane guidelines.
October brought me back to Accra for what became one of the defining moments of the year. Together with the EPA and other partners from the Ghanaian government and private sector, we hosted the final stakeholder consultation on the methane guidelines. This gathering represented the accumulation of almost three years of technical support and policy engagement that culminated in the passage of the Environmental Protection (Petroleum) Regulations of 2025. Many of the conversations that month carried emotional weight as people from industry, civil society, and government offices discussed how best to apply new rules that could reshape the country’s engagement with methane. When the final session ended and participants stepped outdoors exchanging firm handshakes and warm conversations, I felt a change in the air. Something new was taking shape as the feedback from this consultation will now guide the remaining steps of the guidelines and serve as the foundation for the next phase of cooperation in Ghana, to ensure the regulations are fully understood and can deliver real results.
In November, I took part in the Sub-Saharan Africa Regional Roundtable in Abuja. The gathering brought voices from Africa, Europe, and the United States, all intent on discussing the path from methane pledges to measurable progress. When the roundtable ended, I helped coordinate a meeting between Ghana’s oil and gas regulators and their counterparts in Nigeria. The objective was for both countries to share experiences and for Ghana to learn from Nigeria’s early progress on implementing methane guidelines. The conversations were practical and direct, and they opened new possibilities for cooperation.
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By late November and into December, my year had taken me to Saudi Arabia where I performed the lesser hajj known as Umrah and spent time in the Kingdom. I began in Madinah, a city that holds a unique place in the heart of every Muslim. Walking through the serene streets and offering my greetings to the Prophet Muhammad, Peace Be Upon Him, felt like standing in the presence of history. From Madinah, I traveled to Mecca to complete the rites of Umrah. My days were spent praying in the Masjid Al Haram, reflecting on life, and giving thanks for blessings that are sometimes easy to overlook in busy seasons of work. One cannot have too much of Madinah or Mecca. You simply return as often as you can, whenever life opens the door.
When I reflect on the year, I do not see isolated trips or separate assignments, but a long journey that brought many threads together. The year carried me from landfills to lecture halls and from field visits in remote places to high-level meetings with climate leaders. And my background as a geologist shape how I understand progress. In geology, you learn that mountains form from layers of sediment that accumulate over long periods. Some layers look insignificant on their own, but together they become something powerful. This is how I now see climate work. Everything I did was a layer and none of them defines the mountain on their own, but all of them contribute to its formation. I also think often of the workers at oil fields in Nigeria, the families who live near landfills in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire, the policymakers in Gabon, all striving to create stronger systems, and the younger people across Africa whose futures depend on the choices we make today. And with those thoughts, I can imagine that the work is not abstract, as it is tied to the hope that tomorrow can be kinder than today. The year 2025 may have left me tired in body but strengthened in conviction. It affirmed that the path of climate action is demanding but meaningful. As I step into 2026, my task is to continue building the layers that will create a future where African states can turn their climate commitments into real achievements, and I look forward to that with excitement.
Mohammed Dahiru Aminu ([email protected]) wrote from Mecca, Saudi Arabia.
