Ghana has so far received financial support totalling US$536.3 million for the implementation of 12 projects to tackle the impacts of climate change.
Approved by the Green Climate Fund (GCF), five of the projects are in the form of capacity building, six are projects implementation and the other, a preparation facility.
The GCF is the financial mechanism of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) designed to disburse new and additional resources to support developing countries to implement their climate change mitigation and adaptation activities.
Some of the projects are the US$54.5 million Ghana Shea Landscape Emission Reductions Project and the $442,968 capacity building programme to sharpen the skills of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in Ghana to support the country’s efforts in addressing global heating.
According to Foster Aboagye Gyamfi, Principal Economic Officer, Ministry of Finance, eight more projects, which were part of the 20 proposals submitted to the GCF by Ghana, were currently awaiting approval.
He was speaking at Accra yesterday during a capacity building workshop on Enhancing Climate Financing Access for the Agriculture Sector in Ghana.
The workshop is to enhance the understanding of participants on the procedures for accessing financial support through existing funding mechanisms such as the GCF and develops a priority list of high impact adaptation and mitigation projects to address Ghana’s development’s needs.
He noted that two of the six projects approved for implementation were national projects while the other four would serve the African region interests.
Ms Adwoa Fraikue, Chief Economist Officer, Ministry of Finance, said, as a member of United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and a party to the Paris Agreement, Ghana had initiated a number of programmes that lead to mainstreaming climate change in economic and financial policies and thereby supporting global collective action on climate change.
She noted that Ghana had updated its Nationally Determined Contributions (Gh-NDCs) to reflect the country’s ambition for reducing emissions, taking into account domestic circumstance and capability.
She explained that Ghana was more vulnerable to the effects of climate change due to its overdependence on rain-fed agriculture, which was compounded by factors such as widespread poverty.
Currently, Ms Faikue said the country’s coastline was being eroded as a result of sea level rise, higher temperatures which were affecting crop and labour productivity, erratic rainfall pattern which was damaging infrastructure, land degradation, water insecurity and air pollution.
Although Ghana has made significant strides in economic growth and poverty, she noted that, climate variability and change pose a threat to future growth and development.
She said, at least one million more Ghanaians could fall into poverty due to climate shocks if urgent climate actions were not taken.
She reiterated the need for collaboration with relevant groups such as the Global Green Growth Initiative (GGGI) to promote sustainable economic growth while also addressing the urgent challenges posed by climate change without compromising financial returns.
Deputy Director of the SDGs Advisory Unit, Office of the President, Mr Felix Addai-Yobo, said the government was working closely with GGGI to identify the potential sources of funding, the mechanisms to access such funding and prepare bankable projects for investors to consider.
As a developing country, he said, Ghana was yet to build the needed capacity and resilience for climate change, hence the need for multilateral partnerships so support such nations.
BY CLAUDE NYARKO ADAMS
