Ghana plans to establish a financial mechanism for loss and damage associated with climate change impacts, as the country assumes the presidency of the Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF).
The CVF is a global partnership of developing nations that are disproportionately impacted by the consequences of global warming, and are taking steps to address them.
The financing mechanism is expected to provide significant opportunities to tackle climate risk and help transform the vulnerability of member states into resilience and prosperity.
The Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta disclosed this in a speech read on his behalf at an outreach workshop held in Accra on Thursday to lay the foundation for Ghana’s Presidency as CVF from May 2022 to May 2024.
It is recalled that at the climate change conference (COP26) last year, CVF members endorsed Ghana to take over from Bangladesh as the next Presidency of the Forum.
A delegation from the CVF Secretariat and the outgoing Presidency of Bangladesh are in Ghana as part of preparatory activities to ensure a smooth leadership transition.
According to Mr Ofori-Atta, one of Ghana’s priority actions as the President of the Forum was to solidify cooperation between CVF and development partners to deliver funding for adaptation activities.
This, he said, was because the country sees the current system did not serve the necessities of the climate-vulnerable economies, and would take steps to address the challenge.
“Building on the success of the Presidency of Bangladesh that has developed the first of the many Climate Prosperity Plans, we look forward to developing ours and more importantly, to spur and mobilise international investment through market creation and increased participation, technology transfer and economic partnerships, for accelerated action,” he said
Mr Ofori-Attah expressed Ghana’s commitment to increase the number of members of the Forum over the next two years as well as work towards expanding the portfolio of the CVF.
The Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, Dr Kwaku Afriyie, in a statement delivered on his behalf, said climate change had exacerbated economic stress on CVF member states and affected their development process.
He said the recent intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report confirmed that Sub-Saharan Africa was one of the most vulnerable to the impacts of global warming.
“According to the State of the Climate in Africa 2020 report, investment in climate adaptation for sub-Saharan Africa would cost between US$30 billion to US$50 billion each year over the next decade, or roughly two to three per cent of GDP,” he said.
The Head of Programme at CVF, Mr Mathew McKinnon, said the forum had helped put the vulnerable countries at forefront of climate response, including pushing for 1.5 degrees goals in the Paris Agreement.
He said the secretariat would work with the Ghana team on issues, including ensuring that the global communities delivered on their commitment to cut emissions and increase funding for adaptation.
BY JONATHAN DONKOR