…As National Climate Change Policy awaits endorsement
It is now up to President John Dramani Mahama and his
cabinet to end or
continue the situation where Ghana is unable to access finance from
international sources for addressing the ongoing challenges of climate change.
This follows
the placement of the National Climate Change Policy Framework (NCCPF) in
the custody of cabinet for
approval.
The Ministry
of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation views the policy document,
which has strategies for attracting donor and private sector funding as very
crucial for leveraging resources, including funding for climate change
adaptation mechanisms, as well as, advancing cooperation between government and
civil society actors regarding rolling out interventions for addressing climate
change effects.
These came
to light at an information sharing and feedback session on the outcomes
of the 18th
Conference of Parties (COP) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
which ended last December in the Qatari capital city of Doha. The session was
held in Accra on Thursday at the instance of Kasa Ghana.
Kasa Ghana facilitated the meeting to: provide feedback on
the outcomes of the COP 18 to CSOs; discuss key lessons for improving
participation, feedback and follow up actions on the COP processes; and discuss
the way forward for the CCEWG as a platform for coordinated engagement on
climate change.
Studies by the Ghana Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
have shown that the country needs about GHC1.38 billion or (US$697.2 million)
by 2020 and GHC1.4 billion (US$701.7 million) by 2050 to implement adaptation
measures to contain the effects of Climate Change.
Other costs of climate change are calculated to require mitigation
efforts for which international funding could be tapped through the policy
document. Already, indications are that the country could be benefitting from
an eight million Cedi (GH¢8 million) monetary support from the Embassy of
Switzerland for the implementation of anti-deforestation initiatives in Ghana.
The President
is thought to be keen on climate issues and consequently expected to sign the policy
document soon. While he was Vice President and Chair of the
Environmental and Natural Resource Advisory Council, President Mahama was on
record as stating that: “…We view climate change as a development challenge,
giving it the priority and urgency it deserves.”
Speaking for Dr Joseph Oteng-Adjei, Minister for Environment, Science, Technology and
Innovation, at Thursday’s session, Mr Fredua Agyemang, a Director of
Environment at the MESTI, said having the NCCPF means having a “blue print”
upon which to build strategies for accessing funds to finance country level
interventions.
On the
point of public awareness of the policy document, he indicated that a series of
sensitisation activities will rapidly follow the presidential endorsement of
the document.
It had been
indicated at the 12th National
REDD+ [Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation Plus]
Working Group meeting on 10th July 2012 that a draft NCCPF
would be ready by 27th July 2012 while the final draft document
would be ready by 7th September, 2012.
The development of the policy is variously interpreted as a fulfilment
of Ghana’s obligations under Article 3 (Principles) of the UNFCCC which provides
that the Parties (nations that signed the Convention) should take precautionary
measures to anticipate, prevent or minimize the causes of climate change and
mitigate its adverse effects.
This means that countries must develop policies and
strategies for combating climate change effects. Such policies and measures,
according to the Convention, should take into account different socio-economic
contexts, be comprehensive, cover all relevant sources, sinks and reservoirs of
greenhouse gases and adaptation, and comprise all economic sectors.
Available information on the NCCPF indicates that the policy
document is organised into two parts with three objectives. The first part of
the Framework gives an overview of Climate Change and what it means for Ghana
while the second part focuses on strategic issues. The objective areas are low
carbon growth, effective adaptation to Climate Change, and social development.
According to policy makers, the achievement of the
objectives will depend on seven systemic pillars: governance and coordination,
capacity building, research and knowledge management, finance, international
cooperation, communication, and monitoring and reporting.
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