GENERAL NEWS

Ghana gets $8 million to fight climate change effects

The Adaptation Fund Board (AFB) has approved $ 8 million for Ghana to support the government to protect the climate and reduce the effect of climate change on the ecosystem and people.

The AFB is the operating entity responsible for the management of the Adaptation Fund, an international fund that finances projects and programmes aimed at helping developing countries to adapt to the harmful effects of climate change.

The fund was set up under the Kyoto Protocol of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

At the national forum on intended nationally determined contributions (INDCs) in Accra last Monday, the Deputy Director in charge of Climate Change at the Ministry of Environment, Science Technology and Innovation, Mr Peter Derry, said the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) was the implementing agency that would work with the government in the climate change programme.

The mitigation efforts would include the reduction of fossil fuel into the atmosphere and the burning of firewood for cooking purposes, while the adaption process would protect plants and animals from the effects of fossil fuel emissions.

The INDCs are country-specific proposals on how to achieve a stable global climate.

The agreement, which will be signed in December this year in Paris, France, is expected to come into force in 2020 after member countries ratify it at their national level.

The forum, which brought together climate change experts and actors, was to heighten the interest of civil society organisations and other actors in engaging in national climate change issues, particularly the INDCs.

It was organised by the Ghana Climate Change Coalition (GCCC), ABANTU for Development and the Pan African Climate Justice and Alliance.

Mr Derry said in recent times Ghana’s natural resources and environment had been under serious threat and had affected the country’s sustainable development.

“The situation has been exacerbated by threats and challenges of climate change, including warming, unpredictable rainfall, drought, water shortage, food insecurity, and low generation of hydro-electricity, migration and health,” he said.

Giving an assurance that the government had taken bold policy interventions to address climate change issues, Mr Derry said in July 2014, the government launched the Ghana Climate Change and Environment Policy, which sought to tackle climate change issues in a more holistic manner.

Ghana has also developed a National Climate Change Strategy and Low-carbon Emission Road map and mainstreamed climate change into District Medium-Term Development Plans, he added.

Mr Derry said the INDCs proposals on climate change mitigation and adaptation had been drafted by technical working groups on climate change.

He said a three-day meeting had been scheduled for Senchi from Thursday, August 27, 2015, to come up with the final document on the INDCs, which would be presented to Cabinet for consideration and possible approval.

The meeting, to be attended by members of the Government Economic Management Team, the Parliamentary Select Committee on Environment and representatives of civil society organisations, is expected to be chaired by Vice-President Kwesi Bekoe Amissah-Arthur.

An Environmental and Gender Consultant, Ms Patience T. M. Damptey, said the country’s green gas emission was low compared to that of developed countries, hence the focus on adaptation.

However, she said, it was equally important for the country to take steps to reduce the emission of fossil fuel into the atmosphere.

The Chairperson of ABANTU for Development, Dr Rose Mensah-Kutin, tasked civil society organisations to be at the forefront in championing the issue of climate change in the country.

Source: Graphic

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