Increased day-time and night temperatures, erratic and unpredictable rainfall patterns, frequent floods and food shortages culminating in food price hikes masking the successes of One Village, One Dam, Planting for Food and Jobs and Rearing for Food and Jobs programs, all these are premised on climate change—the deviation in the normal patterns of weather a relatively long period of time.
We are well indeed the orchestras of our own doom; these unbearable conditions are owing to the long years of neglect, indifference and apathy. To an extent we are even predators of the ecosystem; we take only to destroy. The conditions of yesteryear are only reversed because of our own actions. Ghana, just like her neighbouring Sub-Saharan countries, used to be the carbon sinks of the world where our rich green forests absorbed the Greenhouse Gases like Carbon monoxide emitted by the more industrial western countries. But now, the story is different; uncontrolled felling of trees, destruction of the biodiversity in search of minerals commonly
called ‘Galamsey’, have all led to the table been turned on its head.
The quantum of waste generated per day makes the fight even the more difficult to tackle. Accra, alone for instance, generated about 2.4 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2015 alone. This means, on the average, a person living in Accra generated about 1.2 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent within the year. The quantum of carbon waste generated per person is calculated by multiplying the waste generated by an index placing Ghana as the 24th most polluted country in the world according to IQ Air.
On the average, the total amount of greenhouse gases (GHGs like CO2, CO, Methane, etc) generated by the human actions (like breathing, sweating, flatulence, talking, defecation, etc) called the carbon footprint is around 4 tons. This means on the average, each person produces 4 tons of Carbon gases each day. This story is not a pleasant one and a target of a drop of 2 tons by 2050 to enable us avoid the 20C average rise in temperature which will be devastating, threatening our very existence. It means individual and corporate actions to be taken to safeguard our future existence and/or livelihood.
In accordance with our obligation as a member of the United Nations Framework Convention for Climate Change (UNFCCC) and a signatory to the Agreement reached at the 21st Conference of the Parties held at Paris in 2015 and adopted on December 12, 2015 African Union Agenda 2063, Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) White Paper on Energy Access and ECOWAS Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Policies, Ghana has set its own Intended Nationally Determined Contributions called the Gh-INDCs which are a set of action
plan, thirty-one in number, to help to either mitigate or adapt to the effects of climate change with the former having 20 action plans targeting the overall and drastic reduction of carbon emissions from industries, vehicles, homes and the general population. Such actions may include shift to renewable energy sources like solar, wind, geothermal, biogas among others. For instance, according to the Accra Climate Plan, a reduction of 27% and 46% of carbon emissions by 2030 and 2040 respectively is targeted by the Accra Metropolitan assembly.
The targets can be generally achieved by also tackling waste by the 3R approach—Reduce, Reuse and Recycle—and the concept of Segregation at Source to reintegrate the idea of, nothing is waste‟ into our culture, especially with the younger generation. The Green Ghana Campaign held on the 11th of June where about 5 million trees were planted across the length and breadth of the country is equally a very good path to take to have trees absorb the harmful gases we emit. It must be encouraged and the trees well nurtured to grow to their full potential and girth.
The adaptation plans, on one hand, also seek to improve the livelihood of citizens by targeting key areas of agriculture and food security, sustainable forest resource management, resilient infrastructure in built environment, health, water resources, as well as, gender and the vulnerable. The latter is very key as research has proven that women and children tend to be the most vulnerable to the impact of climate change, hence needing a more pragmatic approach to enable them adapt very well. For instance, for our women who live along the coast who subsist on fish mongering and sale of kenkey, they will be severely hit as the sea overflows its banks,
storms make fishing practically impossible and the unpredictable rains lead to shortage in maize production. So you see, climate change is a fight for all of us.
What Are We Doing?
The fight against climate change the world over is never cheap or easy, it requires a lot of political will and economic strength; two things which are often lacking in our side of the world. Yet, the Government of Ghana, through the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC) is bent on localizing the efforts through the Medium Term Development Plans of the various Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies, an action which requires the citizenry, especially the youth, acting as citizens and not spectators by contributing immensely to their development to ensure they have the required effects when drafted eventually.
We have made some progress since the establishment of the National Energy Board (NEB) under PNDC Law 62, 1983 whose responsibility was to promote the exploitation and development of the country‟s energy resources, particularly renewable energy sources. The total installed renewable energy capacity at the end of 2015 was about 1,602 MW which contributes to 43.8% of the total national installed electricity. At the end of the same year, more than 10 MWp of stand-alone solar PV systems have been installed in Ghana to power lighting, irrigation,
powering of computers for teaching and learning and vaccine refrigeration. All in all, over 70,000 solar lanterns had been disseminated. We have set some very ambitious targets for ourselves; increasing the proportion of renewable energy in the energy generation mix from 42.5 MW in 2015 to 1363.63 MW by 2030, provide renewable energy-based decentralized electrification options in 1,000 off-grid communities, reduce the dependence on non-renewable energy sources like coal and promote local content and local participation in the renewable energy industry. The Renewable Energy Master Plan (REMP) requires in itself a US$ 5.6 billion
investment which is targeted to come from the private sector with an annual injection of US$ 460
million over a 12-year period from 2019 to 2030.
Ghana’s INDCs
Ghana‟s INDCs require the mobilization of nearly US$ 22.6 billion from both domestic and international sources; US$ 6.3 billion sourced locally and US$ 16.3 billion from internal sources. We require US$ 9.81 billion to tackle our mitigation strategies whiles US$ 12.79 billion will be used to deal with our adaptation strategies.
The local sources highlighted include the national budget, corporate social responsibilities, Commercial Bank Facilities, Environmental Protection Agency‟s Environmental Fund, Renewable Energy Fund and the private sector. The Renewable Energy Act, 2011 (Act 832) stipulates the establishment of the Renewable Energy Fund which shall provide financial resources for the promotion, development, sustainable management and utilization of renewable energy sources. The adoption of the Renewable Energy Master Plan, together with the Renewable Energy Act, will give lots of support to the fight against climate change from the local front.
On the international front, funding could either be by bilateral or multilateral partnerships, private investments, philanthropists or the international market. The multilateral partnerships are usually through the multilateral development banks (the African Development Bank, the World Bank Group through the Special Climate Fund, Bio-Carbon Fund and the Climate Investment Fund), United Nations bodies (for instance the United Nations Development Programme/ United Nations Environment Programme, United Nations Fund for Populations/ Food and Agriculture Organization or International Fund for Agricultural Development) or Special Funds like the
Adaptation Fund, Global Environment Facility and Green Climate Fund.
The Global Environment Facility (GEF)
The GEF was established in 1991 and has provided more than US$ 21.5 billion in grants and mobilized an additional US$ 117 billion in co-financing for projects and programmes exceeding 5,000. It operates through its Small Grants Programmes (SGP) and has supported more than 25,000 civil societies and community initiatives in 135 countries, of which Ghana form a part. Since 1992, the facility has provided support for conservation and restoration of the environment in Ghana by funding over 100 projects addressing issues pertaining to biodiversity, climate change, international waters, land degradation, etc. It receives proposals from Civil Society
Organisations to address the aforementioned with grants not exceeding US$ 50,000 per project with an average grant size of US$ 27,500. Currently, proposals are being received with focus on biodiversity conservation, climate change abatement in the Northern savanna and small island communities, prevention of land degradation, reduction of the impact of Persistent Organic Pollutants activities and protection of international waters. The call for proposals is sent throughout the year.
Green Climate Fund
20th August 2020, United Nations Ghana website, headline reads “Green Climate Fund approves $54.5 million project to reduce deforestation and carbon emissions in Ghana”. The project, Ghana Shea Landscape Emission Reduction project, is to be implemented by the Forestry Commission and targeted at the Northern Savanna Zone of Ghana where desertification was rife. It is co-founded by the Green Climate Fund (GCF; US$ 30.1 million), the Government of Ghana ((US$ 15 million) and the private sector within the share value chain (US$ 9 million).
So what is the GCF?
In 2010, there was a global effort to set up a fund to enhance the green recovery plan by assisting developing countries to raise and realize their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) ambitions towards low-emissions, climate-resilient pathways. The establishment of the fund under the Cancún Agreements in 2010 has overseen 173 projects committing about US$8.4 billion, mostly from the developed worlds who are the worst culprits.
Ghana and the GCF Ghana is targeting 5% of its intended US$ 22.6 billion from the GCF with 9 out of the 17 tabled proposals approved. The GCF funding usually comes in the form of equity, loans, grants or guarantees demanding a robust process of submitting proposals through accredited fund managers. Currently, Ecobank Ghana stands alone as the only accredited entity which provides a large opportunity for financial institutions to seize. Ecobank currently oversees projects like Accelerated Solar Action (ASAP), Accra City Electric Bus Project and the Greater Accra Resilient and Integrated Development under the Ministry of Works and Housing.
The rigorous nature of the GCF process together with other hiccups like inadequate co-financing due to budget constraints, inadequate private sector cooperation, inadequate participation of financial institutions in climate-smart projects, delays in establishing the GCF, limited capacity in the country for developing proposals, inadequate consensus with stakeholders and a weak articulation of diplomatic channels have all hampered the progress of green funding in Ghana.
Climate Finance Track Record
We have a major beneficiary of climate action financing primary through the Reducing Emission
from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD or REDD+). Projects include;
Adaptation Fund (Operational in 2009 through the Adaptation Fund Board and targeting
adaptation).
Adaptation for Smallholder Agriculture Program (operational in 2012 through the International Fund for Agriculture Development, IFAD and targeting adaptation) Amazon Fund (Operational in 2009 through the Brazilian Development Bank and targeting adaptation) Clean Technology Fund (Operational in 2008 through the World Bank and targeting mitigation) Congo Basin Forest Fund (Operation in 2008 through the African Development Bank targeting mitigation) Forest Investment Program (Operational in 2009 through the World Bank and targeting mitigation) GEF Trust Fund (Operational in 1991 through the Global Environment Facility
targeting adaptation and mitigation) Global Climate Change Alliance (Operational in 2008 through the European
Commission and targeting adaptation and mitigation).
The Way Forward
Currently, Ghana is exploring the Green Bond and Carbon Market options. Corporate bodies, especially the financial institutions (the banks) are heretofore encouraged to increase their readiness, awareness and accessibility to the green funds which abound in recent years to enhance a smooth and green recovery from the pandemic. Just as managers of these funds are requiring the presence of climate-smart infrastructure with corporate bodies, it has become imperative for a greater awareness and more proactive approaches towards climate change especially in the aftermath of this pandemic.
The Government of Ghana is striving to create an enabling environment for the private sector to flourish creating enough revenue to support the green recovery agenda, as well as, the Ghana Beyond Aid. We all have to assist in this course by being more environmentally aware; employing the 3R approach, integrating the use of renewable sources of energy in our domestic and/or industrial setting, perpetuating the Green Ghana Project by investing in vigorous afforestation, private sector venturing into the manufacturing, sales and installation of RE
gadgets such as solar panels, solar lanterns, wind mills among others. There is also the need to improve on the capacities of stakeholders to be able to access green funds by venturing into climate smart projects and being more aware of the available opportunities in the finance markets. We can all be climate finance aware by probing into the Climfintracki software to ascertain how far we have come as a country, how much is going into
which project and how far it has gone. Remember, we are to be citizens and not spectators.
The writer, Kwabena Osei-Owusu, is a member of the Strategic Youth Network for Development’s policy team