Ghana has announced an enhanced and updated nationally determined contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement from 2020 to 2030, considering its unique circumstances.
The update, in line with Article 4 of the Paris Agreement and UNFCCC, affirms the country’s resolve to address the impacts of climate change on the country’s economy and its vulnerable people.
The update covers 19 policy areas and translates into 47 adaptation and mitigation programmes of action.
The 47 climate actions are expected to build the resilience of over 38 million people, generate absolute greenhouse gas emission reductions of 64 MtCO2e, create over one million jobs, avoid 2,900 deaths due to improved air quality by 2030.
According to President Akufo-Addo, if no rapid action is taken to address climate change and its negative impacts now, the future cost will be prohibitive and counterproductive to the socio-economic gains made today.
Therefore, responding to climate change issues is top on the national development agenda.
“That is why Ghana committed to implementing thirty-one mitigation and adaptation actions across seven economic sectors in its nationally determined contribution to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 2015,” he said in the revised document to the UNFCCC.
Financing Ghana’s NDC
Ghana requires between $9.3 and $15.5 billion of investment to implement the 47 nationally determined contribution measures from 2020 to 2030.
The country needs $3.9 billion to implement the 16 unconditional programmes of action till 2030.
The remaining $5.4 billion for the 31 conditional programmes of action would be mobilised from the public, international, and private sector sources and carbon markets.
Ghana will need an additional $3 million biennially to support coordination actions and the regular international reporting of the nationally determined contribution.
Implementation of policy actions
The 19 policy actions that have the potential to maximise the synergies between adaptation and economic diversification, resulting in mitigation co-benefits, will lead to the following outcomes in the long term:
• Accelerate sustainable energy transition
• Build resilient economies and societies
• Enhance early warning and disaster risk management
• Enhance landscape restoration
• Ensure responsible production and consumption
• Foster social inclusion focusing on youth and women
• Provide smart and safe communities
The Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation will work with relevant sector institutions and stakeholders to implement the nationally determined contribution to accelerate development efforts and enhance the well-being of our people.
“It is my cherished hope that the Updated Nationally Determined Contribution will serve as a blueprint for transitioning into a climate-resilient low carbon economy that will accelerate our development efforts and enhance the well-being of our people without sacrificing the quality of the environment and its resources,” said the President.
By Kofi Adu Domfeh
