By
Yaw Ansah/Justina Addo, GNA
Accra, Feb. 26, GNA –
Ghana is aspiring to host the 27th United Nations Climate Change
Conference (COP27) where states that are Parties to the Climate Convention,
meet to review the implementation of the Convention and take decisions.
In pursuant to the
desire, the country has verbally informed the secretariat of the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change of its intentions.
Mr Peter Dery, the
Acting Director of Environment at the Ministry of Environment, Science,
Technology, and Innovation (MESTI), who announced this at a press briefing
session of COP25 outcome, said the secretariat had asked Ghana to send a formal
application.
He stated that other
steps Ghana would commence soon were the sourcing for funding for the hosting
and the negotiation with the African bloc to solicit for their support.
Talking about the
country’s participation and outcomes, Mr Dery said apart from the technical
group contributing to the main negotiations, a number of bilateral deals were
made to support the implementation of the National Determined Adaptation
Commitments actions.
He said Ghana had
secured funding from the government of Switzerland and France to pilot a
renewable energy project that would earn Ghana $20 million a year and another
two million dollar climate change adaptation projects to focus on rainwater
harvesting.
The team also locked
a grant of five million dollars from the government of Korea to undertake a
cook stove project.
Ghana, he said had
also been given the opportunity to host the Africa Youth Climate Change Academy
to train negotiators and advocates.
Mr John Pwamang, the
Acting Executive Director of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), said
COP25 was the last meeting for the global community to actually plan for the
implementation of the Paris Agreement, which came out of the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change with principles that the world had to
use to ensure the Agreement was implemented.
He described Ghana’s
participation as very critical because the country, as part of the global
community, needed to be part of the global negotiations expected to come out
with the implementation plan for the Paris Agreement, which would roll out in
2020.
“All the critical
sectors in Ghana, made up of Transport, Energy, Agriculture, Environment, among
others are all are presented at the COPto ensure that all the nation’s
implementation interest were taken into considerations at the global
conference,” he explained.
According to Mr
Pwamang, “when Ghana enter 2020, the 10 year period between 2020 and 2030, we
can also make an impact in trying to get our NDCs fully implemented to ensure
that we also meet the provisions of the Paris Agreement, and ensure that we
develop as a country”.
Mrs Angelina Tutuah
Mensah, Chief Programme Officer at the EPA, giving a briefing of the Responds
Measures said Ghana was to develop a labour plan that would identify sectors
that would be critically affected by climate issues.
“There are issues
that are arising from the implementation of mitigation policies and actions
taken by Parties under the Convention, the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris
Agreement, and how these mitigation policies/actions could have
“in-jurisdiction” and “out-of-jurisdiction” or cross-border impacts,’ she said.
Mrs Mensah said
there was an urgent need to assess, analyze, address and report these
cross-border environmental, social and economic impacts.
“If all European
countries switched to the use of electrical vehicles what will be the
consequences of this development on Ghana’s transport sector and also mechanics
as well as their work,” she added.
Mrs Mensah said the
impacts could be positive or negative; therefore, the Convention, the Kyoto
Protocol, and the Paris Agreement seek to minimize the negative and maximize
the positive impacts of implementation of mitigation policies and actions.
GNA