By Edward Acquah
Accra, July 9, GNA – Ghana has commenced processes to review its climate action plans in compliance with its commitment to build resilience and reduce the impact of climate change in diverse sectors.
Known as the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), the review, which is in accordance with Article 4.2 of the Paris Agreement, will build on the current document (NDCs 2.0), and revise the existing targets to 2035.
Mrs. Ophelia Hayford, Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation (MESTI), on Tuesday, launched the NDCs Revision Process at a workshop in Accra to kickstart the review.
The process is spearheaded by MESTI, in collaboration with the Environmental Protection Agency with support from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
NDCs are targets and actions set by countries for mitigating the greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change and for adapting to climate impacts. The plans define how to reach the targets, and elaborate systems to monitor and verify progress so it stays on track.
Under the Paris Agreement, countries are required to submit their updated NDCs to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) every five years.
The last time Ghana updated its NDCs was in 2021, which means that the climate action plans must be reviewed by 2025 to reflect the country’s renewed commitment to the climate fight.
The current NDCs (2021-2030) cover 19 policy areas aimed to achieve absolute GHG emission reductions of 64 Metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent from 2021 to 2030.
In the next months, various working groups drawn from stakeholder organisations will work on different target areas and align key programmes and initiatives with the Sustainable Development Goals.
The review will also tackle key policy, technology, and financial gaps and address barriers identified with the action plans in the last updated NDCs.
The entire review process is expected to last for nine months, after which the finalised document is expected to be submitted to the UNFCC.
Mrs Hayford said Ghana had made significant progress in the implementation of the current NDCs, and rallied stakeholders to support the review process.
She said the country had achieved a greenhouse gas emission reduction of 29.3 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent per year through 13 mitigation actions across energy, forestry, waste, transport, and agriculture sectors.
“This represents a 43.4 per cent decline relative to the 2021 total national emissions,” the Minister added.
Mr Frederick Obeng Adom, the Deputy Minister of Transport, said the transport sector was among the key areas of focus in Ghana’s quest to reduce carbon emissions and called for innovative solutions to reduce the carbon footprint in the sector.
He said the National Transport Policy (2008) had been revised to reflect current opportunities and challenges, adding that the National Electric Vehicle Policy would provide a framework to phase out petrol and diesel vehicles by 2045.
Mr Peter Aidoo, Economist, UNRCO, in a speech on behalf of the UN Resident Coordinator, Mr Charles Abani, said the UN would offer a comprehensive strategy to support developing countries like Ghana in enhancing and implementing their NDCs.
He said the UNDP’s Climate Promise initiative had supported 85 per cent of developing countries in their initial NDC submissions and engaged in NDC implementation in nearly 150 countries.
“The UN through the Climate Promise is, therefore, supporting Ghana in its inception of the NDC 3.0 revision process, and positioning as one UN to further leverage funds under Climate Promise to support the revision as per the roadmap that will be adopted for the country’s pathway to increased ambition,” Mr Aidoo said.
GNA