By Christopher Arko, GNA
Accra, Oct.23, GNA – Dr Richard Munang, Director, United Nations University -Institute for Natural Resources in Africa (UNU-INRA) says fighting climate change in Africa should not only be looked at how many resources have come to combat it.
He said the focus should be on how climate change adaptation had worked for people and how their economic status had changed as a result of adapting to the changing climate.
Dr Munang was speaking at the African Technical Workshop on the Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA) Indicators in Accra intended to serve as training platform ahead of COP31.
The GGA workshop is a collaboration between UNU-INRA, UNU Global health, African Group of Negotiators and UNFCCC (Focus on Disaster Risk and Health).
The purpose of the workshop was to provide a practical, country-led platform for translating GGA indicators into national implementation.
Using Ghana as the pilot, participants will assess how national adaptation ambitions reflected in the NAP and relevant datasets align with the GGA targets and indicators.
The exercise will identify where the indicators are relevant and measurable, where data and institutional gaps remain, and where important national adaptation outcomes may not be fully captured.
In addition, Ghana will serve as the pilot country, providing a practical setting to test the indicators against a national adaptation framework while strengthening the capacity of African officials and negotiators.
The Ghana pilot will also provide practical lessons for officials from other African countries, helping to inform how the GGA indicators can be applied in different national contexts and support wider African engagement on GGA implementation in the lead-up to COP32.
Dr Munang explained that though developing countries received US$26 billion of international money for adaptation, they would need US$310 billion or more by 2035, saying that when this money comes it must protect people from climate challenges.
He highlighted five proposals, saying, without protecting people, we might not be able to adapt ourselves through the changing climate because adaptation is a changing process with no definitive end point.
He noted that when adaptation failed, the financial, operational, and human burdens fell directly on hospitals and healthcare systems.
“Instead of preventing disasters through early warning networks, infrastructure upgrades, and climate-resilient planning, societies are forced to pay a much heavier price of treating the physical consequences”.
Dr Munang announced the UNU-INRA intended to publish a report on the various promises made by rich countries starting at the Belem conference to triple resources for adaptation to 2025 and the Glasgow, Climate Pact promise which had failed to double adaptation finance to US40 billion per year by 2025.
He noted that climate change adaptation protected and increased personal income, offering economic returns that can put money back into people’s pockets. Rather than being a pure expense, investing in climate resilience generates dividends.
GNA
Edited by Linda Asante Agyei
23 October 2026
Reporter: Christopher Arko
Email: Christopher. [email protected]