Ghana gets first Clean Development Mechanism project

Ghana has registered its first Clean Development Mechanism project to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the country.

The project, undertaken by Zoomlion Ghana Limited and supported by the Standard Bank Group, involves composting of municipal solid waste in the Accra area.

It also features the largest sorting and composting facility of West Africa that is able to process 300 tonnes of waste per day in its first year of operation and 600 tonnes per day in subsequent years.

In a statement June 19, 2012, the South African-based lender said the plant which was inaugurated earlier in 2012 “will start to produce and sell compost for agricultural, horticultural and landscaping activities in the next few weeks”.

The Standard Bank Group funded the CDM registration process, which was completed by Ecosur Afrique, the leading advisory and brokerage group operating in carbon markets across Africa.

Geoff Sinclair, Head of Climate Finance at the Bank said “We are proud to be supporting the first registered project in Ghana, and working with Zoomlion on this project is another tangible sign of our commitment to CDM and growth throughout the continent. We congratulate Zoomlion and Ecosur Afrique for this achievement.”

To date, 4,225 projects have been registered by the CDM Executive Board – mainly in China, India and Brazil, according to the Bank.

In 2011, the amount of transactions in carbon markets was estimated at $176 billion.

By Ekow Quandzie