Green growth key to keep Ghana’s economy robust – World Bank
The World Bank believes that embracing green growth will make the Ghanaian economy robustly expand and will ensure proper stewardship of the environment.
According to the Bank, the combination of the two benefits will provide a win-win situation for the country.
“Only by greening growth, can Ghana achieve what were formerly understood to be competing goals: robust economic expansion and proper stewardship of the environment,” Ms. Coleen Littlejohn, World Bank Acting Country Manager announced last week when she indicated the Bank’s intention to set up a Climate Innovation Center in Ghana which will support domestic climate technology industries by addressing locally relevant barriers to climate technology transfer, development and deployment by the private sector development.
Recent research from the World Bank and others increasingly shows that strong economic growth can be combined with sustainable management of natural resources in order to promote shared prosperity and reduce poverty.
According to Ms. Littlejohn, climate change is bringing new challenges to Ghana’s growth and natural resources. “This is because a significant part of Ghana’s economic activity is dependent on climate sensitive sectors such as agriculture, fisheries, tourism, and forestry,” she said.
These vulnerable sectors, Ms. Littlejohn added support a large share of employment and livelihoods for Ghana’s rural poor.
Giving an example, she said the changing climate is expected to adversely affect crop yields leading to a decline in agricultural GDP of 3-8% in the medium to long term.
Ms Littlejohn hinted that climate change in Ghana is “also a key aspect of the World Bank’s upcoming Country Partnership Strategy” which will be discussed by the Bank’s Board of Directors come September 19, 2013.
She stated that there is an opportunity to use technology and innovation to steer future economic gains towards a greener growth in Ghana.
“It is clear that new technologies and innovation will be essential to reduce the long-term cost of climate change and support competitiveness in Ghana,” Ms. Littlejohn said.
Capitalizing on clean technologies, Ms. Littlejohn stated that Ghana can strengthen its resilience to climate change while also building its competitiveness in clean technology markets and industries.
By Ekow Quandzie