Ghana strives to mobilise $22b climate finance for NDCs
Ghana intends to mobilize $22.6 billion investment over a 10-year period, from 2020-2030 to implement its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) in fulling its obligation towards the Paris Climate Agreement.
The country’s NDCs reflects its ambition for reducing emissions, taking into account its domestic circumstance and capability.
Ghana now has 47 updated mitigation and adaptation programmes of action, covering 19 policy areas to be implemented from 2021 to 2030.
The country is mobilising the funds from both domestic and international public and private sources. Out of the $22.6 billion projected amount needed, $3.8 billion is expected from the private sector alone.
Again, we are expecting about $8.5 billion from corporate social responsibility, commercial facilities and the international carbon market, which are all full of private sector actors, Mrs Adwoa Faikue, Principal Economics Officer, Ministry of Finance, said at a Private Sector Climate Change Investment forum held in Accra.
“So in all, we are expecting about $12.3 billion from the private sector actors, which is about 54 per cent of the total amount required. This shows how important the private sector is to the achievement of our climate target,” she stated.
Mrs Faikue represented Dr. Alhassan Iddrisu, the Focal Point of the GCF/ National Designated Authority (NDA) of the Green Climate Finance, who is also the Director of the Economic Strategy and Research Division, Ministry of Finance, at the two-day forum.
The theme for the forum was: “Empowering the Private Sector as a key Partner in achieving Ghana’s NDCs in the Era of COVID-19 and beyond,” and was attended by some international and development-oriented organisations, government agencies, civil societies and academia, who participated both in person and through virtual means.
The Private Enterprises Federation (PEF), in collaboration with the Ministries of Finance and Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) under the Global Climate Finance Readiness Programme and the NDCs Support Programme, hosted the forum.
Through the forum, private sector players were provided the platform to explore the opportunities and risks to climate change investment and to identify possible concrete actions that could be taken forward to overcome key barriers, particularly in the era of COVID-19.
Mrs Faikue explained that Government recognized the important role the private sector play in the achievement of Ghana’s NDCs target and the national developmental agenda, and therefore, was ready to empower the private sector as a key partner in achieving the NDCs.
The government was also ensuring transparency, as well as creating the enabling environment that could reduce or transfer investor risks and attract private sector investment for Climate Change priority actions.
Mrs Faikue indicated that the Government also creating awareness of the investment opportunities the NDCs present, and that one of such awareness creation was what had brought about the climate investment forum.
She, however, noted that despite the negative impact of climate change, it also had been seen as the greatest investment opportunity in history, valuing at over 10 per cent of global GDP.
She urged the private sector players to embrace opportunities created by the state and be able to support the implementation of the NDCs successfully.
“It is the vision of Government to partner the private sector for development, Mrs Faikue added.
The main thrust of the private sector development policy is to establish Ghana as the most business-friendly country in Africa and to create a globally competitive private sector environment, “she said.
Source: GNA