It will ensure communities can afford alternatives to enable them buffer against climate change. The targeted implementation of Ghana’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), provides a strategic pathway of building this resilience. And this, we urgently need to explore.

In Ghana, increasing disease prevalence with the changing climate means average malaria care costs will consume up to 30% of poor households’ income. In agriculture, a major economic sector that employs two-thirds of Ghanaians, and accounts for about a third of national income and export earnings, yields decline of up to 18% are attributable to climate change. Due to compounding climate change, Ghana’s overall GDP will decline by up-to 1.5% by 2050.

Ghana’s vulnerability is driven primarily by the relatively low levels of socioeconomic development. In some regions of Ghana, over 70% of people still live below the poverty line. In some two districts, as many as 9 out of 10 people, live below the poverty line. 48% of youth between age 15- 24 years have no jobs – only about 10% of graduates who enter the labour market secure jobs within the first year of graduating. These populations are unable to afford the goods and services they need to buffer against the worse of the changing climate effects. This underpins vulnerability of the country. This interconnection between vulnerability and socioeconomic development is inseparable. This is the context of Ghana’s NDCs, that will be explored.

Ghana joined the rest of the countries in Africa and the globe, in ratifying the Paris Climate Change Agreement. They were among the first. By this, they turned their good intentions to act against climate change, into globally accountable commitments. But even more remarkable, is the business unusual commitments captured in these NDCs. Ghana’s NDCs are framed in the context of enabling realisation of their socioeconomic development priorities – key amongst them, food security, creation of income, job & enterprise opportunities for youth and the entire population, and expansion of macroeconomic growth.

Through its conditional and unconditional NDCs, Ghana aims to balance both mitigation and adaptation actions with realisation of its leading socioeconomic priorities. Among key ones highlighted include - creating thousands of jobs, driving food security - including through integration of agro- processing enterprises, reversing degradation, reducing deforestation and enhancing its biodiversity. 

The country also aims to reduce pollution – including indoor pollution, mitigate .The country also aims to reduce pollution – including indoor pollution, mitigate emissions, enhance energy security leveraging renewable sources – among key priorities. These priorities align with goals set forth in the Ghana’s long-term National Development Plan 2018-2057. A plan set to convert Ghana into a high-income, socioeconomically inclusive and environmentally sustainable country. The NDCs action project, is aligned to deliver on this paradigm. It is founded on three core principles: country ownership; balanced focus on adaptation and mitigation; and the integration of national development and climate change priorities on how this strategic approach of the project can deliver optimally for Ghana.

This hinges on establishing ambitious & attractive investment pathways, that will attract financing from both state and non-state sources to accelerate optimal implementation of Ghana’s NDCs. According to the latest analysis - including from the 2019 UNEP emissions gap report, Ghana is required to implement ambitious NDC actions. Actions that will move the needle towards seeing the cumulative global ambition increase by three to five times. Doing so while maximising on the socioeconomic aspects, is the gap this project will need to fill. And for this, there is the need to prioritise the following key aspects in informing Ghana’s NDCs implementation investments;

The big question is – in this era of global competition, which sectors offer Ghana the most comparative advantage, the shortest route to achieve this. This strategic direction question, was reflected at the highest level of government during the President’s State of the Nation Address to Parliament in February of 2018. This address coincided with entry of the long-term development vision of Ghana. Accordingly, the elevation of agriculture as a critical primary sector, set on a pedestal to actualize industrialization, processing & manufacturing and drive inclusive, competitive growth, was a hallmark of this address. The NDCs prioritise land-based actions that align with this approach.

Unconditional NDCs for instance prioritise climate resilient agriculture in vulnerable landscapes. Here, upscaling conservation agriculture and climate smart agriculture approaches by up to 10% are key priority actions. They also prioritise value-addition based utilization of forest resources – where up to 413,000ha of forest are earmarked. Promotion of sustainable utilisation of forest resources is another unconditional priority area where continuation of reforestation programmes of 10,000ha per year is on the cards.

On the conditional side, the country aims to expand adoption of market-based cleaner cooking solutions – including scaling up access and adoption of 2 million efficient cook stoves by 2030. The country also aims to scale up renewable energy penetration by 10% by 2030. These are among action out of which the country aims to enhance food security, create jobs, reduce indoor pollution and enhance health, reduce domestic energy costs, to increase disposable incomes of families among leading socioeconomic benefits. The NDCs implementation investment plans we support Ghana develop cannot miss out on this critical integration of delivering the country’s socioeconomic priorities.

Divesting from sectorial silos through intersectoral policy coherence. Ensuring NDCs drive the above socioeconomic aspects means we cannot look at sectors in isolation – but in complementarity.Forexample,thecountryaimstoleverage on clean cooking subsector to deliver jobs & incomes through manufacture of stoves & value addition, enhance health through reduction of pollution and increase household disposable incomes through reduction of domestic energy options.All this while maintaining its forest sinks to drive mitigation and preventing degradation to enhance resilience of its agricultural lands. Delivering such an integrated solution calls for collaboration across different sectors – at the minimum, environment / forestry, energy, agriculture and planning. 

Read more from the attached publication.

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