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Ghana today signed bilateral agreements with Singapore and Sweden on the cooperative approaches of the Paris Agreement -a legally binding international treaty on climate change to life.
The bilateral agreements, which will be the third for Ghana, sets the framework conditions for the cooperation and catalyse private sector investment into Ghana’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).
These new partnerships will enable the adoption of green and low carbon technology solutions as well as create jobs, across the country, resulting in a plethora of social and environmental benefits.
Madam Ophelia Mensah Hayford, the Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, signed the pact on behalf of Ghana while Madam Grace Fu, the Singaporean Minister of Sustainability and Environment signed for her country.
Mr Robert Andren, the Director General of the Swedish Energy Agency, signed the pact on behalf of Sweden.
The signing will trigger the ratification process and operationalisation of the Agreement, which include the setting out of a legally binding framework and processes for the generation and international transfer of carbon credits from Ghana to Sweden and Singapore, aligned with Article 6 of the Paris Agreement.
Madam Hayford noted that the agreements would be implemented for six years with the possibility of extension for which the total emission reduction required was open-ended and based on the availability of Internationally Transferred Mitigation Outcomes (ITMOs) for exchange.
She stated that the implementation of the pacts would lead to positive socio-economic, environmental and financial benefits to both countries.
Negotiations between Ghana and the two countries began in 2020 aimed at relying on Article 6 of the Paris Agreement to implement the NDCs.
Madam Hayford said the Cabinet approved the agreement in 2023 and was followed by Parliamentary ratification in February, 2024.
She noted that the agreement would be implemented through the private sector, with the government playing a facilitative and coordination role.
Madam Fu expressed joy at the completion of the signing and said a trade mission from Singapore would visit Ghana in July 2024 to engage potential project developers.
She said many Singaporean companies had started exploring project opportunities in Ghana that would benefit biodiversity and local communities.
“We are opening up a new source of finance for projects and this is a good time,” she said.
The agreement would pave the way for AJA Climate Solutions’s interest to partner with other companies to invest in a landscape restoration project in Ghana.
They would be looking at restoring degraded and deforested landscapes in the Kwahu area, while enhancing the lives and livelihoods of local communities.
Ghana has already established a Carbon Market Office (CMO), a secretariat to provide administrative and technical services to the general public and support the implementation of the Ghana international carbon market and non-market approaches framework.
The EPA’s Climate Change Unit hosts the CMO and shall perform the functions assigned to under the framework, including implementing the policies, rules, and guidance on transactions, by providing targeted supports for mitigation activity sourcing and matchmaking, activity development services, MRV and accounting, registry operations, creation, and transfer of ITMOs, reporting & corresponding adjustment.
The CMO was established under Ghana’s carbon market framework and mandated under the EPA Act490.
Source: GNA
Emmanuel Ameyaw
