Ghana committed to fight against climate change – Lands minister

The Minister of Lands and Natural Resources for Ghana, Mr. Samuel Abu Jinapor, has reaffirmed the nation’s staunch dedication to spearheading nature-based climate action in the fight against climate change and sustainability.

Mr. Jinapor, who currently holds the distinguished position of Co-Chair within the Forests and Climate Leaders Partnership (FCLP), emphasized the far-reaching and crippling consequences of the climate crisis, underscoring the pressing need for a collaborative, worldwide response to tackle its multifaceted challenges.

“And this is why Ghana is ready to partner with other nations, both north and south, to promote nature-based climate action,” he said.

Mr Jinapor stated this at the launch of the FCLP working group on Strengthening Supply and Demand of High-integrity Forest Carbon Credits at the maiden Africa Climate Summit (ACS) in Nairobi, Kenya yesterday.

The inaugural Africa Climate Week (ACW) is now underway, marking a significant milestone in the global climate agenda. This one-week event is part of a series of four regional climate summits taking place in the lead-up to the 28th Conference of Parties (COP28) organized by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

The ACW serves as a crucial precursor to Africa’s active involvement in COP28, scheduled to be held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE) later this year, in December.

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and 18 other African heads of state and leaders have converged on the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, for the ACS.

Aside from the African leaders, the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, and the President of the European Union Commission, Ursla Von der Leyen, are participating in the one-week summit.

The launch of the working group was attended by the United States Presidential Envoy on Climate and Co-Chair of the FCLP, John Kerry.

Mr Jinapor described the ACS as timely because it was the rallying point for the continent’s leaders to take urgent action and work together with other stakeholders to address the climate crisis.

He observed that forests, which contributed a third of global climate solutions, were crucial to attaining the 1.5 degrees Celsius target.

“The role of preserving, restoring and sustainably managing our forests has become paramount in our global mission to mitigate the far-reaching impacts of climate change,” he said.

Mr Jinapor added that as part of measures to facilitate the work of the FCLP, a working group, jointly led by Ghana, Gabon, Guyana and the United Kingdom, had been constituted to address High-integrity Forest Carbon Credit Supply and Demand issues.

The minister explained that the strategy would include mid-term actions to bolster high-integrity forest carbon finance and the announcement of forest carbon results-based finance transactions.

“Ghana will continue to play a lead role in this group and the broader FCLP, to accelerate nature-based climate action,” Mr Jinapor stated.