Ghana deploys nature-based solutions to tackle climate change

Ghana has deployed nature-based solutions to tackle climate change in the forestry sector as part of effort towards achieving its climate action strategies.

To this end, Ghana has placed a ban on illegal mining and took necessary steps to reverse destroyed water bodies, vegetation and forests.

A released issued by the Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation and copied to the Ghana News Agency on Wednesday, said in addition, some 60,000 young people have been employed to help restore degraded lands, and have, so far, planted 24 million trees covering an area of 190,000 hectares.

It said this was disclosed by Roselyn Fosuah Adjei, Director, Climate Change and National REDD+ Coordinator at the Forestry Commission at a side event organized by Ghana with support from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) at the ongoing Climate Change Conference in Spain.

“Ghana developed an ambitious sub-national emission reduction programme covering the 5.9 million hectare cocoa-forests mosaic landscape in the southern half of the country. Ghana expects to generate about 598.2 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalents in emission reductions, over the life of its REDD+ programme,” she said.

According to her, the UNDP is currently supporting the Forestry commission to replicate a REDD+ programme in Shea landscape of Ghana adding, “this will form a major part of Ghana’s contribution to global efforts to close the ambition gap before and after 2020.”

Since the ratification of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change continues to be on top of the National Development Agenda of Ghana.

REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation Plus), is an international initiative that seeks to provide incentives to forest nations to sustainably manage forest to protect the global climate and support the well-being forest dependent communities.

As part of efforts to contribute to reducing global warming, Ghana has made enormous strides in the implementation of REDD+.