Seidu Issifu speaking in at the High-Level Ministerial of COP30 in Belém, Brazil
At the High-Level Ministerial of COP30 in Belém, Brazil, on November 17, 2025, Ghana’s Minister of State for Climate Change and Sustainability, Seidu Issifu, delivered what is now widely regarded as one of Ghana’s strongest and most scientifically grounded climate arguments on the global stage.
His address — delivered in the Amazon, the world’s largest tropical rainforest and Earth’s most critical carbon sink — positioned Ghana not just as a victim of climate impacts, but as a nation committed to transition, science-based policy, and a fair global energy future.
The minister opened his remarks by conveying the goodwill of John Dramani Mahama, President of the Republic of Ghana, acknowledging the significance of COP30 being hosted in the Amazon, a biome responsible for stabilising the global climate system.
Issifu emphasised that Ghana recognises the Amazon as a global climate regulator, essential for biodiversity, carbon sequestration, and climate adaptation — making COP30 a timely platform for urgent, evidence-based climate commitments.
Climate Impacts Quantified: A Reality Already Measured in Lives and Losses
Referencing Ghana’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), Issifu stressed that climate change is not a theoretical projection but a documented reality.
In his speech, he outlined specific national impact indicators:
• 2,900 climate-related deaths annually — linked to disease, heat stress, vector-borne infections, and water contamination. • USD $100 million in annual national expenditure on climate-induced disasters, including coastal erosion, floods, and drought relief.
These data points, as highlighted by the Minister, demonstrate that Ghana is already paying the financial and human cost of global warming.
“We do not have time to sit while our planet burns,” he stated, calling for science-led mitigation pathways and urgent adaptation financing.
Forests, Biodiversity, and Ecological Stability Under Threat
A core scientific component of Issifu’s address referenced the escalating degradation of the Upper Guinean Forest ecosystem, one of West Africa’s most biologically rich ecozones.
According to the minister, declining rainfall and prolonged drought cycles are destabilising species populations — particularly primates, birds, and reptile species already classified as endangered.
His speech highlighted two critical implications:
1. Loss of genetic diversity, weakening resilience to disease and climatic shifts. 2. Socio-economic fragility, particularly for forest-adjacent communities whose livelihoods depend on agro-forestry, eco-tourism, and medicinal plant biodiversity.
Climate change is therefore both ecological and developmental — a dual vulnerability the minister urged global partners to address.
Energy Transition as Policy — Not Rhetoric
In his address, Seidu Issifu affirmed that Ghana has moved beyond agenda-setting into implementation mode.
He referenced Ghana’s Energy Transition Framework to achieve net-zero emissions by 2060, built on diversified energy modelling and cross-sector decarbonisation.
Ghana’s technical energy pathway, as outlined in the speech, includes:
Energy Source Strategic Role Transition Benefit
Solar + Wind Scalable, rural expansion
Reduces grid pressure, improves energy access
Nuclear Power Baseline power stability
Enables industrialisation while lowering emissions
Natural Gas Transitional fuel
Supports phased reduction of oil dependency
Green Innovation
R&D, storage, hydrogen Positions Ghana competitively in future energy markets
“Though we possess oil and gas, the future belongs to low-carbon power,” the Minister stated, signalling Ghana’s readiness to lead — but also emphasising that leadership requires financing and technology transfer.
Climate Justice Framed Technically: CBDR and Adaptation Finance
Throughout the speech, Issifu reiterated the principle of Common but Differentiated Responsibilities (CBDR), grounding it not as a political demand but as a technical equity parameter.
Ghana and many African nations are already funding adaptation without proportional contribution to global emissions.
Adaptation financing, he argued, is not charitable assistance but correctional allocation — necessary for global climate stability.
A Human-Indexed Climate Equation
The minister closed with what was arguably the most striking framing of the climate emergency — a reminder that climate impact is not molecular, but human.
He named communities as measurement units:
• The child in Gambaga, endangered by intensifying heat. • The elderly woman in Wa, displaced by drought and food scarcity. • The family in Keta, rebuilding each year as the coastline falls to the sea.
This was the core of his message — climate metrics are lived realities. They breathe.
Conclusion: Ghana Has Spoken — The World Must Respond
Seidu Issifu’s COP30 address placed Ghana at the centre of technical climate policy discourse — blending data, vulnerability science, energy transition modelling, and a justice-based financing argument.
The speech asserts that while Ghana is acting, no nation can transition alone.
His final call to the world remains Ghana’s position: Action must be collaborative. Action must be now.
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