Ghana is now receiving payments from a World Bank trust fund for lowering emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, sometimes known as REDD+, following Mozambique.

Ghana received $4,862,280 from the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) of the World Bank for lowering 972,456 tonnes of carbon emissions during the program's first monitoring period (June to December 2019).

According to Pierre Laporte, Country Director for Ghana, Liberia, and Sierra Leone at the World Bank, "This payment is the first of four under the country's Emission Reductions Payment Agreement (ERPA) with the World Bank to demonstrate potential for leveraging results-based payments for carbon credits."

Ghana is eligible to earn up to $50 million for 10 million tonnes of CO2 emissions decreased by the end of 2024, subject to demonstrating outcomes from efforts taken to limit deforestation.

These activities take place inside a six million hectare area of the West African Guinean Forest, where small-scale mining, unsustainable cocoa harvesting, and other activities put strain on the forest's biodiversity. One of the 15 nations that have ERPAs in place with the World Bank is Ghana.

According to Samuel A. Jinapor, Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, "the many years of discourse, consultations, and negotiations with local people, traditional authorities, government agencies, business sector, CSOs, and NGOs have paid off." This emission reductions payout will increase trust in Ghana's REDD+ mechanism for reducing deforestation, according to the statement.

Ghana is dedicated to making it feasible. Without healthy standing forests, the path to global 1.5 degrees cannot be attained.

The second-largest cocoa producer in the world is Ghana. Although cocoa is a major economic driver, it is also one of the main sources of deforestation and forest degradation in the country's southeast and west. Instead of slash-and-burn land clearance methods that destroy trees, stakeholders are cooperating to assist over 140,000 Ghanaian farmers enhance cocoa output using climate-smart agroforestry practises.

A more sustainable cocoa industry helps communities gain more stable revenue streams and prevents the development of cocoa crops into forest lands.

Some of the most significant cocoa and chocolate firms in the world, including members of the World Cocoa Foundation like Mondelez International, Olam, Touton, and others, as well as Ghana's Cocoa Board, take part in the REDD+ initiative. In addition to bringing about change in the cocoa industry, their joint efforts are assisting Ghana in meeting its obligations to reduce its national emissions under the Paris Agreement.

This degree of cooperation is also evident in the benefit-sharing arrangement that Ghana's ERPA with the World Bank is based on. The strategy, which was developed after extensive talks with local stakeholders and civil society groups nationwide, makes sure that each participating stakeholder is adequately acknowledged and rewarded for their contribution to lowering emissions.

Meet the Author

View Profile

---

Emmanuel Amoabeng Gyebi

Blogger

follow me