Ghana can pursue its development objectives while considering the challenges of climate change and the opportunities from its transition following the launch of the World Bank Group Country Climate change report on the country.
Speaking at the launch of the report on Tuesday, 1st November 2022, the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel A. Jinapor said, the launch was timely, coming at the time preparations are being wrapped up for the COP27 climate change event at Sharm El-Sheikh in Egypt.
He said climate change has been identified as the most significant threat to sustainable development, dragging millions of people into poverty, adding “if we are to achieve sustainable development goals, then we must tackle climate change head-on”.
The Lands Minister who joined the World Bank Country Director, Mr Pierre Laporte, to launch the first Ghana Country Climate and Development Report, underscored the nexus between climate change and development, and the need to tackle climate change as a catalyst for sustainable development.
Mr Jinapor further stated that the President Akufo-Addo-led government is committed through programmes such as the Green Ghana Project, the Ghana REDD+ Strategy, the Forest Investment Programme, the Cocoa and Forest Initiative, as well as the Ghana Landscape Restoration and Small Scale Mining Project, to address the drivers of deforestation, restore our lost forest cover and contribution global climate action.
On his part, the World Bank Country Director, Mr Pierre Laporte for Ghana, Liberia and Sierra Leone said the bank was already supporting Ghana to address climate change and build resilience.
The Minister for Finance, Mr Ken Ofori-Atta, said 20% of the wealth of vulnerable countries had been eroded, adding: “so we are at a crucial point in which those who have contributed least to this Scourge that we are facing are going to have to be responsible to pay for it”.
The Ghana report is the second to be launched in Africa, after that on Rwanda.
