As climate change continues to present a growing threat to the agricultural sector, access to climate finance is proving to be increasingly vital for the sector to survive and also to adapt to the impacts of climate change and reduce its carbon footprint.
The Deputy Director and Special Advisor of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Advisory Unit of the President’s Office, Dr Felix Addo-Yobo, stated this at a workshop on climate finance access for the agriculture sector by the SDGs Advisory Unit, in collaboration with the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) in Accra on Wednesday.
He said the need to access climate finance was critical to enable the sector to develop and implement strategies, technologies and practices that would help farmers to cope with the effects of climate change, reduce emissions and increase resilience.
According to him, the workshop was intended to bring together stakeholders from the public and private sectors to identify and discuss the barriers to accessing climate finance and develop strategies to address the challenges.
Dr Addo-Yobo noted that the government had agreed to be part of the GGGI and was in the process of becoming a full-fledged member.
“The country will benefit from the organisation’s experience and expertise in supporting member countries to transition to low-carbon and climate-resilient development pathways,” he added.
The Chief Economics Officer of the Ministry of Finance, Mrs Adwoa Fraikue, stressed that the mobilisation of financial resources is fundamental to ensuring that Ghana can address the many challenges associated with its adaptation and mitigation actions.
She announced that Ghana’s National Determined Contributions (NDCs) has been updated to reflect its ambition of reducing emissions, taking into account domestic circumstance and capability.
“It is estimated that Ghana shall require between USD 9.3 billion to USD 15.5 to implement the ambitious programmes outlined in the updated NDCs documents.
“Out of the total amount, USD 3.9 billion would be required to implement the 16 unconditional programmes over the next seven years,” she added.
She expressed hope that the collaboration with the GGGI would help promote sustainable growth while addressing the challenges posed by climate change without compromising financial returns.
On his part, the GGGI Head and Regional Director for Africa, Dr Malle Fofana, expressed the hope that the workshop would help bridge the gap between the finance and agricultural sectors and stimulate new partnerships and initiatives to increase access to climate finance.
He said the GGGI Green Investment Services and Climate Finance practice aimed to support partner states in mobilising finance needed for meeting their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) for sectors like agriculture and green targets.
Participants were drawn from the SDGs Advisory Unit, the ministries of Finance and Food and Agriculture, climate change-related agencies, the Agricultural Development Bank, the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, the Cocoa Research Institute, and other relevant institutions.
Richard Aniagyei, ISD
