An INDC is a government's
proposed 'contribution' to the United Nations as to what it will do about
climate change. It
is both a political and technical task because the information included in governments’
INDCs will serve as building blocks of the Paris climate agreement.
Countries that fail to submit their INDCs will miss out
of the synthesis report and the seriousness of the country in the negotiation
process would be questioned.
The Ghana Agenda for INDCs is spearheaded by the
Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation (MESTI).
Peter Justice Derry, Deputy Director, Climate Change at
the Ministry, says there would be “back-to-back meetings” of stakeholders in
the final days ahead to meet the deadline.
“We are worried [because] we want to see ourselves in
that synthesis report and so we must make sure that we meet the deadline or
else we miss out,” he told a national Forum on the INDCs, organized by the
Ghana Climate Change Coalition (GCCC) in collaboration with the Pan African
Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA) and Abantu for Development.
The forum is part of efforts towards enhanced CSOs
action in the climate change discourse and the INDCs in Ghana.
“The role of civil society organizations cannot be
under-played because all over the world when there has been concrete change;
change that has actually benefited citizens, it has been from the push and
campaign of civil society,” said Dr. Rose Mensah-Kutin of the GCCC.
Seven African countries have so far submitted their
INDCs – Gabon, Morocco, Ethiopia, Kenya, Benin, Djibouti and DRC.
The position of the Global Campaign is that INDCs
should be comprehensive and address all elements of the climate crisis –
including the need for transfers, the necessity of adaptation, and the rights
of impacted people.
According to Patience Damptey, a member of the African
Group of Negotiators and Convener of Gender Action on Climate Change for
Equality and Sustainability (GACCESS), adaptation is included in all the INDCs
from African countries.
She says actions to be undertaken in Ghana’s INDCs from
2020 to 2030 would be on four strategic areas – agriculture and food security;
climate resilient strategic infrastructure; equitable social development; and
sustainable natural resource management.
Ghana, as a member of the Conference of Parties (COP)
and signatory to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
needs to internalize the signed convention.
“We need to carry out obligations in-country to
domesticate the objectives of the convention,” noted Mr. Derry.
Ghana launched its National Climate Change Policy
(NCCP) in July 2014 with a Vision to “ensure a climate-resilient and climate compatible
economy while achieving sustainable development through equitable low carbon
economic growth for Ghana”.
A strategy has also been developed outlining the
necessary actions needed to be undertaken to meet the aspirations and
objectives of the Policy.
The INDCs therefore provide an opportunity to set
standards for Ghana in the implementation of the NCCP.
Ghana’s INDCs are focused on both mitigation and
adaptation, whilst the basis of implementation is based on conditional – what
the country can do with external support; and unconditional – what the country
can do without external support.
There is a proposed conditional 35percent emission reduction
target by 2030.
Civil society is however not enthused at the pace in
preparing Ghana’s INDCs and is keeping a critical eye on the country’s
submission timelines.
“I am not happy with the process,” stated Dr. Mensah-Kutin.
“I think the timelines are too tight but we are hopeful; we have to be able to
submit because in the summary if your voice is not there, then we are unable to
access the opportunities that are in there”.
According to Mr. Derry, financial constraints in
accessing technical assistance delayed the text preparation because Ghana
resisted attempts by development partners to engage external consultants in
preparing the INDCs.
He is however excited that the country is utilizing
internal capacity to prepare home-grown INDCs.
“We are not going to give our watches to anybody to
look at it and tell us our time,” stated Mr. Derry. “We have a Made-In-Ghana
INDCs and not an INDC that has been superimposed on us; so be rest assured that
the INDCs that are being prepared are prepared by Ghanaians, for Ghanaians and
would be implemented by Ghanaians”.
Story by Kofi Adu Domfeh
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