Hon Alhassan Suhuyini, Member of Parliament for the Tamale North Constituency, has alleged that Ghana has made over $1.3 billion from climate change negotiations in the last six years.

As one of the country’s delegates to the Conference of Parties (COP27) negotiations in Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt, he commended the preparations and organization of the Ghana Negotiation Team.

“In the last six years, we have made about $1.3 billion from climate change negotiations.”
Hon Alhassan

Speaking in an interview, the MP called on African countries that receive monies that are meant for climate mitigation to be used for the right courses and be accountable to the donor countries.

However, he questioned the viability and evidence of the monies the country has earned from such conferences and negotiations in the past years.“With these monies, shouldn’t we be seeing more projects?”, he asked.

Hon Alhassan further criticized President Akufo Addo’s proposal to richer nations to swap African nations’ debts for climate interventions when Ghana and other climate-vulnerable countries do not have major climate adaptative projects to show for the monies received so far.

Hon Alhassan Suhuyini described the call as a good one, but said, “we must also ask ourselves why we are in this debt cycle situation”.

A few years ago, Africa championed the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative which saw the cancellation of our debt and less than a decade ago,we are asking for debt forgiveness again.

Negotiators at COP27 reach tentative deal on loss and damage

Negotiators at the UN’s COP27 climate summit have reached a tentative agreement to establish a loss and damage funds for nations vulnerable to climate disasters, according to negotiators with the European Union and Africa, as well as non-governmental organization who are observing the talks.

The United States is also working to sign on to a deal on a loss and damage fund, Whitney Smith, a spokesperson for US Climate Envoy John Kerry, confirmed to CNN.

The fund will focus on what can be done to support loss and damage resources, but it does not include liability or compensation provisions, a senior Biden administration official told CNN. The US and other developed nations have long sought to avoid such provisions that could open them up to legal liability and lawsuits from other countries.

This year’s Conference was held for the first time in an African country and two main themes or fields; loss and damage added to the negotiated items.

If finalized, this could represent a major breakthrough in negotiations on a contentious subject and it’s seen as a reversal, as the US has in the past opposed efforts to create such a fund. It could pave the way for an agreement at a final Sharm el-Sheikh COP27 plenary expected come on Saturday night Egypt time

Countries which are the most vulnerable to climate disasters yet have contributed little to the climate crisis have struggled for years to secure a loss and damage fund.

Ghana was also one of the few countries that had a stand at the Conference.