The Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Jinapor, has encouraged participants of the Forest and Climate Leader’s Partnership engagement, to be practical on what is needed to halt and reverse forest loss significantly and offer a genuine space for tropical forest countries to be heard.
According to him, the world has signed on to an ambitious target of reversing forest loss by 2030. Owing to this, he stated that the expectation of the Steering Committee is that engagements in Accra will be used to delve deeper into what the outcomes of the various initiatives should be and what can be accomplished by COP28, particularly, in respect of reductions in forest loss.
“It is my belief that having the voices of Tropical Forest Countries heard audibly and feeding into the initiatives being designed will be very key for the success of nature and climate discussions.”
Samuel Jinapor
Mr Jinapor explained that the climate crisis is reaching a tipping point and the earth is also now 1.1 degrees Celsius warmer than it used to be decades ago. He noted that the effect of this is being experienced by every individual wherever they find themselves, whether in Accra, Abidjan, Addis Ababa, Budapest, Cairo, Bamako, London, Oslo, Ouagadougou, Paris, Washington or Jubah.
Restoring Ghana’s vegetative covers
Furthermore, Mr Jinapor explained that the desire therefore for limiting global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius is essential in maintaining a livable climate, but was quick to say that “the good news is, there is a solution, and it is within our reach”.
The lands minister touted a number of things Ghana is doing to meet this target. Pertinent among them, he revealed, is that the Government launched the Green Ghana Project as an aggressive afforestation and reforestation programme in 2021, to restore Ghana’s degraded landscapes and contribute to the global fight against climate change.
With this, he indicated that over forty million seedlings were planted in the first two editions of the Green Ghana Day, a day set aside yearly to plant seedlings across the country.
Moreover, Mr Jinapor urged the chaperones and partners from the over 19 countries present at the on-going two-day FCLP meeting in Accra, to always remember that the fight against climate change requires conscious and collective effort by all.
“Citizens of the world, let us roll our sleeves and get to work.”
Samuel Jinapor
On her part, Madam Christine Dragisic, a representative of the Co-Chair on FLCP with the Lands Minister, indicated that the idea was conceptualized at COP27 and the meeting was to come together to reconsider the commitments made by the Glasgow leaders to halt forest loss by 2030 in the context of sustainable development and come up with practical solutions.
She expressed optimism that collectively, they will be able to use these two days to advance discussions on actionable solutions that will help meet the target set by the global leaders and eventually save the world.
Prior to this, Mr Jinapor, called on countries across the globe, to move from talk to action on climate issues. He emphasized the need for developed countries, which have historically been, and continue to be, the major emitters of geeenhouse gases, to step up and honour their climate promises.
Mr Jinapor iterated the commitment of President Akufo-Addo to ensure that Ghana adds value to the green minerals and noted that “under no circumstances will Ghana export its lithium and other green minerals in their raw state”.
Also, he highlighted that even though the country may not be able to retain the entire value of the these minerals in the country due to the complexities involved, as much as possible, a significant proportion of the value chain will be retained in Ghana.
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