The Government of Ghana and Switzerland has signed a bilateral agreement for climate action to promote cooperative approaches in bringing the Paris Agreement to life.
The Paris Agreement requires all countries—developed and developing—to make significant commitments to address climate change. It seeks to strengthen the global response to the threat of climate change, in the context of sustainable development and efforts to eradicate poverty by holding the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and pursuing efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, recognizing that this would significantly reduce the risks and impacts of climate change; increasing the ability to adapt to the adverse impacts of climate change and foster climate resilience and low greenhouse gas emissions development, in a manner that does not threaten food production; and making finance flows consistent with a pathway towards low greenhouse gas emissions and climate-resilient development.
The bilateral agreement between Ghana and Switzerland seeks to set the framework conditions for cooperation and strengthening of the country’s contributions to emissions reduction targets for 2030. The first project foreseen will enable clean cooking and solar lighting and benefit up to five million Ghanaian households, with the new partnership enabling the adoption of green and low carbon technology solutions across the country to result in a plethora of social and environmental benefits.
The partnership will incorporate private sector investment into Ghana’s National Energy Access Programme (NCEP), complementing the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) of Ghana to the Paris Agreement. The NCEP will benefit up to five million households through technologies like improved cook stoves and solar PV installations. Ghana is also exploring further projects under the agreement.
“We are proud to have been able to facilitate the dialogue between Switzerland and Ghana, build trust in the process on both sides and offer our technical support in the implementation. We hope this bilateral agreement will enable Ghana’s National Clean Energy Access Programme (NCEP) to fulfil its objectives by abating up to 2 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions, providing energy access to millions and head towards a green recovery,” the UNDP Administrator, Achim Steiner stated.
The agreement is the first of its kind that involves an African nation, with Peru being the first country to sign a similar agreement in late October.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Shirley Ayorkor Botchway, who delivered the President’s statement congratulated and thanked Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, the Minister for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, and UNDP for facilitating the agreement process. In the statement of the President of Ghana H.E Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, he called on the private sector of both countries “to see this bilateral cooperation as a step to further strengthen collaboration between Swiss and Ghanaian companies to identify commercially viable and sustainable development projects over the next decade”.
The objective of Ghana’s NDC is to reduce emissions by 15 to 45 percent below business-as-usual (BAU) level and strengthen climate resilience in close alignment with its development priorities. The NCEP is the core approach to achieving these targets but is conditional upon international support and requires blended financing for implementation.
Franz Perrez, Ambassador and Head of International Affairs Division of the Federal Office for the Environment, stated that the new agreement will allow Switzerland take concrete steps for the benefit of the environment and sustainable development”,
“Jointly, Switzerland and Ghana set a robust framework for additional investments in climate action and for the adherence to human rights. With the Agreement we signed today, we are not only combating climate change, but also strengthening social aspects in the international carbon market,” he said.
This agreement will open the doors to commercial projects, empowering national businesses to drive climate action. This cooperative approach that Ghana and Switzerland are undertaking is already paving the way for other countries to explore innovative climate financing solutions, also in line with Article 6 of the Paris Agreement.
