Following Mozambique, Ghana received payments from a World Bank trust fund for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation also known as REDD+. The Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) paid Ghana $4,862,280 for reducing 972,456 tons of CO2 emissions for the first monitoring period of the programme
“This payment is the first of four under the country’s Emission Reductions Payment Agreement (ERPA) with the World Bank to demonstrate the potential for leveraging Results-based Payments for carbon credits,” said Pierre Laporte, World Bank Country Director for Ghana, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. “Subject to showing results from actions taken to reduce deforestation, Ghana is eligible to receive up to $50 million for 10 million tons of CO2 emissions reduced by the end of 2024.”
Ghana is the second world producer of cocoa, behind Côte d’Ivoire. But its economy has had a serious impact on the country’s forests as cocoa is the main driver of deforestation. Slash-and-burn agriculture is the main technique used in both Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, and one of the main focuses of international cooperation in these countries is to shift from this traditional approach to climate-friendly, climate-smart agriculture.
Ghana’s emissions reductions programme is obviously linked with its national REDD+ strategy, and it is well-aligned with relevant national policies and strategies, including Ghana’s Shared Growth and Development Agenda, the National Climate Change Policy, the National Forest and Wildlife Policy, the National Gender Policy, and Ghana’s nationally-determined contributions to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. The programme covers 6 million hectares of the West Africa Guinean Forest biodiversity hotspot.
UN-REDD provided technical assistance to Ghana within the framework of the UN REDD National Programme. The Ghana Forestry Commission has been coordinating this work with the Ghana Cocoa Board, together with involvement of private sector, local communities and traditional authorities. Under the supervision of the Ministry of Finance, the next step is to discuss how the benefit sharing plan is going to be implemented to ensure equitable disbursement of the payment.
The unsung heroes of conservation,Indigenous peoples make up about 476 million of the global population. Together, they own, manage or occupy one-quarter of the world’s land.
However, extractive practices such as large-scale logging, industrial farming and mining are risking both the rights of Indigenous peoples and critical forest ecosystems.
Indigenous communities are not just fighting to remain the stewards of the ecosystems on which their way of life depends. They are also demanding fair and equitable sharing of the benefits of the genetic resources derived from the forests they call home.
Genetic resources refer to the genetic material of plants, animals, and microorganisms that are used to develop new and lucrative medicines, agricultural crops, and cosmetic products, among others.
Access to and equitable sharing of benefits is one of the major goals of the Global Biodiversity Framework, recognizing that alongside the urgent need for the sustainable use of nature, is the necessity that communities benefit from what is derived from their land.
Forests are some of the most valuable resources for people and the planet. They support the livelihoods of 1.6 billion people and are home to more than half of the world’s terrestrial species of animals, plants and insects. They cycle and recycle water, maintaining steady and healthy moisture and precipitation.
Forests also play a critical role in mitigating the climate crisis thanks to their capacity for absorbing and storing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and helping offset greenhouse gas emissions.
However, through deforestation, 12 million hectares of forests are destroyed annually, mainly as a result of the production of agricultural commodities such as palm oil, beef, soy, timber, and pulp and paper. Halting this trend requires decoupling commodity production from deforestation.
One of the biggest impediments to decoupling commodity production from deforestation thus far has been financing for sustainable farming, nature-based solutions and conservation.
In order for Indigenous peoples to continue fulfilling their role as custodians of forests, access to greater finance is needed, commensurate with their role in helping avoid deforestation and associated climate and nature crises.
According to UNEP’s State of Finance for Nature 2022 report, finance going to nature-based solutions is currently US$154 billion per year. But this is less than half the US$384 billion per year needed by 2025 to meet climate change, biodiversity and land degradation targets.
To help address the funding gap, the Global Biodiversity Framework calls for at least US$200 billion per year in domestic and international biodiversity-related funding from both public and private sources to be mobilized by 2030. The framework also calls for a marked increase in international financial flows from developed to developing countries to at least US$20 billion per year by 2025 and to US$30 billion per year by 2030.
The lack of adequate financing is something Constantino Aucca Chutas know all too well in his 30-year career in forest conservation.
“If you want to do meaningful conservation and restoration of forests, you need five years minimum,” he said, “But, most of the finance we get for conservation projects are for one or two years. That’s not realistic.”
For Chutas, forests are not just valuable ecosystems for all of humanity; they are also home to millions of Indigenous people around the world. And he has message for those who wish to work with them to protect and restore forests.
“Forests are something that need to be understood and respected. That can only be done with the help of Indigenous communities,” he said. “I have been successful in working with Indigenous communities on restoration because I respect them, I talk with them, I listen to them and I learn from them.”
About the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration
The UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration 2021-2030 is a rallying call for the protection and revival of ecosystems all around the world, for the benefit of people and nature. It aims to halt the degradation of ecosystems, and restore them to achieve global goals. The United Nations General Assembly has proclaimed the UN Decade and it is led by the United Nations Environment Programme and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. The UN Decade is building a strong, broad-based global movement to ramp up restoration and put the world on track for a sustainable future. Over 100 organizations – ranging from global institutions to restoration implementers on the ground – have since joined the effort. That will include building political momentum for restoration as well as thousands of initiatives on the ground.
This story was updated on 20 September 2024 to correct a figure
