Building Climate Resilient Economy: Ghana Needs About $12.5bn

The West African country of Ghana needs about $12.5 billion to build a climate-resilient economy in the wake of devastating effects of climate change on national economies, the country’s Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta has stated.

Addressing participants at the Global Shield Initiative and the Global Risk Modelling Alliance Workshop in Accra, Mr Ofori-Atta noted that the cost of climate change to Ghana cannot be underestiamted.

He explained that $4.21 billion needs to be generated at the national level and $8.29 billion from international sources to enable the country deal with the situation.

“Africa has, over the last two decades, lost over $200 billion due to climate change; and in Ghana alone we require $4.21 billion (34%) at the national level and $8.29 billion (66%) from international sources to meet the cost of implementing our adaptation actions according to our NDCs.”

“In order to build a climate-resilient economy and transition to a low-carbon development pathway, it is imperative that we make informed decisions based on reliable data at both the national and subnational levels in order to minimise the impact of climate change and enable development-positive climate action,” he said.

On his part, Ghana’s Minister for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, Dr. Kwaku Afriyie reiterated the need to invest in low-carbon transition and adaptation.

“Science is clear and we need to pay close attention to the counsel of scientists because failing to do so will only put the lives of our people in jeopardy. Evidence-based analysis and results should help us design people-centered new investments toward a low-carbon transition and adaptation we most urgently need to fortify our economies, supply chains, and communities against accelerating climate-fueled risks,” he urged.

The German Ambassador to Ghana, Daniel Krull said “the Global Shield aims at delivering fast and effective support to vulnerable countries in dealing with climate risk and related causes and damages.”

“As a pathfinder of Global Shield, Ghana will receive comprehensive support in understanding the risks they face in receiving financial and technical assistance to implement instruments of financial protection. These instruments provide quick and reliable funding when climate related disasters occurs and contribute to addressing to climate related losses and damages”, he added.

Global Risk Modelling Alliance is an initiative that aims to assess the country’s risk and provide essential data for decision-making on solutions to manage climate risks and drive new adaptation investments.  Global Shield on the other hand seeks to establish pre-arranged, trigger-based financing mechanisms to ensure timely and effective responses to climate-related challenges.

The Global Shield Initiative against climate change and the Global Risk Modelling Alliance workshop aligns with Ghana’s Climate Prosperity Plan which aims to provide immediate funds during disaster.