On December 12, 2015, at the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference held in Paris, France, a total of 196 parties converged to negotiate an agreement to cover climate change mitigation, adaptation and finance which entered into force on November 4, 2016.
The Paris Agreement, as it has become known and often referred to as the Paris Accords or Accord de Paris in French, is an international treaty on climate change with the goal to limit global warming to preferably 1.5 degrees Celsius. The Paris Agreement is considered a landmark agreement in the multilateral climate change process because, for the first time, a binding agreement brings all nations into a common cause to undertake ambitious efforts to combat climate change and adapt to its effects.
In addition, the Paris Agreement sets out a global framework to avoid dangerous climate change and also aims to strengthen countries’ ability to deal with the impact of climate change and support them in their efforts. Implementation of the Paris Agreement requires economic and social transformation based on the best available science. The Paris Agreement works on a five-year cycle of increasingly ambitious climate action carried out by countries.
Countries were to submit their plans for climate action known as nationally determined contributions (NDCs) by the year 2020. In their NDCs, countries are to communicate actions they will take to reduce their Greenhouse Gas emissions in order to reach the goals of the Paris Agreement, as well as steps to build resilience to adapt to the impact of rising temperatures.
On November 23, 2020, the Government of Ghana and Switzerland signed a historic agreement for Climate Action which brought the cooperative approaches of the Paris Agreement to life. The bilateral implementation agreement set the framework conditions for the cooperation.
Under the agreement, the first projects in the pipeline are to enable clean cooking and solar lighting to benefit up to five million Ghanaian households. Also, the partnership is to enable the adoption of green and low carbon technology solutions across the country, resulting in a plethora of social and environmental benefits.
In line with the promotion of the cooperation, a team from the Swiss KliK Foundation (Foundation for Climate Protection and Carbon Offset) recently visited Ghana to deepen the relationship between the two countries and develop a portfolio of mitigation activities in Ghana under the bilateral agreement.
In addition, the Swiss KliK Foundation team, while in Ghana, explored avenues to support and finance activities in Ghana that will contribute to national and local climate protection initiatives leading to sustainable development.
Established by Avenergy Suisse (then Swiss Petroleum Association) in 2012 within the framework of the Swiss CO₂ Law, the KliK Foundation is the sector-wide carbon offset grouping. To this end, it funds programmes for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in Switzerland and abroad under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, thereby actively contributing to sustainable climate protection.
The KliK Foundation team met with several strategic partners and key stakeholders including the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Ministry of Environment and Science, Technology and Innovation (MESTI) for a presentation on the progress of the joint commitment, and discussion on the processes and dynamics for investing financially into the development of climate protection programmes in Ghana.
At a cocktail reception in honour of the KliK Foundation team, the Ambassador of Switzerland to Ghana, His Excellency Philipp Stalder, highlighted in his welcome statement the excellent bilateral relations between Ghana and Switzerland over the years.
He further mentioned the political will of both governments at the highest levels, contributing to the existing framework agreement. According to him, there is focus on programmes in areas such as solar photovoltaics, biogas, waste management or electromobility. He encouraged interested organisations and individuals to submit programme ideas in the mentioned areas for consideration.
The objective of Ghana’s NDC is to reduce emissions by 15 to 45 percent below business-as-usual (BAU), and strengthen climate resilience in close alignment with its development priorities. Ghana’s National Clean Energy Access Programme (NCEP) is the core approach to achieving these targets; but is conditional upon international support and requires blended financing for implementation.
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