By Joyce Gyekye
Ghana’s National Adaptation Plan (NAP), aimed at addressing the impacts of climate change, is one step away from being submitted to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Bonn, Germany, by the end of June 2025.
This follows a national validation workshop held in Accra to fine-tune the document, which outlines the country’s climate hazards, risk assessments, vulnerabilities, and proposed adaptation options. The plan also includes sub-national data on municipal and district-level vulnerabilities.
The workshop brought together more than 80 participants from around 50 institutions, including government agencies, environmental Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), vulnerable group organisations, development partners, and academia.
The NAP seeks to build a climate-resilient and climate-compatible economy, while promoting sustainable development through equitable, low-carbon economic growth.
Stakeholders at the validation exercise also reviewed the Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Framework and the Climate Vulnerability Information Portal (CVIP), both of which will support the tracking and implementation of the plan.
Opening the workshop, the CEO of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Prof. Nana Ama Browne Klutse, in a speech read on her behalf, said the NAP process, along with the M&E Framework and CVIP, are critical steps toward establishing a transparent, robust, and data-driven system to support climate adaptation across Ghana.
She acknowledged that these tools will ensure adaptation actions are measurable, results-oriented, and aligned with both national development goals and international commitments under the Paris Agreement.
“The development of these tools will enable us to track adaptation progress in a more systematic and transparent manner and to inform policy decision with up to date, science-based and locally relevant data,” Prof. Browne Klutse emphasised.
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is the main international body overseeing the implementation of NAPs globally.
The Programme Officer, Climate Change Adaptation Unit of UNEP, Essey Daniel, stated the importance of NAP, which, “which is shifting from ad hoc project based adaptation interventions towards strategic program approaches that are supported by governments in the context of sustainable development”.
He stressed that for the country-driven process to be prioritised, it must be informed by the best available science, including climate change projections, risk assessments, and socio-economic scenarios developed over the past three years in collaboration with the EPA.
The NAP focuses on six sectors of the economy which are agriculture, water resources, health, infrastructure, cities, biodiversity and ecosystems.
Ghana ranks 112th out of 189 countries for vulnerability to climate change, and 127th for readiness to respond to its impacts. Key climate hazards facing the country include droughts, flooding, and sea-level rise.
