Joyce Gyekye
Canada is assisting four African countries including Ghana with $20 million to help them with measuring, reporting and verification (MRV) of their climate works. The MRV systems will run for another four years after the successful completion of phase one.
In an interview with GBC News, Canada’s Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Steven Guilbeault said MRV systems are crucial for countries to develop strong and effective mitigation policies and actions. This is because they provide governments with transparent, accurate and comparable information and sources of emissions.
Mr. Guilbeault was in the country for a two-day visit. While in Ghana, he had an engagement with his counterpart, Dr. Kwaku Afriyie and that was where he announced the second phase of the MRV systems.
The three other countries to benefit from the amount are The Gambia, Liberia and Togo. The 20 million dollars is to further enhance collaboration with the countries in building solid partnerships with the shared goal of tackling climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution. With Ghana, Mr. Guilbeault said,
“The partnership has been enhanced by the on-going leadership to ratify a new legally binding global agreement on plastic pollution at United Nations Environment Assembly, UNEA in Nairobi, Kenya this year.
He added that “We are doing a lot of work on plastic pollution, as Ghana is the first African country to sign the Global Pact on plastic pollution at the recent UNEA General Assembly. He said “There was unanimous agreement among countries to launch negotiations so that by two years we will have an international legally binding framework to tackle plastic pollution”.
Mr. Guilbeault explained that his trip has provided him an opportunity to understand the best ways for Canada to support mitigation and adaptation efforts in developing countries. This he noted would provide vital information for the Group of Seven Ministerial meeting in Germany as well as for the Conference of Parties, COP 27 in Egypt later in November 2022.