By: Joyce Gyekye
A Climate Change Expert and Lead Negotiator on Adaptation in the G77 and China, Dr. Antwi Boasiako-Amoah has stated that Ghana and for that matter Africa met most of its objectives at the Conference of Parties, COP 26 in Glasgow.
He said the African Group of Negotiators, AGN was successful in getting Article 6 of the Paris Agreement on Carbon Market accepted. He noted that COP 24 and 25 had the decision on the Carbon market deferred and as a result getting a decision on it during Glasgow was a big deal. Carbon market refers to the market in which carbon credits, in other words, carbon certificates are attained and sold within defined standards for the reduction of greenhouse gases.
Dr. Antwi Boasiako-Amoah in an interview with GBC News on some financial deals Ghana struck during COP 26 explained that negotiations at COP Conferences are done in blocs based on the tradition of the United Nations like” African Group, Asian States, Eastern European States, and G77 and China”. He elaborated that due to this, Ghana was not going to claim a financial deal, instead, it had bilateral deals with Switzerland, Sweden and Korea among others.
Dr. Boasiako-Amoah noted that Ghana’s objective of showing visibility at the summit by mounting a pavilion, the first since becoming a Party to the UNFCCC in 1995 was met because the country was marketed through different platforms.
On the continental level, he said the African Group pushed for the Global Goal on Adaptation, GGA.
”After Paris in 2015, there’s been a silence on GGA, meaning that if we are not careful
as developing countries, that agenda will be shelved and adaptation will not get the 50/50 parity that we’re talking about as part of the Paris Agreement. The GGA was established to increase the status of- and financial flows to- countries for adaptation activities. Climate change adaptation refers to actions that reduce the negative impacts of climate change, while taking advantage of potential new opportunities. It involves adjusting policies and actions because of observed or expected changes in climate.
One of the setbacks, Dr Boasiako- Amoah mentioned was the watered-down decision on the Long term finance goal of $100 billion pledged by developed to developing countries at COP 15 in Copenhagen. During COP 26, it was decided that the long-term goal on financing climate issues of developing countries would become a ” Collective” goal. This Dr Boasiako- Amoah described as worrying because the climate issues being experienced now are mostly caused by the developed countries and does not see why developing countries should contribute long-term funds to address that.
“How to actually make sure that we get a clear roadmap on mobilizing the funds is the problem”, he said.
On why African countries were silent on cutting emissions to net-zero by 2050 as endorsed by US and EU countries and by 2060 by China”.
Dr Boasiako- Amoah explained that committing to such a long-term goal will put too much stress on economies of the Continent. This is because Africa accounts for only 4% of the global greenhouse gas emissions and needs to exploit its natural resources sustainably for
development. Net zero is reached when the amount of greenhouse gas added to the
atmosphere is not more than the amount taken away.