The United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the Republic of Ghana have officially launched a partnership worth $30 million aimed at advancing nature-based community development and climate solutions, highlighting key areas for initial investments.
Dr. Amna bint Abdullah Al Dahak Al Shamsi, UAE minister of Climate Change and the Environment, and Ghana’s Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel A. Jinapor, signed a letter of intent in the presence of Razan Khalifa Al Mubarak, UN Climate Change High-Level champion for COP28 and president of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), alongside Abdulla Balalaa, UAE assistant minister of Foreign Affairs for Energy and Sustainability.
Investment areas
The framework, WAM reported, outlines six key investment areas, including biodiversity corridors, reforestation, and agroecology, designed to provide combined benefits for climate, biodiversity, and community development, with an emphasis on gender equality and youth engagement. This initiative supports Ghana’s Resilient Ghana nature-climate strategy and includes metrics for measurement, reporting, and verification, leveraging Ghana’s innovative REDD+ process.
Supporting local communities
Dr. Amna Al Dahak Al Shamsi expressed that the partnership with Ghana demonstrates the UAE’s dedication to global biodiversity, climate, and development objectives. She highlighted that it reinforces the UAE Consensus, which aims to end and reverse deforestation by 2030, while emphasizing the importance of protecting and preserving biodiversity. She also noted that the investment in Ghana would enhance afforestation efforts and create a broader positive impact on local communities, aiming to strengthen local livelihoods and promote community involvement through a comprehensive suite of initiatives focused on forest protection.
Addressing implementation gaps
Samuel A. Jinapor pointed out the challenges of addressing deforestation, mentioning that while Ghana benefits from carbon payments, significant implementation gaps need to be addressed with additional financial instruments to achieve greater emission reductions. He indicated that this partnership with the UAE represents crucial support for enhancing livelihoods and protecting ecosystems, expressing gratitude for the UAE government’s commitment and assuring that these resources would be utilized effectively to maximize benefits for forests, climate, and communities, contributing to the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
Comprehensive framework
The framework emphasizes six investment areas, including biodiversity corridors, reforestation, and agroecology, which provide simultaneous benefits across climate, biodiversity, and community development, while prioritizing gender equality and youth involvement. It further aligns with Ghana’s Resilient Ghana nature-climate strategy and incorporates metrics for measurement, reporting, and verification through Ghana’s advanced REDD+ process.
COP28 outcomes
Razan Khalifa Al Mubarak remarked that COP28 established a new standard for coordinating action on nature and climate, as well as for anchoring investments in plans developed by nature-rich countries. She regarded the UAE-Ghana partnership as an exemplary approach that would help maintain the 1.5 degrees Celsius target while advancing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and safeguarding biodiversity.
Global commitment to deforestation
As part of the UAE Consensus adopted at COP28, governments have collectively committed to halting and reversing deforestation by 2030 and aligning their climate strategies with the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. The UAE and its partners have mobilized over $2 billion for nature-climate projects and programs, which includes a broader investment package for Ghana’s Resilient Ghana strategy. Both countries are also members of the Forest and Climate Leaders Partnership, a public-private investment coordination initiative.
The UAE and Ghana will outline some initial projects under their bilateral partnership at COP29 in Baku this November, followed by further discussions at COP30 next year.
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