By: Joyce Gyekye
Canada has announced a 300-million-dollar commitment to nature-based solutions for climate change adaptation in sub-Saharan African countries including Ghana.
Canada’s Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Steven Guilbeault who disclosed this to the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation during his two day official visit added that Canada is also contributing 132.9 million dollars to establish the Canada-African Development Bank Climate Fund, which aims to enhance women’s economic rights and participation in climate action. It will also help in mobilizing private capital to fill the climate investment gap in Africa.
The minister noted that “The issue of how climate change is affecting women is a very important part of our international feminist agenda and the gender base analysis we do throughout most of our projects in Canada”.
Canada, he said is implementing the feminist agenda in its financial and foreign aid as well. The minister also had engagements with a number of academic institutions into climate research and his counterpart, Dr. Kwaku Afriyie.
Mr. Guilbeault stated Canada’s support to a number of research initiatives through the International Development and Research Centre, IDRC in Ghana as well as in a number of Western African Countries.
The support is for better understanding of the impact of climate change in the agricultural sector, coastal erosion and better warning systems into natural catastrophes.
On the climate commitment of 100 billion dollars by developed to developing countries, Mr. Guilbeault said Canada and Germany were tasked ahead of the Glasgow Summit to come out with a delivery plan and work is progressing on that for a report to be submitted during the Conference of Parties, COP 27 in Egypt.
On the question of some developed countries not meeting the Paris Agreement following increasing oil and gas production due to cuts in supply by Russia to some EU countries, Mr. Guilbeault said “European countries are very preoccupied with energy security but at the same time everyone I spoke with said, we want to continue and even accelerate our transition away from fossil fuels“.
Canada, he noted, wants to support its European colleagues.
“In a way we can, through these difficult times but we will not do this at the expense of our climate goals. We remain steadfast in ensuring that Canada reaches its 2030 targets and continues to move towards carbon neutrality in 2050″.
