Report by Oforiwa Darko
Scientists say in addition to reducing global emissions as fast as the continent can, there is also the need to remove substantial amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to make up for hard-to-decarbonise sectors and the consequences of slow action to curb emissions.
Energy Minister, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, therefore says Ghana remains committed to reducing carbon emissions pursuant to its commitment to the global climate agenda.
“These efforts are within the broader context of Ghana’s blueprint towards achieving net zero. Africa should seize the most immediate opportunities that already exist.”
Dr. Prempeh made this assertion whilst contributing to a panel discussion on the main stage and margins of the 2023 Africa Climate Summit, which opened on Monday, September 4, 2023, in Nairobi, Kenya.
Touching on the role of energy efficiency in Africa for the development of affordable, clean energy systems for the future, Dr. Matthew Opoku highlighted Ghana’s prioritisation of energy efficiency, which dates back to 2005.
“This is when we launched the appliance standards and labelling regime to date where we have passed legislations to back same,” he said.
The Minister indicated that the lighting retrofit led to savings of 124MW with 6000 CFLS deployed to replace 6000 incandescent lamps. According to him, the implementation of standards and labelling for cooling appliances in Ghana from 2010-2020 yielded 10,159 GWh (10.16 TWh) of electricity savings nationally.
He stressed that Carbon dioxide emissions were also reduced by 6.32 million tonnes within the same period.
“This is a major improvement in Ghana’s carbon footprint fulfilling SDG 7(affordable, reliable, sustainable and clean energy) and SDG13 (climate action)} and thereby making the future net-zero pathway a reality”.
More than one billion tonnes of carbon emissions each year come from burning wood and charcoal to cook, which is 2% of total global emissions and the same amount as annual air travel, according to a report by Climate Impact Partners. Clean cooking projects not only reduce carbon emissions but also support the health and livelihoods of communities most impacted by climate change yet least responsible.
Dr. Prempeh said currently, 63% of Ghana’s population has access to clean cooking, with 35% having LPG access, 27% having improved biomass cookstoves, and 1% having electric cooking.
“Government has supported the distribution of over 1.5 million improved biomass cookstoves since 2021 and currently supporting the distribution of another 500,000-biomass improved cookstoves.”
Government policies and interventions, he said, have positively impacted the clean cooking market, keeping it on track for investments, scaling up, and commercialisation.
The sector he reiterated has gained attention and is attracting key global players due to the new vision of the Ministry of Energy, anchored on government’s commitment to achieve SDG 7, Nationally Determined Contribution, and the quest to transition the energy sector to net zero.
